Six on Saturday – 11JUN2022 – Colour

There’s so much happening in the garden this time of year it’s hard to know where to look. And so much colour! We’ve had cool temperatures and lots of rain this month (so far) which has made the garden really lush; everything from grass to individual leaves to flower petals seem quite huge and happy. Every Saturday, The Propagator encourages gardeners around the world to share six things that are happening in their garden – here are five colourful and lush things from my garden, plus one gross and unwanted thing…

To get it over with, I’m going to start with the gross thing: what I think is pine sawfly larvae – Diprion similis. THIS is one of the reasons I like to take an early morning walkabout, every day. I caught these voracious caterpillars hard at work yesterday morning, chowing down on a small Austrian pine I had transplanted in April. I quickly fetched a bucket of soapy water and knocked them into it. The bucket will remain by the tree for a few more days while I make frequent checks to ensure I got them all.

Now on to something more pleasant! Not far from the pine is a Royal Purple Smoke Tree – Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple.’ Right now it’s in flower, and over the coarse of the next few weeks it will develop the puffy, cloudy appearance they’re famous for.

Tall bearded Iris are still in bloom, including these: Iris pallida ‘Variegata’ (Dalmatian Iris), with its gorgeous variegate leaves, and an almost pure white reblooming variety:

Just starting are various peonies – here are two doubles. The pink one will open up more and expose a multitude of frilly petals; the red one is huge, with a huge sturdy stalk, and thankfully does not require support of any kind. Alas, neither are terribly fragrant.

I have two cultivars of Mock Orange – a traditional one, which won’t bloom for a few more weeks, and this one, starting to bloom now, Philadelphus ‘Starbright,’ bred in Canada by Dr. Wilf Nicholls, head of Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden. This IS fragrant, and smells SO good!

Finally, a perennial Geranium. I’m not sure which variety, but I like it because it stays low to the ground, spreads slowly and has a delicate, muted pastel colour. Here is the plant itself, and a close-up pf the flower is in the very top, featured, photo. Have a great weekend everyone!