Ambling though the garden today I noticed a new array of plants beginning to flower. There is something special about these first fresh blossoms.
Hydrangea macrophylla
Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)
Dahlia ‘Stargazer’
Monarda didyma (Scarlet Beebalm)
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
Gaura Belleza ‘Dark Pink’ (Butterfly Gaura)
pbmGarden 
Lovely fresh flowers, will they all stand up to your heat well? I hope so.
Hi Pauline. Yes, tthese usually do fine through the heat of summer. The hydrangea is new and it will need some extra water to keep it from wilting.
Summer has definitely arrived in your garden if the dahlias and cone flowers are about to open. A beautiful hydrangea. Is it in a cool spot or can it take the heat too? I have never had much success with them.
I’ve never had success with Hydrangeas in this garden. I don’t usually water but will have to keep this one well-watered. I just love the flowers and have been wanting one for a while and a fellow blogger gave me this one–so nice.
Good luck Susie! I nearly bought one just the other day, but decided it would be unwise!
The Monarda is a wonderful colour. Great the way new plants keep flowering, it will be like that here for the next few weeks then it will become too hot. Christina
We’ve had several brief tastes of heat and humidity but rain has rescued everything for now. Enjoy your next few weeks of flowering.
I have that white echinacea cultivar too and I love it. It had self seeded around and I’m looking forward to seeing some maybe different features on the seedlings… Can’t believe you already have dahlias in bloom, I’ve lost my last years tubers by the wet winter and think I won’t try dahlias anymore in my garden but I still like them.
Every american garden blogger seems to have that marvelous black and blue salvia, I shall look out for it although I guess it’s not very hardy…
That salvia has become popular here in the last couple of years. Mine overwinters and we had a fairly cold winter this year. It did stop blooming for a while last summer when it got too hot but resumed once the weather was cooler. I have only this one dahlia, the sole survivor of some plants a friend gave me years ago. Sorry your wet winter ruined yours. take care.
You are lucky that Salvia ‘Black & Blue’ is a perennial in your area. None I grew last year came back and the seedlings (from seeds I collected) are just an inch tall. I may have to buy a couple of them to add that lovely blue to the garden.
Wish I could pass some along to you. It is lucky that many things can survive here for multiple seasons. If I relied on seeds I wouldn’t have much in the garden except zinnias (or, I guess I might learn to be more careful with the seedlings). Have a good day. Susie
I love these blossoms starting…can’t wait for hydrangeas as they were a complete no show last year.
Hope your hydrangeas do well this year Donna. I have had such trouble keeping them in the past and am thrilled they’re blooming here. I brought in two cuttings to brighten the indoors today. Susie
The garden photos are absolutely gorgeous. You are at least two weeks ahead. I don’t have any buds on the Monarda and the hydrangea is at least two weeks from blooming…the photos are really lovely and so enjoyable. Thank you for sharing them.
That’s interesting Charlie–seems like we were running pretty close together in our bloom times for a while. It has definitely started heating up here.