June flowers

I seem to be always playing catch-up. Here it is July, and all my flower photos from June (and some from May) have been left for "later". So I've piled them all into two folders, and here's the first batch; in alphabetical order, according to the labels I gave them back when.

Astilbe, still in bud. By now it's in full flower.

Astrantia. I saw these a few years back, in Tsawwassen; they were loaded with soldier beetles. Hoping to attract some insects here.

Bee on blackberry. Ferry landing at Crofton.

Buttercups in my "lawn".

Carnation somebody brought me for Mother's Day.

False bugbane, Quinsam River.

I love these messy Bacopa flowers; they seem to concentrate the sunlight.

 Next batch, tomorrow.  Then on to dragon- and damsel-flies.

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Parece que siempre ando atrasada. Ya casi pasa la primera semana de julio, y sigo sin subir las fotos de las flores que vi en junio y hasta unas de mayo. Las he dividido en dos grupos; este es el primero.

1. Astilbe; los botones. Hoy, las plantas están en pleno flor.
2. Astrantia. Vi estas flores hace algunos años en Tsawwassen; estaban cubiertas de escarabajos "soldado",  o cantáridos. Aquí las sembré en espera de atraer algunos de estos insectos.
3. Una abeja en una flor de la mora invasiva (pero ¡tan deliciosa!), Rubus discolor. En el embarcadero de Crofton.
4.  Ranúnculos; otra planta agresiva. Estas tratan de cubrir mi jardín, con césped y todo.
5. Un clavel que me trajeron para el Dia de la Madre.
6. Trautvetteria caroliniensis. Es de la misma familia de los ranúnculos, pero se encuentra en los bosques, cerca de agua. Estas están a la orilla del rio Quinsam.
7. Me encantan estas flores, algo desordenadas; intensifican la luz del sol.

Las demás las dejo para mañana; y luego habrá más libélulas.

Their week to shine.

In my deep shade garden, the beginning of summer almost seems like an ending. The Dutchman's breeches are long gone; so are the primulas and bleeding hearts and bergenias. I deadheaded the last of the rhododendrons last week. The columbine is still holding on to its last two small flowers, but they're fading.

And the hydrangea is barely starting to get some blue around the edges. The garden rests for a spell. Except for the hanging baskets -bacopas, nasturtiums, begonias and lobelias, (and those are cheating, because I bought the plants already thriving this spring) - the perennial part of the garden is a study in greens, nice to look at, but a bit uninspiring.

And then the astilbes burst into glorious flower; so very welcome! It's been windy, and the feathery spikes wave enthusiastically, calling pollinators, "Here we are, come, come! Soup's on!"

Almost red. This is a smaller plant, with only one spike this year, but the colour makes up for it.

And there's a large clump of these, tall and mobile, swaying together to inaudible music. Two days ago, they were all a greenish white; now the tiny flower heads are opening.