July Blooms in the Pacific Northwest

Purple Clematis Vine

Since the garden at Pear Tree Cottage appeared to be a blank slate when I bought it, there have been a few surprises. The biggest, and I mean that literally, is the clematis growing on the back fence, behind the pear tree that the cottage is named for. I had a hard enough time believing it when it spread out 15 feet on either side to cover the fence, but when it bloomed? Wow.

Clematis

I tried to capture the vine's immense size, but without anything for perspective, it's hard to tell. I'm sure others have seen bigger, but *I* haven't!

Clematis

I took hundreds of pictures of it, trying to capture all of the shades of blue and purple on this one plant.

Clematis Blooms

It wasn't until I looked at these photos that I realized there were two different types of blooms in two different colors. I know for sure it's one plant (I had taken a good luck at the structure over the winter). Is it reverting to a species, perhaps? Or is this common to clematis? I don't actually know.

Clematis Close Up

Either way, I love taking pictures of the blooms. I just think they're beautiful.

July Blooms Mosaic

And, oh yeah, there were some other flowers blooming in July here.

1. Ditch lilies I brought from the other house (Hemerocallis fulva). I love these, taken them everywhere. 2. New Minarette lupines (Lupinus polyphyllus 'Minarette') 3. Some old-fashioned pincushion flowers that I found (Scabiosa caucasica). I like the height and larger petals on variety better than the more common "Butterfly Blue." 4. Something new for me, a native plant, Oregon fleabane (Erigeron speciosus 'Pink Jewel'). 5. Another volunteer, some feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium). 6. The rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) from June is still going strong. 7. This yarrow I brought from my old house. It's called Cerise Queen and I never see it in nurseries anymore (Achillea millefolium 'Cerise Queen') 8. Another transplant, one of my favorites, the Brazilian verbena (Verbena bonariensis) brought from the other house. 9. And last but not least, that mystery rose from June is going and going and going.... :-)

How about you? Did anything blow your mind in your garden in July?

This post is a part of the July Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, sponsored each month by May Dreams Gardens.