July Delights

Several lovely things bloomed in July. Among them were all my poppies, which have mutated into a collection of singles, doubles and semi-doubles in a variety of colours.

 

My one and only daylily, 'Wild Wine' gave them some competition, although it's slow to bulk up - only two stems of flowers this year.

Tree hydrangea, Hydrangea aspera subsp. sargentiana is a quieter but more complex flower, opening pale pink and white then shifting to blue and white.










 A much smaller, more delicate hydrangea, H. serrata 'Beni', one of this year's acquisitions, is settling in well and shows off its cherry-red flowers nicely against a backdrop of variegated hosta.

Mosquito grass Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde' catches all the sunlight in its elegant flowerheads floating on fine wiry stems.

Some plants that flowered earlier in the year are already living up to their promise of more than one season's interest by now producing a different kind of show. Rosa pimpinellifolia, having flowered back in June, is covered in glowing deep-red hips and playing host to numerous ladybugs.

...and Clematis 'Durandii' is producing seedheads like shiny golden pinwheels among the chartreuse leaves of Hydrangea 'Sikes Dwarf'. It's also still producing occasional cobalt-blue flowers like the one I photographed in an earlier post.

Not far away, the first cyclamen are emerging among the fronds of a Korean fern.

Meanwhile, at the front of the house, the lavender I was eagerly awaiting in June made a scented July display,

... an interesting comparison with the photo below in my previous post.