Summer gold

To my eyes, pink flowers look best in the soft light of spring. When summer sets in, I enjoy yellow and orange flowers more. I chose a yellow and blue color scheme for my new sunny perennial bed, with most of the flowering happening in June and thereafter. I’m admiring how the yellow flowers look in bright summer sun.

    The first yellow flowers of Rose ‘Kolorscape Yellow Fizz’ and cinquefoil (Potentilla atrosanguinea) have come and gone already, giving way to the deeper yellow of yarrow (Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’). 

Yarrow leaning over the deck

I’m happy to see these flowering profusely, showing that they’re getting enough sun in this location. The flat blooms are easy to see from the house as they lean away from the trees that overhang the far side of the bed. 

    Some extra color warmth is provided by the chartreuse flowers of lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis). I grow this plant mostly for its handsome round leaves, but the sprays of tiny flowers are charming too.

Lady's mantle has lots of small flowers

A spurge (Euphorbia x martinii ‘Ascot Rainbow’) adds its green and yellow bracts and yellow-rimmed leaves to the picture. While I wait for the perennials in this bed to fill in, I’m planning to use some of the open space to grow patty pan squash, which will also contribute yellow flowers. Meanwhile, on the deck I’m growing cucumbers, 

Squash flowers will be like these cucumber blossoms

black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) to attract pollinators, and Mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida) for edible flowers.

I like black-eyed Susans, and pollinators do too

    One of my favorite weeds has volunteered again to add drama in several areas of the garden. Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a native of Europe, northern Africa and Asia that came to North America with European settlers and was adopted by Native Americans for medicinal uses. 

Young mullein getting ready to flower

If you’re in need of a poultice, this plant reportedly makes a good one, and it can also be used in remedies for colds, earaches, and asthma. I just enjoy its statuesque presence. In starts out as a rosette of woolly leaves, sending up a tall stalk of yellow flowers in its second year. 

Yellow mullein flowers opening along the tall stalk

Mullein pops up in disturbed ground, moving on when other plants settle in, so it’s never become a problem.

    Not everyone loves them, but I enjoy daylilies (Hemerocallis cvs). The first to bloom in my yard are yellow. 

An early daylily

I’ve planted a mix of colors in a narrow bed along the driveway where they get plenty of sun. Over the years they’ve formed fat clumps, and now we get lots of flowers through July and partway into August.

    A true orange flower is finally blooming in my insectary bed next to the vegetable garden. 

Butterfly weed, flowering at last

I’ve been trying for several years to grow butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), but the plants dwindled, probably not getting enough water. Last year one took hold, and this spring it came back strong, grew bushy, and set flowers. Its cousin common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) has also survived in another sunny spot. Between the two of them, I hope to provide food for monarch butterfly caterpillars.