A variety of daylilies line my driveway to the house. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Bluebird Gardens Summer Garden Tour

My Missouri hillside garden is transitioning from the vestiges of spring into summer. Daffodils have made way for bee balm and Shasta daisies, and a variety of daylilies guide the walker through starting to overgrow mulched paths.

If I had to select a flower for the month for June it would be daylilies. From the original daylilies that migrated with European settlers along with bees and dandelions in the 1600s, daylilies provide a nice splash of color in a range of colors from orange to light yellow.

For the month of July, the flower of the month should be pink phlox, a native Missouri variety that easily grows in both sun and shade.

For my honey bees I have a variety of bee balm, a plant I suspect Dr. Seuss would have drawn if nature had not beat him to it.

Raspberry bee balm has spread through the hyssop flower bed. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Raspberry bee balm is a cultivated version of the native Missouri bee balm, glad I can entertain both in my garden. This batch of raspberry bee balm is growing in part shade.

One of my favorite perennial plants are daisies so it is with delight that I found this supply of Shasta daisies blooming quite well in another shady flower bed.

Shasta daisies bloom in a part shaded flower bed. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

In addition to perennials, I have batches of herbs scattered through my garden. Spearmint surrounds the small pond at Froggy Bottom with a few sprigs sprouting roots when the tips hit the water.