Summer’s Floral Bounty: GBBD, July 2022
June was cooler than average in Maine, but July leaves no question that summer is here. In the garden, the summer display of daylilies (Hemerocallis) has been coming on strong. After weeks of anticipation as I watched developing buds, the first daylily flower (‘Orange Prelude’) opened at the end of June. The following day, three more early varieties began to bloom, and one or more new varieties have joined the display each day since. During the past week, I’ve found an average of four new varieties in bloom each day. Two and a half weeks after that first daylily flower opened, four dozen varieties are blooming, with another three dozen still to come. The daylilies have not yet arrived at their peak display, but we have reached a tipping point when the count of varieties in bloom exceeds the number yet to come and when the early daylilies like ‘Orange Prelude’ have only a few buds left to flower.
| The dominant color in the July garden is yellow, as many yellow daylilies are joined by the strong yellows of Coreopsis and Heliopsis. |  |
On the hot and spicy front slope, the yellows are combined with reds, oranges, and purples.
On the edges of the garden, the strong colors of early goldenrod (Solidago juncea) bring added summer sizzle.
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But not all the colors are hot. Some of the daylilies in my garden bloom in soft pastels.
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The soft yellow daylilies blooming on the side slope combine with the pale lavender wands of Hosta ventricosa blooming along the side of the driveway. |
| The pastels create a calm, welcoming feel as visitors approach the entrance to the house. |  |
The first blue balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus) are beginning to join the floral display. Blue is also the dominant color along the lavender walk, where lavender (Lavandula augustifolia) is blooming profusely and buzzing with bumble bees. I’ve even seen a hummingbird visiting the lavender flowers.
In the weeks to come, more and more flowers will join the summer floral bounty as my garden reaches its high summer peak.
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol Michel at May Dreams Gardens. Visit her blog to see the bounty of July blooms from other gardeners.
Jean's Garden 
July in your garden sounds much like March in mine, where each daydelights you with several new plants in bloom. Your daylily collection is spectacular. I can’t claim to have any genus of plants that blooms with such abundance within a compressed period – or really any circumstance. The only bloom we share this month is the balloon flower. Best wishes for a colorful summer, Jean.
Kris, I’m always amazed that we have any blooms in common, given our very different climates and growing conditions. It’s probably not surprising that I have abundant blooms in a compressed period, since my garden season is pretty compressed compared to yours. (When your garden is at its spectacular peak in March, mine is still under snow!) I grow about 90 different varieties of daylilies, and, at their peak, about 60 will be in bloom at one time. We are just about there; today’s count was 61 varieties in bloom. There are still new varieties beginning to bloom each day, but now also early varieties finishing their bloom.
I love all the colorful lilies😊
Ellen, I grow very few true lilies; they just don’t perform well in my conditions. But daylilies are happy to grow and bloom exuberantly in my sandy soil — for which I am very grateful!
I’m really a fan of Platycodon, such cool flowers and the bluish color seems to be a lot less available where I am (especially if you’re not a fan of iris). I have it growing in mostly shade in Nevada, and I almost gave up on it coming back this spring – not the slightest hint of growth until June. Looking great now though! Thanks for the enjoyable post, Jean.
Evan, I’m a Platycodon fan, too. I have had some white ones and some pink ones, but they have been less vigorous than the blue. They occasionally self-sow in my garden, and the volunteers are always blue.
Hello Jean, the photo collage of the hot-coloured daylilies is lovely, they really “zing”.
Sunil, Even more zingy hot-colored flowers have been added to the mix since I took these photos, including a big purple flower named ‘Royal Fireworks’ and an orange and red zinger named ‘Crown Fire.’
Hi, Jean. I want to let you know that your Garden Blog is one of the highlights of my month. The pictures in this month’s in particular gave me a wonderful sense of peace. Thank you.
Laura, I’m happy to share the joy!
Your daylilies are a wonder! So many varieties!
Janet M. Powers
jpowers0135@earthlink.net jpowers0135@earthlink.net
“I object to violence because when it appears to do good,
the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
Jan, I’m not normally a plant collector, but I make an exception for daylilies. And since there are almost 100,000 different named varieties registered with the American Daylily Society, there is a lot of scope for adding new ones to my collection!