June Solstice (Summer Solstice) in Chapel Hill, NC – Saturday, June 20, 2020 at 5:43 pm. In terms of daylight, this day is 4 hours, 53 minutes longer than on December Solstice.
We had a torrential downpour this afternoon but the sun came out in time to celebrate summer solstice. Long summer days ahead, but already creeping toward darkness.
Shasta daisies are beginning to wake up.
Leucanthemum x superbum (Shasta Daisy)
Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower) is having a good year and attracting lots of visitors.
Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)
Other echinacea are thriving this year too. Although they are drought-resistant, coneflowers seem to appreciate a good drink of rain water regularly as much as the next plant.
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)
Their flowers take on a variety of forms. I like the drooping ones and this one with the petals tucked in like a turban.
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)
This salvia anchors a calm area of the garden, not minding the tansy’s encroachment.
Tansy and Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
Starting out white, Oakleaf hydrangea is working to earn its name, Lil’ Ruby.
Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’ (Lil’ Ruby dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea)
This artemisia is a favorite hiding place of several generations of rabbits terrorizing the garden this year. I was going to show pictures of all their damage but the list is too long and discouraging. I’m especially disappointed they’ve eaten the zinnias, which had been off to a great start, sprouting in 2 days. A neighbor gave me some spray but it’s not stopped the rabbits completely from tasting.
Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (Wormwood)
I am not sure what prompted me this evening to look up Russian Sage, but I’m glad I did. It turns out to be the plant formerly known as Perovskia atriplicifolia.
Now its name is Salvia yangii.
Salvia yangii (Russian Sage)
Salvia yangii (Russian Sage)
The overwintered dahlias have been eager to flower. Some others planted this spring are slow to get going but I expect they will catch up.
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’
Dahlia ‘David Howard’
Dahlia ‘Gallery Art Deco’
Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’
This week on Instagram I joined Amy @newgatenarcissi with a monthly collage of the garden. Here’s June. Maybe you would like to join in also. #gardencollagemonthly
June 2020 #gardencollagemonthly
Wishing you a happy summer!
pbmGarden 
So colorful! The tansy/salvia combo sure is lovely! This time of year is so interesting: the beginning of summer, but the decline in day length. Change is always happening!
Thanks Beth. I do like the tansy/salvia. A coworker gave me tansy years ago before I knew what someone meant when they said, “…and it will spread.”
Lovely selection to celebrate our longest day! I hadn’t heard about the name change for perovskia, but I suppose it has similarities with salvias, the RHS is still referring to it as perovskia and I’m sure I will for a while too!
Thank you Pauline! I think I looked up Russian sage to see if it were really Russian (it is not). Otherwise I would not have stumbled upon this new classification. Most sites I checked have not altered their naming either, so perovskia will stay around I’m sure. Have a good week.
Yep. Perovskia works for me too.
You’re in good company.
So much happening in your garden. Rain here too but my echinacea are only just forming buds. Dahlias are still only foliage. Seeing yours fires my enthusiasm for dahlia time but slow down I don’t want autumn yet. I haven’t seen the # in Instagram I shall take a look
I intended to order new varieties of dahlia this year but never got around to it, so I won’t have much new to show from here on. I’m going to just try to enjoy whatever is happening each day (unless it has to do with those rabbits. No fun there.).
The rabbits are dreadful where I work. So much damage and random digging! Vermin
Forgot today I love your collage
Thanks. It was fun to make but not as easy as I thought to select photos and arrange.
It’s a beautiful day in your neighborhood – gorgeous flowers. I wish we could get even a little of that downpour. It is dry and we are on water restrictions up in this part of the country. My dahlias are growing, but they’ve got a long way to go before they flower. I hope I don’t run out of season. Happy Sunday. 🙂
I’m so sorry you’re missing out on rain. Many here are complaining but I would choose it over lack of water any day. We’ve had summers like that too and it is miserable. I read temperatures have been extreme. Do hope things get back to normal soon.
Your garden is looking so good. I see the bees are still working.
More and more bees every day!
What a beautiful graden you have Susie! The dahlias are lovely and I am imlressed by all your cone flowers. They are called ‘Sun hats’ in German (Sonnenhut). 😃 Oh dear, another name change. I know it as Russian sage too. Perovskia is so fixed in my mind though and I rather like the word too so perhaps I will just carry on calling it that!
Oh, Sun hats is perfect. No one seems interested in changing away from Perovskia. I might revert back too and forget I ever saw that!
Your garden looks beautiful despite the downpour and the rabbits. There’s still one of the latter hopping around my garden but, based on your account, I’ve been relatively lucky in terms of their damage. The gopher is another matter…
Thank you. A gopher sounds ridiculous. I wouldn’t know how to begin to deal with one!
Oh, so many lovely flowers! You’ve had ample rain (I wish a few clouds would drop some of it here) so they all look well kept. I didn’t know that Russian sage has a new moniker. Gosh, it seems every year, I have to memorize a new one or two. Last year it was bleeding hearts!
If the comments here are any indication I don’t think we’ll see much concern about giving up perovskia any time soon! I didn’t know about bleeding hearts. Hope you get some nice rains Eliza.
Oh, those dahlias!!!!!
Flower, aren’t they uplifting? They’ve been a nice addition to my garden.
Gorgeous
Love all those purple coneflowers, and the bees sure do love them also. I had to stop growing them because they all came down with aster yellows.