A sudden burst of hot weather brought out shorts, t-shirts and leaves on the trees. It was only two weeks ago, on May 10, that the Cascade at Glen Villa was looking bare and boring.
Will these bare branches ever bloom?
Less than two weeks later, boring had become a bouquet of blooms.
Early evening light gives this scene a slight blue tint.
Yet three days after that, the blossoms were beginning to fade, all thanks to extremely high temperatures.
At its best, the Cascade is a frothy waterfall of spirea.
The star magnolias in the Lower Garden were in full bloom last week,
Up close, the blossoms were stunning.
This is Magnolia stellata ‘Susan.’
Three days ago petals began to fall.
Wistful yet wonderful.
And now, the grass that suddenly turned green is spotted with pink.
Susan is only one of two types of magnolias that bloom in the Lower Garden. Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ is a later variety, with dark outer petals that fade on the inside to baby pink.
A few days ago it was coming into bloom. Now, it is going over fast.
Even though today is much, much cooler, I doubt that ‘Leonard’ will bloom for long.
Daffodils at Glen Villa began blooming in mid-April. Those on the berm by the Skating Pond that was so gorgeous a month later …
I took this photo on May 17.
… are now crumpled remnants of themselves.
Wet handkerchiefs or wet mopheads?
But to my delight, the late blooming narcissus (Narcissus poeticus) in a shady spot near the front door are still going strong.
Pheasant’s eye narcissus, or the poet’s daffodil, is extremely fragrant. It is also more poisonous than most daffodils.
Hot weather also shortened the season for my favourite flower, Jeffersonia diphylla. Its blossoms are always short-lived, but this year, the flowers that appeared on day 1 ….
Jeffersonia bloomed on May 20.
… were dropping, petal by petal, by the end of day 2.
The flowers are gone now, leaving only the beautifully bisected leaves.
For weeks I’ve been looking forward to seeing La Grande Allée in full bloom. The buds were promising.
The buds of Malus ‘Dolgo’ are tinged with pink.
But I could tell that something wasn’t quite right. Individual trees varied considerably. Some looked vigorous, others were thinly leafed.
Those branches should be lushly, not thinly leafed.
Overall, the Allée didn’t bloom as well as I’d expected. Definitely not as well as I’d hoped. Was the lack of rain responsible?
Not the best year, by far. But I’m always optimistic.. Next year will be better.
Last night it rained hard, the first rain we’ve had in weeks. This morning the air is clear and cool and the more plants in the garden are bursting into bloom. The primula I planted several years ago are blooming well, their deep red blossoms providing a sharp contrast to the white blossoms of sweet woodruff (Gallium odoratum).
Candelabra primula ‘Miller’s Crimson’ stand out against the green and white gallium.
Probably the sweet woodruff will spread too far but for now, I am pleased with its abundance.
What’s blooming in your garden that is giving you joy?
Beautiful gardens ! One little thing : I think the pale pink magnolia is Leonard Messel and the dark pink one is Susan . Love the willow with the daffodils. Our sort of blue mauve Jeffersonia
did exactly the same thing as yours. At least the leaves are interesting.
Marie-Josée, you are absolutely right! Thanks for the correction.
I was wondering if your Magnolia Susan blooms more than once during the season. Some people told me that sometimes it blooms repeatedly before the middle of september. Of course not as showy as the first time ..
Yes, it does re-bloom, usually starting in mid August. Definitely not as showy.
You can’t have too much sweet woodruff!
And the same things are happening here, in our drought. Sad to see flowers shrivelling up in the heat (irises..) Except the daffodils are a distant memory and things are coming into flower which we normally expect in July.
And weedy as never before because the plants haven’t filled out, taking their space, so weeds have popped up in between. At least we have no visitors to worry about!
I’m dividing and transplanting that patch to give it more room to grow. And like you, I’m expecting no tour groups this summer, giving me time to do some big projects.
Thanks for a lovely post.
I’m hoping our warm weather will ripen serviceberries (planted here as street trees in our city) to develop some flavor and sweetness. Then, we’ll be collecting them.
They make good jam.