Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - August 2009

Whenever I get into any kind of conversation about gardens this summer, the one thing nearly everyone brings up and agrees on is this: it's been a strange summer weatherwise and the gardens are reflecting it. Mums blooming in July, annuals blooming late, tomatoes not ripening. I'm no expert on weather patterns, but no doubt we've been through times like this many times before and will again in future years. Gotta roll with it.

I have some annuals that still haven't started blooming in earnest - cosmos, zinnias, xeranthemums. I didn't get them planted late, they just haven't had the rain nor the heat to bring them to maturity. They'll make it eventually and maybe they'll last longer into the fall. I do wonder what fall has in store for us!

So on to what is blooming in the garden now. The 15th of each month is when garden bloggers share what they have blooming in their gardens. Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day a little over two years ago and it's become a very popular way to see what different things bloggers throughout the world are growing in their gardens.

Blooming now at Our Little Acre in Ohio, Zone 5b:

Everyone should grow this particular Zinnia, because it laughs at all kinds of weather. I've grown 'Chippendale' for four years now, saving seed each year for the next. It never fails to perform right on schedule in mid-summer through frost, when other Zinnias are either slow growing or get ugly with powdery mildew. I've never had those problems with this one!

I did not plant this Tiger Lily (Lilium lancifolium), but I'm grateful to whichever bird or other mystical source did.

This is my first year for growing Yardlong beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) They're actually edible just like green beans, but they make a really interesting and pretty plant in the vegetable garden with their lavender blossoms and long, burgundy pods.

I can't hardly believe I found this large hanging Streptocarpella that has bloomed non-stop ever since I got it, for five dollars!

This Texas Sage (Salvia coccinea 'Sallynia Salmon') quickly became a favorite this summer. It has gotten very large and just keeps blooming through the drought and heat. As you can see, the bees love it, too!

This hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos 'Plum Crazy') is one of two we have here. The blooms are enormous! What's enormous, you ask? Ten to twelve inches across!

I really love the Heleniums and can just imagine a huge garden full of them. We've got three different colors mixed together back in Max's Garden. They seem to love the heat and humidity, too.

There is really no describing the vivid true blue of the Gentiana dahurica.


Along with 'Black Beauty' (an Orienpet), this Oriental lily 'Sumatra' gives some late season color and fragrance to the garden.


This unidentified Heather (Calluna vulgaris) got a rough start this spring, but has bounced back nicely to give some pretty magenta blooms. There is a more golden-foliaged one behind it called 'Robert Chapman' that hasn't yet started to bloom.


One of the plants garnering the most attention during the garden walk was this Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) I planted at the base of a weeping willow tree that had died this spring. We left the tree, trimmed the branches back, and this vine has finally started twining its way up the trunk through the branches.


Each year I plant these hardy glads, 'Atom', which are considered to be heirloom bulbs. One winter I left some in the ground and about half of them returned, so now I go ahead and dig them each fall and store the bulbs in the basement until spring.


I think our crazy weather has Columbine (Aquilegia x caerulea 'Red Hobbit') confused, because it's been blooming again just like it's spring!

Rosa 'Chihuly' has been putting on some vibrantly colored blooms this month. This has been a pretty good month for the roses all the way around, with the exception of the English roses. I'm guessing they don't like the heat?

This Alstroemeria 'Princess Zavina' is one that I overwinter in our basement. It gets looking pretty straggly by spring, but revives quite nicely, don't you think?