Solstice, Winter and Summer

Here at the solstice, in the dark of winter, I am dreaming of my garden at the summer solstice.

Here is a snapshot of what was in bloom within a week of the summer solstice.

First up, breadseed poppies and feverfew.

Vertically-framed shot with two burgundy poppies with their faces showing. The focus is on the one center and slightly lower left. It has a yellowish central structure that will become the seedpod, surrounded by creamy-yellow stamens. The burgundy petals are darker near the center, and are gracefully cupped to form a loose goblet shape. The poppies are surrounded by green, and a cluster of daisy-like flowers with white petals and yellow centers. These are feverfew.

Breadseed poppies bloom for a relatively short window — each flower only lasts a couple days — but they can put on an impressive show when they’re in flower!

And in the autumn you get neat seedpods that hold the poppy seeds used in baking.

A bright red poppy with petals with a cut edge and dark purple-black "thumb prints" at the base is in the middle frame. It is bracketed by three burgundy poppies. Pink foxgloves and blue hydrangeas are visible in the background.

I tried a few new flowers this year. All of them were somewhat successful, and I will be growing most of them next spring.

Here, California bluebells and Bird’s-eye gilia join in a beautiful but ephemeral display.

Both are wildflowers, so they have a short but spectacular bloom in late spring.

This picture shows many small flowers. The larger flowers are an intense medium blue with tiny white stamen dots in the middle. They have five petals that form an open scalloped cup. The smaller flowers also have five petals, but the petals are more distinct from each other. The smaller flowers have a pale lavender base color, but they darken to deep purple at the center, with a yellow central throat. This and the brilliant white stamen dots give a sense of depth to the tiny blooms

This is Schizanthus, with the rather rude common name of poor man’s orchid. It is quite beautiful, and unlike the bluebells and Gilia it continues to bloom all summer.

It also looks good both close up and from a distance, which is not always true.

The copper on the pot is to keep slugs away.

A pot with a copper band holds a tall, vertically growing mass of flowers in shades of pink and purple. Each small flower is symmetrical horizontally but not vertically, giving an impression of little butterflies or orchids. The base color is either pale pink or pale pink-lavender. The pale pink flowers have a strong yellow forehead; the purple-toned ones have a smaller yellow forehead, but strong dark purple markings above.

Signet marigolds are one of my favorite annuals.

I grow them in big pots, three plants to a pot. They don’t photograph especially well, but they bring lots of life and color. Close up, the reds are my favorites, but the orange and yellow form a tapestry with the other flowers.

A series of staggered pots of flowers and plants, with a gate and fence made of field posts in the background. The foremost pot is full of bright marigolds with lots of tiny flowers in shades or medium orange and burgundy. The next layers is pots of green, mint and a snapdragon not yet blooming. Beyond are more marigolds, lemon yellow this time. In the background there are more layers of marigolds and greenery.

In gardening, everyone draws the line between weeds and flowers in a different spot.

For me, mullein is definitely on the “flower” side. This one is just getting started. They become a handsome 3-5 foot spike, and the birds love the seeds!

Feverfew and foxglove behind.

A spike of flowers is just getting started. It is growing from a floret of gray-green fuzzy leaves, most of which are below the image. The opening flowers are lemon yellow, and above them is a compact spike that hints at dozens of flowers to come. Behind is a bank of white and yellow flowers -- feverfew -- and a few pink spikes off to the right -- foxglove.

Some flowers photograph beautifully.

For others, a photo just does not capture their charm.

Here, gentian sage rises in front of agastache, with signet marigolds in the background.

Sages and agastaches in general are charming — especially in person!

Blue flowers with almost an alligator mouth look (long forehead, long lower jaw) rise off of a stalk on the left. Behind are slim stalks carrying clusters of apricot-marmalade trumpet-shaped flowers. Beyond is a cluster of lemon yellow marigolds

And Chantilly snapdragons!

I grew these from seed last spring, but unlike the others they are not true annuals. They often overwinter in our climate, and I have also discovered you can take cuttings! I have a bunch of babies in the basement.

Several flowers of varying color are stacked up a single closer spike. Each flower has five petals, but is vertically oriented, so it has two petals as a forehead and three as the lower face. The bottom-most flowers are bright yellow-orange. The topmost are a soft orange-pink.

Thank you for coming on this tour of my summer solstice garden!

A bank of poppies with gray-green foliage and deep burgundy flowers. On the left is a stand of flowers with fine-cut yellow-green foliage and lots of little white and yellow daisy-like flowers. This is feverfew. A couple spikes of pink foxglove show at the right and in the background.

I will be growing all of these again… and I may have ordered a dozen or two packets of seed to try in addition.

Happy solstice, and know the light will be longer tomorrow!

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Annaka Kalton's musings and miscellanea