Floral Friday: My Favorite Flowers in Bloom

It's an exciting time in the garden: With the official start of summer this week, the garden has burst into bloom! Everywhere I look there are pops of color! I really feel like this year will be one of the best yet for my garden.

And it's not just in my garden, either. My gardening friends on Twitter are also sharing beautiful photos (and this week, a video!) of their gardens in bloom from all over the country! (Search for the #GrowNow2015 hashtag on Twitter. ) To see this week's featured garden, head on over to Beth's blog at More Than Oregano to see Cheli Cuevas of Gild the Garden highlight plants growing in her California garden.

Back here in the Northeast, here's what's growing in my garden.

In the Main Garden

I have lots of favorite flowers, so it's always hard for me to pick just one. My solution is to categorize them by season, and this week there are many blooming! I'm happy to see a return of hydrangea blossoms this year, after the lack of blooms last year due to the below average winter temperatures. I was worried that the cold winter we had a few months ago would doom us yet again, but the hydrangeas have pulled through. (All photos can be viewed larger by clicking on them.)

Endless Summer hydrangea

Endless Summer hydrangea

Jackmanii clematis from a friend's cutting in 2009.

Becky shasta daisy - my favorite daisy!

Dayliles from my grandfather's house in Queens, N.Y. They are the
first to bloom and may be ordinary, but they remind me of his garden.

This little wren sings her heart out all day long above my garden.

Feverfew

Daylily

The first coneflower to bloom.

Butterflies love butterfly weed!

Golden Marguerite: A herb that blooms all summer.

Daylily

I couldn't resist this Gerbera daisy from the nursery.

In the Vegetable Garden

The tomatoes are beginning to set and the garlic scapes are ready to be harvested. The parsley and dill are about gone because I'm hosting a family of black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars (who have been moved indoors for protection from predatory wasps). Here are some other occurrences in the vegetable garden this week.

Here is one of the four caterpillars inside the house now
(photo from my Instagram account).

Black raspberries are coming in.

Calendula blooms in front of oregano.

Bush beans on lockdown (protection from the groundhog).

Shiro plums forming.

In the Back Garden

The back garden typically doesn't get as much attention as the front main garden, but I'm hoping to change that this year. It is mostly shade with some part sun.

A banded hairstreak butterfly resting on the greenhouse.

I love these balcony geraniums.

"Plum Perfect" daylily is petite and blooms early.

I'm not a big fan of astilbe, so this is the only one I have. (It made the cut because it
was purple and cheap.) I like how it pairs with Corydalis lutea in the background.

Clematis in the back garden

Last week I did not share a Floral Friday post, but instead wrote about a field trip I took to view showy lady's slippers in bloom in Vermont. Click here to read more about the trip and click here to see photos of the flowers on my photography website.

What's blooming in your garden this week?