Finally managed to spend a weekend in the summer cottage. We have already had the first frosts during the nights and it is time to prepare for the winter.
Not many flowers left but the Autumn Joy (Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’) is still blooming.
It is one of those plants that do not require any care and is at its best in the autumn.
I am getting more and more fond of Common Garden Verbenas (Verbena hortensis). They have so many colors available in the stores nowadays.
The flower is extremely drought tolerant and therefore very suitable for the summer cottage since I am not always there to water.
I planted this individual to the driest and sunniest spot and it still made it blooming beautifully.
This year I am not able to spend much time in the summer cottage and therefore needed to select varieties that tolerate neglecting.
California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica ‘Aurantiaca Orange’) are easy to grow and do not need much watering. They are ideal flowers for those who cannot be in the garden all the time.
I planted the seeds by the lake to the full sun and the poppies are doing well. They just started to bloom and survived the two week long heatwave without a blink. Just love the vivid color they have.
Another good year for the Origami Red and White (Aquilegia caerulea ‘Origami Red and White’).
For some reason the variety seems to like to grow up here in the north.
This year the blooming season for the columbines will be short. After a long period of cool weather a two week heatwave hit us and made the flowers to bloom quickly.
Summer finally found its way to north. Past few days we have been enjoying 30 degrees Celsius temperatures.
The May Queen (Leucanthemum vulgare ‘May Queen’) finally started to bloom. Nearly a month later than usually.
Oxeye Daisy is a is a native flower to the area and therefore very easy to grow. Though the variety May Queen has been grown from a seed and has a bit bigger blooms.
I do not know why but I lost half of my lupines last winter which was a surprise because they are usually very hardy.
To my delight The Chatelaine (Lupinus ‘The Chatelaine’) started to bloom in the new spot that it was planted this spring.
I am still trying to find more colors. Lupines are so easy flowers for the summer cottage.
The aquilegia season is here. Most of the varieties are at their best and blooming beautifully.
It took me several years to grow the Bordeaux Barlow (Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata ‘Bordeaux Barlow’) from the seeds but now I have many of them.
Up here in the north it usually takes three years before this variety starts to bloom. Most of the other varieties already bloom during the second season.
Something new to the garden. Fell in love with the blooms Brachyscome (Brachyscome hybrida) has.
It is a small flower, only about 15 centimeters tall at this point. It should double its hight during the summer.
Placed it to full sun. The only problem is that it requires regular watering when placed like that and I will not be here to do it.
We have had a beautiful Easter up here in the north. It is not too warm yet but the sun has shone the whole long weekend.
The good weather got me to go to a store and do some shopping.
The first Pansy (Viola) found its way to my balcony. Chose a bright orange one with wrinkled petals this year.
Because of the rapidly cooling nights I was forced to collect the bean harvest a bit earlier than I wished. They could have used two more weeks to ripe.
Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco Nano (Phaseolus vulgar–is ‘Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco Nano’) is the other bean variety I tried this year for the first time. They grew well and going to continue to grow them next year as well. I like the way they look and the unique coloring they have.
This variety is also called with the name Tongue of fire. There seem to be several different recipes what to make out of the beans. Cannot wait to try some of them.
Gardening in the North 