♥Love this!♥
In my yard, the Harebell (Campanula glomerata ‘Superba’) is putting on a good show of flowers! They’re about 18″ tall, on sturdy stems which nod a bit, but don’t need staking. While they are spreading themselves around some, the clustered flower heads bloom for 4-6 weeks. After that, I cut them down fairly low to control some of the spread and allow other plants in my garden to shine. Just behind the Harebells, there are purple-flowering Daylilies which are covered with buds and ready to take center stage – maybe even before the Harebell have finished their encore!
😀Mixed Feelings 😕
When in bloom, this was a lovely combination of dark purple and maroon flowers, but the show has ended. My May Night Salvia (Salvia nemerosa), as seen in the foreground on the left, is pretty much done blooming. However, I’ll cut it back to where the next bud is forming or a lower leaf junction – just below my trimmers in the picture. This plant will reward my effort by blooming again in a few weeks. Removing these spent blossoms (also called dead-heading) brings on more flowers. By dead-heading carefully, I might even get 3 bloom cycles from this plant each year. If you don’t bother or don’t have the time to dead-head, the plant will still survive and may show a smaller re-bloom.
Behind the Salvia, my Peony has also finished its bloom cycle. Peonies won’t bloom a second time this year, but the spent blossoms are ugly so I cut them off. This particular plant is also covered with powdery mildew. Powdery mildew looks like a gray powder all over the leaves – the lower right picture. Peonies are quite susceptible to powdery mildew and while it won’t kill the plant, the plant is weakened. Typically, I don’t see this infection until later in the season, but we had a lot of rain in June. I’m treating the infection by drenching the plant once a week with a mix of neem oil and water.
(Many plants are susceptible to powdery mildew. Avoiding overhead or spray irrigation can also help avoid powdery mildew. Neem oil or horticultural oil should only be applied in the evening to avoid burning the leaves.)
