July 2009 Garden Blogger Bloom Day

Hard to believe it is already July 15th! There is so much color in my yard this time of year. I thought the easiest thing to do would be to put up a collage of current blooms and berries.
From the upper left hand corner- Rubus argutus Navaho (thornless blackberries),Gaura lindheimeri 'Ballerina Rose', caladium bloom, Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage), Lagerstroemia x.Tuscarora (Crape Myrtle), Lantana camara 'Miss Huff', Hibiscus moscheutos, some 'fun guy', Rosa 'Carpet Rose' white, Lobularia maritima (Sweet alyssum), Hydrangea paniculata, Hibiscus coccinea 'Texas Star', Dwarf Yellow Canna,H. paniculata, Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower), Sambucus (elderberries), more blackberries, Cleome (Spider Flower), Caladium 'Red Flash', Pennisetum setaceum rubrum 'Fireworks' & Artemisia 'Powis Castle', Hybiscus syriacus 'Marina' (Rose of Sharon 'Blue Bird'), Dwarf Red Canna.



Be sure to click on the collage and make it larger.

Here is an interesting bloom-- a Caladium bloom.


As always, it is time to check out the other garden blogger's blooms---head over to Carol's web site May Dreams Gardens.

Yorktown Market Days

What does one do on a Saturday morning? If you are in the Yorktown area, you can go to the waterfront in old Yorktown and enjoy the market. For the past few years Yorktown has a market through the summer and late into fall.


One not only finds Virginia Grown produce, but information, flowers and music!



The York County Cooperative Extension Office has a table full of information, staffed today by the lovely Jean, one of the York County Master Gardeners. The Gardener's Workshop owner Lisa Ziegler has buckets of blooms...one bouquet lovelier than the next. Stop by Lisa's website. Tell her you came by way of the Queen of Seaford's web site.
Music is offered by local artists and really completes the experience.

The Waterman's Museum also had a booth
...truly something for everyone!


Across the street is the York River
and the Coleman Bridge... heavenly breezes blow in from the water.

For all our livestock buddies...there are even some chickens on hand!

The entire waterfront is lovely. There are benches in nooks and quiet places to enjoy the water or the flowers or people watching!





And when you are ready to leave... head over to the parking garage.

Come again!!!

Ninebark 'Coppertina'

Earlier this week I went over to a friend's house to see her garden. She has some plant material that is a little out of the ordinary and I really like it. One of the plants is a Ninebark. Many of you know the native variety Physocarpus opulifolius. We have this variety in the Learning Garden and I like the red berries in the fall.



My friend has a Ninebark cultivar that is really striking. It is a cross between the Physocarpus opulifolius 'Dart's Gold' and P. opulifolius 'Diablo'. Ninebark are hardy to a zones 3-8. There are fruits for the birds in the winter and really nice foliage through the growing season. 'Coppertina' has a bronze-y leaf that sparkles in the sunlight. Ninebark are easy to grow, take to pruning quite easily--you can limb it up to tree form or cut it back to have a nicely rounded shrub. It grows in full sun to part shade-- how accommodating!