My favorite things - late June

I was stumped about what to write about this week.  I've been disappointed with many plants.  They don't seem to have much "oomph" this year.  And there is a part of my garden that is vapid.  Lots of pretty colors that don't stir my soul.  I need to think about these problem areas, and what I am going to do about them (perhaps leave them alone and see if they come into their own?)  Instead of writing more fully about these issues, I will showcase what makes me happy right now.

First is my "miracle" amaryllis.  This flower is at its peak.  Soon it will have a rest in the shade of my liriope patch before dispatching it to the garage for some much needed neglect.

This picture shows one of my favorite summer places - on the slider you see in the middle ground, watching the bees visit my ancient, late-blooming rhododendron.

I have a spectacular filipendula that is blooming with the most glorious coral pink flowers.

This plant has really nice foliage, seen on the right, that looks great after the blooms are spent. Perhaps the plant is getting too big and taking up too much space.  A pruning decision will have to be made.  This picture  also includes Heuchera 'Molly Bush' and Yarrow 'Moonshine' (which responded well to being divided several weeks ago.)

We have a very old climbing rose that looks heavenly.

 
This rose was climbing up our garage when we moved to Wellesley over thirty years ago.  It has survived beautifully, despite losing the garage when we added on to our house.

Finally, my "hot" area has come through for me, despite my trepidation.  The brilliant orange asclepias tuberosa looked, for several weeks, like a large animal was using it for a bed.  The plant prefers poor soil and little water - both of which I have provided this year.  In the last few days, though, I have been very happy with how this area looks.

From left to right, the plants are blanket flower, yarrow, and asclepias tuberosa.