In a way it’s a little strange that this seems (maybe especially to non-gardeners) to be the hub of our gardening year – that all of our efforts revolve around this very point.  We know that’s not true at all and yet… We plan and plant and starting right about now or a couple of weeks ago if we’re really on the ball, we maintain – and begin to plan again for next year. Not only that but rather ironically, mid-summer/mid-July is generally one of the least pleasant times of year to actually be in the garden. It’s usually too hot, too muggy, too buggy to fully enjoy the mid summer blooms of our labor and so this is traditionally the perfect time to vacate the premises.

Most gardeners I know actually prefer other seasons to this and design their gardens accordingly. I seem to have a spring garden at home and Gail definitely has an early fall one. The Display Garden is a September garden – although a lot of my shots today were taken here – and the Rock Garden peaks much earlier than now. The Rose Garden, of course, has two seasons before and after the mid-summer beetle battle (they emerged just this week). But unlike most summers on record, we’re enjoying unseasonably mild and lovely English sort of weather and it’s actually quite nice to be out in the garden. The plants are looking like they’re loving being here too. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. (Ask me again though in 2 weeks and I’ll sing a different song on my way to Oh Canada…)

In honor of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (hosted as always by Carol of May Dreams Gardens – visit her site to see what’s in bloom in blogs from around the world), here’s a selection of Blithewold’s mid-July blooms and one bud for next time: (Hover over for caption and click on for larger image)

Every so often I find I’m struck by a new color – something that was a “meh” only last year or even just yesterday becomes the best thing ever. It figures that I would choose the most brilliantly perfect, cloudless, sunny day we’ve had so far to show off my new favorite. – It’s a color I love all of a sudden because of how it brightens the gray days. Everyone knows I’m all for green and I have gone so far as to sneak something with a green flower into almost every garden. But I haven’t always loved plants with chartreuse foliage. It’s been coming on sort of slowly this year and then all of a sudden one gray day it really hit me. I heart chartreuse! Get out the Benjamin Moore fan book – I want to paint the world this color.

But today is definitely a true test of my love. The sun has the power to turn this sublime shade of pure sprite to a less appealing mellow yellow. Chartreuse foliage bleaches out with too much sun -  but give it too little and it can go the other way deepening too far into green-green. It’s a delicate balance and so far this year Mother Nature herself has withheld just the right amount of sun for color perfection. Interestingly enough, our eyes can still identify limey green even when we’re nighttime colorblind – that’s why firetrucks and Gremlins used to be painted Big Bad or Safety Green. It’s a must-have color for moon gardens and dappled shade and all of the gray days this year so far. Without further ado, I give you the gallery Chartreuse: Click on for larger images and hover over for captions.

Have you discovered a new appreciation for this or any other color this year?

I’ve been meaning to tell you about Fred and Dan’s discovery for a few weeks now but keep getting distracted by garden tours, award worthy blooms, days off and other shiny things. A month or two ago I bemoaned that the wild honeybee colony living in the hive near the greenhouse must have succumbed to the dreaded Colony Collapse Disorder because the bees were obviously no longer in residence. But about 3 weeks ago Fred and Dan cut down the famous horse chestnut stump, got a good look at the remains of the hive and determined that the bees probably vacated for another reason: There was a fairly major water leak. The stump was completely rotten and open to the sky and our hope now is that the bees had sufficient flood warning to make a move and restock their honey stores well before winter. We all took it as a good sign that there were no corpses in the stump. The honeycomb was completely washed out but still has a deep, dark and slightly bitter molasses sort of fragrance – I think it smells exactly like a good stout. It must have been wonderfully rich honey…

With a few warm sunny days under July’s belt, more flowers have opened in earnest and we’ve seen a lot more pollinator activity in the last week or so. The honeybees are back in healthy looking numbers and there have been sweat bees and swarms of zingy little bee-like creatures that I think must be hover/syrphid flies as well as the ubiquitous bumbles (none of whom got in front of my camera lens this morning, I’m amazed to say).

It’s been at least a couple-three weeks since I asked this question so I’ll ask again – are you seeing a lot of pollinator activity in your garden now too?

It was Lilah’s suggestion when she first saw the sea of pink peony poppies (voted Most Flirtatious) in full bloom in the Cutting Garden that I do a Superlatives post. Since I spent high school trying to escape detection, I never properly appreciated the value of yearbook superlatives – “most popular” I was not; though I might have had a chance at “cheekiest”… Now I’m thrilled to participate in the voting and have added a post category to my list in anticipation of this being a new tradition. Without further ado I give you the winners for the month of June:

Biggest Gossip

Eschscholzia californica (California poppy) has had everyone talking.

a three-way all-Echinacea tie for Most Likely to Succeed

We think that ‘Sundown’ will be a keeper in the North Garden for spanning the July gap. And ‘Virgin’ along with the long anticipated ‘Green Envy’ will always succeed with me.

Prettiest Smile

Dahlia ‘Pale Tiger’ brings out the gorgeous grin in all of us.

Class Clown

There’s just something about Calendula ‘Antares Flashback’ that makes us a little giddy…

and Most Likely to Be Famous

Click here to see a recent post about our giant sequoia by Danielle Sherry, an associate editor at Fine Gardening Magazine!

Do you have any superlative winners in your garden?