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 Coreopsis At the moment I am celebrating Garden Bloggers Bloom Day with a burst of heat – after rain storms and night temperatures that went down to 35 degrees. But many plants are hitting their stride, like this coreopsis – one of several.
 Cardinal flowers It turns out the cardinal flowers I planted last year – are a different color than the cardinal flowers I planted this year. But no matter. My mentor, Elsa Bakalar, assured me all shades of red go together.
 Perennial ageratum and veronica The perennial ageratum and veronica are carrying on an autumnal love affair with lots of hugs.
 Firelight hydrangea The Firelight hydrangea is also being embraced by a nameless white aster and the bright pink Alma Potchke aster who just started to bloom.
 Honeysuckle The honeysuckle clasps the fence in a tight hold while its bloom are entwined with a few Grandpa Ott morning glories.
 Japanese anemone The Japanese anemone is less robust, but next year I think she’ll be more enthusiastic.
 Neon sedum This “Neon” sedum attracts bees by the dozen.
 Rudbeckia These rudbeckias were given me by a neighbor in the spring. Next spring I am going to be looking for another neighbor who needs rudbeckia, loved by pollinators
 Marigolds and nasturtiums This pot by my back door is a riot of color. Makes me so happy in my coming and going.
Click on over to May Dreams Gardens where Carol gives us a chance share our seasonal bloom. Thank you, Carol!
 Hellstrip with many pollinator flowers on Bloom Day Here is the August Bloom Day report. The summer of 2017 has been relatively cool, with only a few days that went over 89 degrees. We also had rain – almost sufficient to my desires. The hellstrip in front of the house is full of bloom – daylilies, bee balm, yarrow, coneflowers, and marigolds. Weeds and fallen sycamore bark as well.
 Folksinger rose Several of the roses are blooming again. Folksinger, a Griffith Buck rose, is the most enthusiastic.
 Thomas Affleck rose Thomas Affleck was a great rose for me in Heath, and it remains a great rose in Greenfield. I will let these two roses stand in for Purple Rain, The Fairy, Polar Express, Red Kockout, Peach Drift and Paprika.
 Clethra alnifolia with bee balm and thalictrum in background The clethra is gaining stature and so is the bee balm. That is a rain-bowed thalictrum in the background. There will have to be substantial dividing and rearranging in the fall.
 Honeysuckle and Grandpa Ott morning glory The honeysuckle has a substantial but hidden trellis while the Grandpa Ott morning glory is hanging on to a couple of stakes and the fence.
 Rudbeckia When my friend gave me some small divisions this spring I misunderstood the gift. These rudbeckias look great this year, but I think I will have to find someone in the spring to share with myself.
 Monarda fistulosa Monarda fistulosa is a wonderful pollinator plant. I have two other bee balms, one is Colrain Red, and the other is a darker, more winey red.
 Culver’s Root Culver’s Root is another plant chosen because it is a pollinator magnet, as are two types of mountain mint, still bloom and feeding pollinators.
 Asclepias tuberosa The Asclepias area is filling out, but the season is starting to go by.
 Limelight hydrangea Three hydrangeas are a major part of the South Border. The most easterly is Limelight. This is the third summer for all three.
 Angel’s Blush hydrangea Angel’s Blush is just beginning to show shades of pink, that don’t really show in this photo.
 Firelight hydrangea You can see the blooming sedums on the ground and an aster clump that will be blooming next month.
 Asters These tall asters with sprays of very small flowers are the first to bloom.
This has been the third summer for our garden. We began planting the South Border in June of 2015. We are so happy to see everything making the show we hoped for and look forward to rearranging in the fall ans 2018 spring to do a bit of simplifying.
I thank Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day. Go and visit and see what else is blooming over all our great land.
 South hellstrip On this July Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day in Massachusettss my blooms are quite spread out, although I am looking forward to clusters of blooming daylilies very soon. On our divided hellstrip we have several daylilies. I got lucky in this section with congenial wine-y colors on the bee balm, daylily and echinacea. There are daylilies in several places in the garden, but I can guarantee I don’t remember many of their names.
