Welcome Home!

I'm just getting back from this year's Garden Fling in Buffalo, N.Y.: an amazing gathering of like-minded garden bloggers and social media mavens. More on that to come in the days and weeks ahead! Meanwhile...

Recently, I'd been thinking this could be the year: the year the Maypops (Passiflora incarnata) overwintered outdoors would bloom.

Five years ago, I planted two sets of Maypops--one in a pot that I've overwintered in the sunroom each year since, and one I planted in the garden below a trellis against the house. While the indoor plant has bloomed the past four years (obviously milder conditions), the outdoor grouping has grown but never bloomed...until now!

Imagine my surprise when we got home, and I peaked behind the foliage on the trellis to find this! Yay!



It was a little bedraggled from scorching in the hot sun without water. (And of course each individual flower only lasts a day or two.)



But after watering, a new bloom opened today, and there are several buds for more flowers in the weeks ahead! I love the way the foliage and flowers snake around supports and structures in the garden. It's such a fascinating plant.



I like the Maypops paired with another surprise this summer--bright pink Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea), also planted from a seed mix a couple of years ago.





While outdoor Maypops die back to the ground in winter in my climate, it appears I can expect these beauties to bloom going forward, even in my USDA zone 5b garden. I'm so glad I planted them!

A Smooth Hydrangea With a Special Purpose

Every year about this time, I hope to see rusty-patched bumble bees, an endangered species. It's always a thrill to find them in my garden! Some of their favorite plants here have been various Alliums and Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa).

In the past several days, their preferred hangout has been the Invincibelle Lace® Hydrangea (H. arborescens subsp. radiata), which is a cultivar of the native H. radiata. For several years, this easy-care, shade-tolerant shrub has made itself at home in a special garden spot, and the pollinators are now visiting with abandon. It's a lovely shrub--from bud to bloom and beyond.

The scent when it blooms is amazing!



And even as it fades, its florets and filaments capture little treasures, like errant leaves.



And the wings of former visitors.



During my recent observation, rusty-patched bumble bees were joined by many other pollinators for a party on the flowers.





It was fun to watch banded longhorn beetles climbing up its structure.



The light of the shrub's dappled-shade location plays magically across the flowers.

This little Hydrangea is happy in its home near a Crabapple tree. And it has a special purpose--hosting an endangered species and a wide range of other pollinators.

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The rusty-patched bumble bee has been listed as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 2017. Once commonly found throughout a broad range of eastern and northcentral North America, its presence has shrunk to a few small areas within that native range. We're fortunate in this part of the Midwest to still find them in our gardens and natural areas.

The Xerces Society offers suggestions on how we can all get involved in bumble bee conservation--to help the endangered rusty-patched bumble bee and other species.

Pleasant Summertime Combinations

I won't complain about the weather. I know many folks are suffering under extreme heat and other difficult conditions. I will say, however, that we aren't having typical June weather for these parts. But no denying...it is comfortable.

Some plants are growing very slowly, while others are trotting along, happy as can be. So, for this Six on Saturday, here are six groupings faring well in the cool, comfortable, adequately moist weather. Above, the 'Lollipop' Lilies (Lilium hybrid) are lovely paired with Lacecap Hydrangea blooms (H. arborescens subsp. radiata).



My "mostly foliage" mixed pots are filling in nicely.



These two buddies have been together in a pot for a few years now: Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) and Fuchsia 'Autumnale.' They spend the winter in the sunroom, and the summer in dappled shade.



The pink Cleomes (C. hassleriana) I planted in the side garden pair well with the perennial 'May Night' Salvias (Salvia × sylvestris).



Woodland Pinkroot (Spigelia marilandica) blooms in several locations. This little grouping flowers a little later than the others, but it looks naturally happy near the rock wall, interspersed with Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris).

Finally, the Prairie Rose (Rosa setigera) is now blooming--better late than never! I had to be careful, zooming in from a distance, because robins are nesting in the Rose arbor.

That's my six! Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations for hosting "Six on Saturday"!

Floating Summer Flowers

Tying in with my post from Saturday, I moved the blooms from the delicate teacups I featured into a clear bowl. I placed them on the gravel pathway for this photo, but they've been sitting on a table on the back porch for a few days and holding their own.

There's something about floating flowers that seems enchanting, no matter the vessel.

So I'm submitting this simple follow-up post for "In a Vase on Monday," hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Check out her blog for more vase ideas from around the world. Thanks to Cathy for hosting!