White Nights in the Garden of Aaron

Recently, I was taking a stroll around the garden in the early evening and realized that I have a lot of white flowers blooming right now.

White flowers are pretty any time of day, but they really seem to glow and become luminous in the gloaming, that magical time between sunset and night.

And on nights with a full moon, white flowers continue to shine all night...

Rebloom on the 'Natchez' mock orange (Philadelphus x virginalis 'Natchez')

Phlox paniculata 'David'

'Diana' rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), poised to unfurl

Blue moon rising over Tennessee

Rolling out the Welcome Mat - Aquilegia, Fothergilla, Geraniums, Indian Pink, Salvia and More!

Thanks to my friendly camera-lending neighbor, Christian, I'm able to show you a few more photos from my early May garden - focusing primarily on the flowers you'd see in the front (and side) of the house if you stopped by to visit. This stunning dark purple columbine just showed up this year on the side of my house. I believe it is an interspecies hybrid between Aquilegia canadensis (the red-flowered native, seen in the background here) and one of the Aquilegia vulgaris cultivars that I purchased. Whatever the case, I love it!

The native Aquilegia canadensis went nuts this year - spreading, growing at least 3 feet tall and blooming exuberantly! I thought columbine would need at least partial shade in the Southeast, but these endure afternoon sunshine without any complaints in their northwest exposure. (They do get morning shade.) My only wish - that they would attract hummingbirds. They're supposed to - but I haven't seen any hummers visiting these flowers. (Of course, I've barely seen any hummers at all this year so far.)

Fothergilla gardenii, just looking amazing and acting troublefree - as usual. (That's part of a big patch of Melissa officinalis, lemon balm, crowding the fothergilla from the left side of the photo.)

This Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo' is only 2-3 years old and it has grown nearly as large as the azalea shrub behind it. After this photo was taken, the center of the geranium splayed open. I'm not sure what happened. I think there's a rabbit living under the azalea bush, so bunny may be to blame. (Perhaps the rabbit excavated a nest and disturbed the geranium roots?) I'll probably try a drastic cutback (which has worked to rejuvenate other geraniums in my garden), but I'm planning to wait until the blooms are done, because (a) they look beautiful and (b) they attract bumblebees!

That same rabbit has been wreaking havoc on the three Indian pink (Spigelia marilandica) plants in the front border. You can see a few stems have been nibbled here.

...and an entire Indian pink has been chomped back here. Darn you, rascally rabbit!

What amazing fuzzy purple-and-white flowers on the Salvia leucantha (Mexican bush sage), a new addition to the Garden of Aaron. Again, these are supposed to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, but I haven't seen either one visiting the flowers yet. Although it's only rated as hardy to zone 8 (and I'm in zone 6b/7a), I found an inexpensive source so I figured I'd take a chance on the plants. Plus, how could you resist these Seussical blooms?

The 'Natchez' mock orange (Philadelphus x virginalis 'Natchez') seems to be doing pretty well during its second full year in the garden. It's sent up some new vigorous, healthy-looking foliage from the base and has some pretty new flowers. The flowers are fragrant, but the scent is quite faint. Perhaps that's why it doesn't seem to attract many pollinators, except for ants like the one shown here in the leftmost flower. (Incidentally, I believe Natchez is a complex hybrid, but it may have 1/4 native ancestry from P. pubescens, which is listed as native to Tennessee, Arkansas and Illinois.)

Close-up pic of the flowers on Penstemon x mexicali 'Red Rocks', another new addition to the garden this year. Red Rocks reportedly has a nice, long bloom season and is supposed to be better than many other penstemons at tolerating humidity and heavy soils.

Lastly, here's a look at the front corner of the house where I planted Panicum virgatum (switchgrass) last spring. I think this is the 'Northwind' cultivar. This is quite a windy, exposed corner on the hilltop and many of the other plants (including a crape myrtle) that I tried here struggled with that wind. Fortunately, the switchgrass does not seem to mind the wind one bit and it's nice watching the leaf blades sway and bend in the breeze. Near the switchgrass, you can see some columbine, self-sown sunflowers, a pink-flowered Salvia greggii and some volunteer Mexican hat plants (Ratibida columnifera).

Thanks for visiting! The garden continues grow and change and bloom and grow more beautiful day by day, week by week. Stay tuned for photographic proof coming soon~! :)

The Marvelous Mock Orange

Natchez Mock Orange in full bloom, May 15, 2014

Late last autumn, I went shopping at a local plant nursery and found a heavily discounted 1-gallon Natchez Mock Orange (Philadelphus x virginalis "Natchez") on sale.

I bought. I planted it on the Northwest side of the house where it replaced a crape myrtle that I'd chopped down. (It had been growing waaaaaaaay too close to the house. Now it's trying to grow back. I foresee lots more chopping in the future.)

This is only the Mock Orange's first spring here, but I've been really impressed with the way it covered itself with flowers.

Unlike some other Mock Oranges, Natchez does not have especially fragrant flowers, but it is considered a "prolific" bloomer. Definitely fit the bill this year.

Close up on Natchez Mock Orange flowers, May 15, 2014

My understanding is that Mock Oranges are often both tough and fast-growing. So far, it seems plenty tough. I haven't seen much (any) growth yet, but I guess they typically bloom on old growth, so now that the bloom is done, perhaps the growth spurt will come later this summer or in the autumn?

Incidentally, my Natchez bloomed  for almost a month this year and the flowers are self-cleaning. I particularly liked visiting the Mock Orange in the evening when the white flowers are outstanding in the gloaming.

My Neighbor's Peony plus Creeping Zinnia, Cute Gaillardia and Bee-Friendly Salvia

My neighbor's fragrant peony

I don't have a peony, but my kind neighbor does.

She's a gardener too, although her tastes run more toward roses, lilacs and Japanese maples.

She and her husband are originally from China and she told me that peonies are seen as very special there. (This website says the peony is China's national flower!)

Peonies apparently are long-lived, but they can take a few years to settle in. I think this is the first year she has really gotten a nice amount of flowers from her peony.

Not only are the flowers beautiful, but they also have a lovely fragrance that reminds me of roses.

Meanwhile, despite unseasonably hot weather (lots of days in the high 80s) and no rain this month, there are still plenty of flowers and buds in the Garden of Aaron, including:

Creeping dianthus

Coneflower bud

Creeping zinnia...only it's an imposter, because it's not really a zinnia at all, but a completely different species: Sanvitalia procumbens

Gaillardia x grandiflora "Sunset Cutie" (although truth be told, it doesn't look quite like the official Sunset Cutie photos) 

Salvia nemorosa "May Night" and bumblebee 

Salvia guaranitica, Anise-Scented Sage, "Black and Blue" buds

The Natchez Mock Orange is blooming its heart out. I'm happy to see that it attracts some insects - mainly ants and small bees. Despite the fact that some sources describe Natchez as being a scentless Mock Orange, I can detect a light scent -- which is exciting because often I have the opposite experience of not being able to smell flowers that are supposed to be fragrant!