Fourth of July Flowers

Happy Independence Day! Here's what the perennial border looks like right now. There's a lot more red right now than before, so I'll consider this our floral fireworks.


The red climbing roses are still going strong. I haven't been deadheading them, but they are still blooming. Next year the new ones will be big enough to get going up the side of the house.


The white echinacea is in full flower. I never deadhead these either, but that's actually a good thing with these — the seed heads are interesting even after the petals are long gone.


More daisies — these are Shastas and are super tall. Behind them, if you look carefully, you can see that our red hollyhocks are just starting to open up. Eventually they should be taller than the daisies, but now that I'm seeing the true heights of some of these plants, I think I have some adjustments to make in the positions of some of them. Also, to the left is a white daylily — the first to open this summer.


Speaking of daylilies, near the porch steps there are some red ones fanning out over some much smaller daisies. This is a miniature version of what I'm hoping the hollyhocks will eventually look like behind the taller daisies.

The height of summer is definitely daisy time! These were our wedding flowers (well, not these exactly, but daisies in general), so we have a heavy dose of them throughout the border. Hopefully they'll still be going strong a week from now for our anniversary!

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