 North hellstrip In between the South and North Hellstrips is a strip of grass – designed to allow people onto the walkway to the house without trampling the flowers. A very wise and useful design element. Both flowery sides include some of the same plants, and all have survived winter snows, plows, salt, and dogs quite well.
 Crocosmia The crocosmia was the big surprise. I planted bulbs from American Meadows last spring and it didn’t seem as though much had happened which I blamed on my own poor planting. I was in a hurry. I was sure, even if there was some life in the bulbs, it would have been done in by the winter – and yet here it is. I will take better care of it this winter with good mulching to protect it.
 Firelight hydrangea This Firelight hydrangea doesn’t look very fiery, but it is the first of my three hydrangeas to start blooming. Limelight and Angel Blush aren’t too far behind.
 Honeysuckle This honeysuckle, planted last year, is doing so well that I have been willing to prune it in the front, and I am a very nervous pruner.
 Physostegia, obedient plant Physostegia or obedient plant didn’t do much last year, but she has made a substantial clump this year.
 The Fairy rose The Fairy is the main rose at the moment although the red Knock Out has a few blooms. I do expect a second flush – or hope for that second flush – in August
 Buttonbush My strategy for my new low maintenance, water tolerant, pollinator friendly garden has focused on large shrubs. This Buttonbush has more than tripled in size since it was planted in the summer of 2015. It is in one of the wettest spots of the garden and is blissfully happy. Pollinators love the funny little flowers.
Other large shrubs include the three dogwoods, but they are no longer in bloom, but the two elderberry bushes are blooming. These blooms are not very exciting but the result will be berries for the birds, after the pollinators have done their work.
Other plants in bloom right now are: Veronica Mountain mint Blanket flower Marguerite daisies Blue Paradise phlox Coreopsis.
Carol of May Dreams Gardens is the host of this wonderful – and useful meme. Click here and go see what else is blooming over our great land.
 OSO Easy Paprika rose On this June Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day the rose have burst into bloom. It has been a cold and wet spring, but our last couple of days have been in the 90s. The weather gods show just how unpredictable they can be. For me, this spring is is the first really floriferous June we have had. All the roses but one are new plants and they are really showing off.
 Drift Rose – Peach This peach Drift rose blooms right next to Paprika. Both of them are low growing landscape roses and require very little care.
 Purple Rain – a Kordes rose Kordes started hybridizing disease resistant roses over 30 years ago. No herbicides needed. This is another low growing rose.
 Folksinger – Griffith Buck rose I had a Folksinger rose up in Heath, but it never looked this good.
 Polar Express – another Kordes rose This is an elegant icy white rose. I love all the Kordes roses.
 Knockout Red rose Knockout Red supplies the red red rose, that’s newly sprung in June.
 Alchemyst Rose By the time you are looking at all these roses I am sure that Fantin-Latour,and Lion’s Fairy Tale will also be in full bloom. I think I have to wait a little longer for The Fairy and Purington Pink to bloom. But of course, there are other bloomers in June.
 Alchemyst rose I’m adding this closeup because the rose is so lovely – and just now in full bloom.
 White delphinium This delphinium has already lost one blooming stem in a storm, but it looked very pretty on our dinner table.
 Japanese primroses It is amazing that the Japanese primroses are still showing bloom – but it has been very wet.
 Siberian white iris I have three lovely clumps of white Siberians. And friends waiting for a piece of this dependable beauty.
 Blue Siberian iris I have three big clumps of blue Siberians, but these are coming up in a clump of weeds in the North Border. They will not give up. Of course, this is another very wet spot.
Thank you Carol for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Visit May Dreams Gardens and see what else is blooming over our great land.
 Wood poppy This is my first Bloom Day post in quite a while. Here in my corner of western Massachusetts we are having quite a wet spring. Yesterday over 2 inches of rain fell, causing about the worst flooding in the backyard that we have had so far. Even so, blooms are surviving. The wood poppy is growing on our hugel so it is not flooded but has plenty of water to drink.
