If June is the month for roses, July is the month of the lily!

And next to roses, lilies are my favourite flower.

I have Asiatic lilies, Oriental lilies and Trumpet lilies, and they are just getting started. The only garden I don’t have lilies in is the catio, since lilies are very dangerous for cats.

Last year, my lily turnout was terrible thanks to an infestation of the Red Lily Beetle. But I got out there early and frequently this spring, picking off any adult beetles, and destroying any eggs/larvae I found. I still had some damage to the leaves, but it was enough to keep the pests in check, and the flowers to bloom. So far, it’s just the two above (Royal Kiss and Tiny Double U), but there’s lots more to come – all the ones I brought from the townhouse, plus many new ones planted last fall and this spring.

And then there are the daylilies

This one is Stella D’Oro. She’s the small, but prolific one you see blooming in parking lot verges, and office building gardens everywhere. Practically indestructible and blooming right to the frost, it’s the ultimate “low maintenance” plant.

She’s always the first to bloom. But not long after, came Purple D’Oro.

It’s pretty, but not really purple, which annoys me. I hate it when they do that… but still, it’s pretty.

I think I have at least a dozen different daylilies… maybe more, as I added several new ones this spring. The next few months are going to be amazing.

And just because July is here doesn’t mean the roses have stopped. One of the things I insist on in a rose is that it must be a repeat bloomer.

The high heat of summer will slow them down a bit, but it won’t stop them.

And then of course…. there’s EVERYTHING else in bloom. I mentioned that I have quite a few Tickseed (Coreopsis now)

That one on the bottom right is brand spanking new. I haven’t even put it in the ground yet. I got it at Home Depot, and I had to restrain myself from buying two others they had (a pale yellow, and another red/yellow variety). I may go back and see if they are still there when they start clearing out the garden centre.

The reason I love them is that they bloom right to the first frost.

Same with the coneflowers

They are just getting started. I’ve got quite the collection of them now so there’s lots more to come.

The orange milkweed I had didn’t come back, but the swamp milkweed is doing beautiful this year.

I also have more volunteer Common Milkweed that popped up in the fence garden again. (Last year I had three, this year there are six). And I’m pretty sure there are already monarch eggs on the underside of a few of the leaves. I will keep a close watch for caterpillars.

And check out this little surprise. Last year, I started some lupin seedling in an attempt to get some more lupin colours. I managed to get two to survive long enough to plant into the catio (thanks to the meddling squirrels). But they didn’t seem to take…

Until I noticed on a few weeks ago, growing in the shadow of one of the Tickseed. And it’s finally bloomed!

A beautiful pink!!! I will relocate it when it’s done blooming because it’s not in the best spot. It was a lovely surprise, and hopefully a sign of many more wonderful things to come in the gardens.