June In Color

This month will continue what started in May and will allow subtle changes in the garden, color wise the May push is slowing and beginning to show weakness by the middle of this month. The dogwoods are getting the full leaf treatment with red, gray and green, needles of the conifers have been coming on for several days now with each season being a bit different in regards to the timing and the weather.

Some of the plants in the azalea/rhododendron family are still producing the bloom show with the added attraction of the new leaf growth coming behind the bloom. Soon the majority of the color will be on the ground with some of that fall being gravity and some being from the help of the rains.

The reds of the dwarf nandina is fading while a new yellow glow is taking its place. Likewise the red bark of the “Snake bark maple” has turned a yellow/green while the buds of the new leaves have been pushing. This tree will now come to be just another plant that you walk by with all of the red being gone.

The reds of the nandina domestica and the American holly are starting to go away, some do to drop and some do to the birds that feed on these berries. Later in the late summer and early fall these berries will reappear looking like a dish of round green mints.

A big time for the hostas, most of our varieties are going to show a pale purple while some will show a white bloom. The leaf structure of these plants will be of a light green with some being variegated with yellow or white. Watch for the white blooms of the nandina domestica and the Davidii viburnum one being a gruff scrub brush effect and the other a miniature bouquet.

Yellows from euonymus planted near the gathering area could not be more yellow and remember they have already been pruned several times and as the new leaves mature they too will become part of full yellow.