 Barren strawberry or waldensteinia There is quite a golden look to the garden right now. Barren strawberry is a great ground cover and is making a great border at the edge of the hugel’s stone wall.
 Trollius laxa Trollius laxa is a paler gold. I am wondering if I planted Trollius europeanus which is a taller, more golden globeflower. I used to have it in my old garden.
 Doronicum or leopard’s bane This is the single survivor of a little patch I planted last spring. More gold.
 Golden alexandaers Golden alexanders even have gold in their name. I planted two clumps last year and they are spreading nicely on the bank of the hugel.
 Geum I am not sure which geum this is, but it bloomed all summer last year and well into the fall. What a plant!
 Geum trifolium Geum trifolium is also called Prairie Smoke. The little blossoms will soon be surrounded by delicate haze of smoke – somewhat like the cotina smokebush but on a more delicate and linear scale. Photos will follow in season.
 Fringed bleeding hearts also called Dutchman’s Breeches These were left by the previous owners of our house, but after cleaning out the bed they have thrived. I found a small clump of white fringed bleeding hearts which I think came in on the root of a purchased dappled willow.
 columbine Columbine is beginning to bloom.
 Tiarella or foam flower The tiarella is enjoying a long slow season of bloom this cool wet spring.
 Aronia, black chokeberry This aronia, black chokeberry, is coming along very slowly, but I wanted to include it because I am trying to keep track of bloom times.
 Japanese primrose Bloom is just starting, but there is a good spread of these beautiful flowers in the wettest part of the garden. They were planted last year – gifts from friends – and are thriving. Thank heaven for friends with different plants in their garden.
 little irises – nameless These nameless little irises are doing fine, even in all the wet. You can see the flood just behind the irises and I can tell you that I sink into the lawn when I come near. Because our garden is so wet I have a number of clumps of Siberian and Japanese irises.
 Spring flood tide When you look at the photo of the little irises you can see water behind them, but this is a view of the major part of the garden. Our garden is very wet for a variety of reasons. Yards on either side of ours are paved and at a slightly higher level which means some water drains into our garden. Our soil is heavy clay and drains very slowly. The garden beds are all slightly raised to provide better soil as well as a lift from standing water. There is also an underground stream that flows the length of our street. The water can take several days to infiltrate. You can see why I have included so many water loving/tolerant plants.
Thank you Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for giving us Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and the ability to see what is blooming all over our great land.
 Pink Chrysanthemums on November Bloom Day On this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day in Greenfield, Mass, still boasting only a Zone 5 rating, my very late blooming pink chrysanthemums are still blooming. We have had frost, and some rain and wind, but these dependable beauties are still going. They are the only thing blooming outside.We are still not having freezing night temperatures as a regular thing, though it does get down below 40 degrees.
 Prostrate rosemary in bloom This prostrate rosemary was taken out of a pot and put into Greenfield soil this summer, and has seemed to tolerate the move into another pot for the winter. So far she has been able to live on the enclosed side porch. I admit you have to look pretty close to see those few tiny blue blooms.
 Red Thanksgiving cactus This Thanksgiving cactus never seems to do much. Probably needs repotting. However she always blooms on schedule.
 Thanksgiving cactus in a pale shade In the guest room window a pretty pale pink Thanksgiving cactus is just starting to come into bloom. I bought her last Thanksgiving and she is doing pretty well. You can at least one of my holdover amaryllis will actually bloom again. This might be the first time I have managed a second year’s bloom. Although I never tried very hard before.
And so ends Bloom Day. I am barely getting in under the wire.
Thank you Carol for hosting Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day on May Dreams Gardens which allows us to see all the blooms across the the nation by clicking here.
 Montauk daisy on Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day I am a day late with Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, but yesterday was spent moving the last big items from Heath to our new house and garden in Greenfield. This post records what little is in bloom in Heath on my last Heath bloom day and what is in bloom in my very unfinished garden in Heath.
Heath Garden
 Colchium atumnale These autumn crocus still blooming in all their weedy glory. They are in a bad spot for display – but I never got around to moving them.
