Garden in early June: firing on all cylinders

There are times of the year when nothing much changes over a period of two weeks. Not so in late spring. I was in Germany for just 15 days, but due to a mini heatwave, things moved along at a brisk pace while I was gone. As a result, there are noticeable differences between before and now. Many plants seem to be working in overdrive to put on as much growth as possible before the heat of the summer. Let’s take a look. This Yucca rostrata , now about 10 years old, is getting ready to bloom for the first time. Its plume of flowers will be visible from quite a distance. These ‘Strawberry Fields’ California poppies ( Eschscholzia californica ‘Strawberry Fields’) started out as one flower in a 4" pot. I can’t believe how many flowers there are now! I’m letting them go to seed in hopes of even more of them next year. ‘Danish Flag’ poppy ( Papaver somniferum ‘Danebrog’) has spectacular flowers, but they’re woefully short-lived. Kinda like cactus flowers! Groundcover magic along the sid