Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - June 2014

I'm joining in this month for the late edition of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, normally posted on the 15th of every month to show what's blooming in the garden. To see what is blooming this month in gardens around the world, head over to May Dreams Gardens, our hostess for GBBD.

Penstemon serrulatus. Normally there is much more blue as the flowers age, but this year, perhaps due to the warmer weather, the flowers have been fading before they can achieve the mostly blue coloration. A native yarrow hitched a ride into my garden with the penstemon and will bloom soon.

Tiny flowers dot Satureja douglasii, commonly known as yerba buena. This plant seeded in naturally onto an area with only a thin covering of fine mulch over landscape fabric. I plan to start adding more soil in thin layers to give this native more purchase so that it can grow more thickly.

An unknown Dutch iris gifted by a friend is one of my last irises to bloom.

Hoya carnosa is a family heirloom plant, and emits a strong scent at night. Opinions differ as to whether this is a good thing or not. Personally I love the sweet scent.

Numerous umbels hang from the plant, which will provide flowers for most of the summer.

Tillandsia ionantha erupts with long, tubular flowers.

Iris ensata 'Variegata' is another late-blooming iris in my garden.

Bright yellow on the falls contrasts sharply with the dark purple of the rest of the flowers.

The lavenders are loaded with fragrant spikes. Here you can see the individual flowers, which I at least don't usually pay attention to in the face of the overall mass of color.

Lavenders pair well with Yucca filamentosa for textural contrast.

Allium christophii is nearly finished, while Salvia nemorosa East Friesland has just reached full bloom. The seed heads of the allium will remain ornamental all summer.

One of my few remaining Allium caeruleum. This bed may receive too much summer water, as this particular allium species is reportedly very intolerant of water during dormancy.

Geranium 'Dark Reiter' has enough blue in the flowers that it doesn't clash with the purple foliage.

Most people don't think of grasses as flowering plants, but botanically-speaking the dangling florets of this Stipa gigantea are indeed flowers.

Adorable and colorful blooms of Lonicera crassifolia have been opening for nearly 2 weeks now, changing constantly as the flowers age.

A handful of late blooms dot Magnolia stellata, smaller than the main season blooms and streaked with pink.

Kalmia 'Bullseye' bears heavy clusters of intricately-formed flowers.

A few Iris tenax continue to bloom, among them this naturally-occuring seedling with purplish-blue streaks.

Other blooms this month include Montia parvifolia, late rhododendrons, the last blooms of my yellow daylily, Allium cernuum, the first brilliant flowers of Mimulus cardinalis, Carex comans, Saxifraga stolonifera, Hutchinsia alpina, Alyssum spinosum, Astrantia, and Molinia caerulea 'Variegata'. Yucca filamentosa and several Bletilla rapidly approach blooming.