 Sedum ‘Neon’ Sedum ‘Neon’ is looking very healthy. I did take a piece down to Greenfield where it blooms in the hellstrip.
 Thomas Affleck rose Thomas Affleck is not quite the last rose of summer. We are still enjoying a few Fairy roses as well.
 Sheffield daisies Sheffies, Sheffield daisies are very late bloomers. I thought I brought some down to Greenfield, but alas no. Maybe there is still time.
 Hydrangea ‘Limelight’ The Heath hydrangeas are doing very well this year. Mothlight is as huge as ever, Limelight doesn’t look too lime-y, but looks great next to Pinky Winky.
Greenfield Garden
 Nameless hydrangea This hydrangea came with the house. I don’t know anything about it so far, except that the former owners cut it down to the ground last fall. And look at it now. I guess it is time to cut it back again. The new hydrangeas that I planted, Angel Blush, Limelight and Firelight seem to be doing OK, but they are not really photo-worthy right now.
 Dahlia ‘Firepot’ This dahlia came from the Bridge of Flowers and I think it is ‘Firepot.’ I also have a wonderful purple dahlia from the Bridge. I plan to have more dahlias next year.
 Gazania It took a while but this gazania finally took hold after our dry summer. I did try to keep watering.
 Joe Pye Weed I planted Joe Pye Weed because it is tolerant of wet sites, but once we began our dry summer it only had one chance, after 5 inches of rain one day, to show that it was happy in the wet.
 Perennial ageratum A few divisions of this perennial ageratum, sometimes called mist flower, was given to me by a friend. I had to cut them back substantially when I planted them in August, but I still got bloom. I have been told to expect a good increase next year.
 Chrysanthemum I can’t think how I acquired this floriferous late blooming chrysanthemum, but I love it. I have some growing in the hellstrip, but with only a bloom or two, although lots of buds, because it is so shady.
 Chelone or turtlehead I cut back the chelone before I moved it down to Greenfield but here is one bold blossom.
 Woods blue aster I brought a few low growing woods blue aster to Greenfield because it is such a good spreader and late bloomer.
 Tricyrtis or toad lily At the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale we sold a lot of tiny Tricyrtis, or toad lily plants, but we had many left. I have been growing them on and you can expect to see these hardy and very interesting plants at the Plant Sale next May.
 Pink Drift rose This pink Drift is not quite the last rose of summer either. Again The Fairy in Greenfield still has a few blooms.
And that is my first Bloom Day in Greenfield. A hard frost is predicted for the next couple of days. And maybe even snow!
Many thanks to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting Bloom Day!
 Anemone Robustissima, cosmos, Achillea The Pearl Bloom Day in Heath
Bloom Day in Heath has wild asters and cultivated asters and autumn is in full swing. The photo above shows a tangle of Japanese anemone ‘Robustissima’, annual cosmos and Achillea The Pearl. But there is more.
 Thomas Affleck rose I will let dependable the Thomas Affleck roses that are blooming less floriferously – The Fairy, the Meidelland roses, and Champlain, one of the Explorer roses.
 A surprise – foxglove I couldn’t resist including this photo of a surprise foxglove – a reminder of the generous bloom for a good part of the summer.
 Sedum ‘Neon’ with bee I only caught ‘Neon’ with one bee, but the sedums, along with garlic chives in bloom now, physostogia, and bee balm all lure lots of pollinators.
 Achillea I don’t know the name of this golden yarrow with the heavy silver foliage, but it is the latest blooming yarrow in my garden this year.
Bloom Day in Greenfield
 Hydrangea ‘Firelight’ The hydrangea ‘Firelight’ is standing in for the other hydrangea, ‘Limelight’ and ‘Blushing Angel’ which are also blooming. They have had a pretty good year and were almost the first shrubs I planted in June.
 Dahlia ‘Firepot’ I planted three dahlias in the rose and shrub border, counting on them to fill up a lot of space with color, and they have come through. The roses all seem to be settling in safely. We’ll see how they come through the winter.
