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.
I have never tried to grow beans before. Out of curiosity planted two different varieties in the spring.
It is said that beans are sensitive to cold nights when sewn but despite being put into the ground a bit early they made it.
Prelude (Phaseolus vulgaris ‘Prelude’) made a fair crop in the end and cannot wait to taste them. Though must save some seeds to next year.
Only one sunflower managed to bloom this year. I had several varieties growing but Autumn was simply too cool for them even though the summer itself was warm.
Luckily Sunspot (Helianthus annuus ‘Sunspot’) grew large and beautiful bloom to save the summer. I had it growing in a large pot with other flowers.
Sometimes this just happens up here in the north. For certain flowers our summer is simply too short sometimes. Better luck next year.
Only few flowers left in the garden after we went below the freezing point few days ago. Luckily the nearby lake helps and since most of the flowers are close enough to it some of them were able to escape the nearly certain sudden death.
Stonecrops (Sedum) are still doing well and blooming beautifully. Unfortunately cannot anymore remember the exact variety of the one in the picture. It is the oldest one I have and the one that made me buy more.
Nearly lost the plant last year but changing it to a dryer place helped. Too many nutrients and too much water were the reasons why it did not do well.
Yet another good year for the Monkshood (Aconitum × stoerkianum) which is blooming beautifully.
It has grown here as long as I remember and seems to have adapted to the environment.
You just need to remember that all parts of the plant are very poisonous. In other words you can not plant it close to edibles.
Gardening in the North 