Summer Flowers in the Test Garden

Yarrow 'Coronation Gold' and Knautia macedonica vie for attention near the tool shed.

Clematis 'Jackmanii' clambers up an arbor flanking the gate to the herb garden.

Delphinium grandiflorum 'Blue Butterfly' is smaller (about 16 inches high) and airier than its majestic cousin, Delphinium elatum. Delphinium grandiflorum provides a hard-to-find blue color in early summer.

Asiatic lilies are among the stars of the Test Garden in June. Here, 'Aphrodite' lives up to her namesake, the Greek goddess of beauty.

Situated adjacent to the entrance to the garden, this 12-inch-tall spotted bellflower (Campanula punctata 'Elizabeth') welcomes guests with its subtle beauty.

A lonely water lily (var. Gladstonia) soaks (or is it sulks?) in the cool water of the water garden.

Stop and smell the Appleblossom rose (showing a bit of storm damage) and catmint (Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant').

Yarrow 'Coronation Gold' and red-leaved coralbells (Heuchera 'Royal Red') supply enough comparisons and contrasts to fill an high school essay. The sunny yellow blooms vs. the ruby-toned leaves; the filigreed foliage of the yarrow vs. maple-leafed coralbells; tall and stately vs. rounded and grounded.

Leaves can "bloom" too, as this sedum 'Frosty Morn' attests. Its succulent, white-edged leaves are easily as beautiful as a flower, holding their own against a backdrop of Veronica 'Red Fox' (to the right), Salvia 'Amethyst' (behind), and daylily 'Bitsy'.

This sweet William, Dianthus barbatus 'Amazon Rose Magic', has returned to bloom in the Test Garden for the past three years. Its odd-looking date for the evening is Allium schubertii, a variety of so-called ornamental onion.

And finally, a pleasant trio of 'Moonshine' yarrow (demonstrating its propensity for tripping over its own feet), Stachys 'Rosea', and Asiatic lily 'Lollipop'.