 OSO Easy rose “Paprika’ I couldn’t resist this bright orange-y rose when I saw it in bloom in the nursery. It is one of the small, and newer disease resistant roses that is on the market. I have it planted in a spot that is very sunny and has slightly better soil.
 Joe Pye Weed Joe Pye weed is a native plant but this is a hybrid with variegated foliage. It is a big plant and I think it will look great next year.
 Artemesia lactiflora Artemesia lactiflora, which I also have blooming in Heath, doesn’t photograph very well, the flowers are so fine, but it is a great plant with dark stems and foliage, and a good increaser.
 Alma Potschke aster Alma Potschke blooms in Heath too, but the former owners of this house kindly left this generous clump for me. I love Alma. And so ends Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day in Heath and Greenfield
Thank Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day and click here to see what else is blooming around the country.
 Bloom day tangle Coneflowers, phlox, cosmos and Russian Sage On this Bloom Day it is clear I haven’t spent as much time as usual on the Heath Garden. And yet, there are blooms like this tangle of phlox, coneflowers, Russian sage and cosmos. I can always count on cosmos to fill in. I’m trying not to capture the vigor of the weeds.
 - Echinops
There is also a tangle of Echinops down in a corner of the Sunken Garden which I often fail to mention.
 Casa Planca lily and phlox In all the tangles the Casa blanca lily looks calm and serene.
 Black Beauty lilies and Bee balm The bee balm is a tangle with the Black Beauty lilies that are still going strong, although the blossoms are not as large as usuaal. Crowded? Needing more compost? Investigation required.
 Ann Varner Daylily The Daylily Bank is going by, but Ann Varner, a late daylily, is keeping things going.
Of course t here are a few other things in bloom, heleniums, hydrangeas, thalictrum, Henrii lilies, and the Thomas Affleck rose. At the Greenfield house the new Knockout Red rose is blooming, as are the hydrangeas. Next year should be much more floriferous on the Shrub and rose bed. I hope. For more views of what is blooming across this great land go on over to visit Carol, our host, at May Dreams Gardens.
No irises in bloom now, but if you want to take a chance on winning the beautiful book Beardless Iriises: A plant for every garden situation click here and leave a comment at the bottom of the post. I will draw the name of the lucky winner on August 19.
 Angel Blush Hydrangea On this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day I am celebrating blooms in two gardens, although I dearly hope it will not be too long before I am once again tending a single, small garden. In Greenfield the hydrangeas in the Shrub and Rose border are beginning to bloom even though they were planted only a month ago. Angel Blush is joined by Limelight and Firelight. These hydrangeas will form a beautiful privacy fence.
 Buttonbush Buttonbush was only planted two weeks ago, but once in the very wet ground it finally burst into bloom. It has been waiting in its pot for over a month.
 Thomas Affleck rose In Heath the Thomas Affleck rose continues to endure the rain, and all the other oddities of this year’s weather. Needless to say, another Thomas Affleck has been planted in Greenfield, but not permitted to bloom this year.
 Purington rambler It has not been a great year for many of the rose bushes, but the Purington rambler hasn’t minded the bitter winter, or the undependable spring and summer. I wish someone could tell me how to properly weed such a vicious plant. I suppose putting it up on a fence might help instead of letting it tumble on the Rose bank.
 The Fairy rose Only a very few rose blossoms elsewhere in the garden, but I can always count on the Fairy even though she is a bit more petite this year.
 Achillea Terra Cotta and yellow loossestrife I am taking bits of the the various Achilleas and the old yellow loosestrife down to the new Greenfield garden.
 Coneflowers The coneflowers are blooming in front of the pink cosmos which you can’t see, but they are very pretty together.
 Daylily Bank Daylilies never mind any kind of difficult weather and this is their season.
 Daylilies Some of these daylilies are making their way down to the Greenfield garden.
 Mothlight hydrangea The Mothlight hydrangea in Heath is about 12 years old and has never been so exuberant. Will the Greenfield hydrangeas look like this? Limelight and Pinky Winky are also just coming into bloom.
I thank Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day which gives us all a chance to share our gardens, and see what is blooming all over this great land. Click here for more blooms.
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