June updates
Jeffersonia dubia
Many thanks to all who participated in the Hepatica seeds sale!
Follow the instructions, sow the seeds when they arrive, and be patient. In a few years you will be rewarded with charming, colorful spring beauties!
In the near future, we expect a few other species with ‘best germination when sown fresh’ during early summer to be available.
Considering the current heat wave, and by the look of the fruits, it is most likely that we’ll have all such species (many of them natives), offered in a single wave this year: Jeffersonia, Asarum canadense, Stylophorum diphyllum, Sanguinaria….and so on.
As always, the seeds will be announced beforehand.
June is by definition Dianthus flowering month. Most of them have fragrant flowers and are great companions for all other garden plants. Is there a need to repeat that they are easily grown from seeds? Only two from my favourites; I prefer the wild forms over the countless cultivars available on the market.
Talking native species, the Golden Alexander, Zizia aurea, is flowering right now, filling the gap between the natives early spring and late summer bloomers.
It is an excellent pollinator friendly plant for short-tongued insects, doing well in a variety of locations, from full sun to part-shade. Serendipity made it for a tall blue Aquilegia to flower close to one of them; blue and yellow is a great combination in the garden.
I like it so much that last fall I also sowed the Heart-leaf Golden Alexander or meadow Zizia (Zizia aptera). The more the better 😊 The meadow Zizia it is supposedly more tolerant of soil dryness compared to Zizia aurea.
From the tall and beautiful category, Gladiolus caucasicus and Salvia nutans deserve a special mention this year.
And of course, Paeonia peregrina (in the featured image) was right on time to lead the June blooming in the garden (do not forget to sow your peonies seeds during the summer time).
