Friday, July 2, 2010

Our Little Acre Blooms in July


What with Buffa10 and OFA taking care of an entire week, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day just sneaked up on me! I'm really late with posting my July blooms, but that doesn't make them any less lovely.

The garden is in full swing right now, but the heat and no rain is quickly taking its toll.  I'm trying to keep up with their thirst requirements, but I fear I'll lose some things that just aren't cut out for extended hot, dry weather. There are lessons to be learned from that, though, too.

For all the times I've said I really don't like pink flowers, you'd never guess that from seeing my gardens. It's really just a matter of which flower we're talking about and what I really mean is I don't like certain flowers in certain colors. They say actions speak louder than words, so I'm thinking I'd better stop saying I don't like pink flowers. I really don't like pink zinnias though.

In bloom now are:



The window boxes on the pool house (soon-to-be potting shed!), except that the verbena, which is a deep pink, is not in bloom at the moment
.


The Salvia 'Black and Blue' seems to be screaming at someone! It actually reminds me of a snake with its fangs out.



Pentas that I'm trialing for Athens Select



The wonderfully scented oriental lilies I purchased at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show in March.


Echinacea 'Green Envy' before they've deepened to their true colors



Two kinds of daisies - 'Wirral Pride' on the left, and 'Aglaia' on the right



Coreopsis 'Golden Dream' that I'm trialing for Blooms of Bressingham



My best hybrid Echinacea - 'Coconut Lime'.  It blooms like crazy and each bloom lasts nearly two months!



Tiger Lily 'Black Beauty'



Hibiscus syriacus 'Aphrodite', grown as a standard



Achillea millefolium 'Pineapple Mango' - Trialing for Blooms of Bressingham



Verbena bonariensis, caught in a rare moment without a bee or a butterfly



One of my favorite daylilies, 'South Seas'






These Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes) aren't hardy here, so I save the bulbs every year.



Hemerocallis 'El Desperado' is a strong bloomer and fragrant, too!



Cupid's Dart (Catananche caerulea)



Hibiscus syriacus 'Blue Satin'



Passiflora 'Empress Eugenie'



Echinacea 'Hope'. A portion of the sales of this coneflower go to the Susan G. Komen Center for Breast Cancer Research.



Gentiana dahurica



Blackberry Lily (Belamcanda chinensis)



Double Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)




Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpurea')


We finally received some rain overnight and the plants look much happier.  Though we've been watering to try and keep things hydrated through these 90°+ days, there's nothing like rain from the sky to perk things up.

5 comments:

Muhammad khabbab said...

Pink pentas are commmon here. Yours red ones are looking great. Love the oriental lilies, as i love fragrant lilies. And in the end i for envious looking at my most favorite flower, echinacea.

Muhammad khabbab said...

Pink pentas are commmon here. Yours red ones are looking great. Love the oriental lilies, as i love fragrant lilies. And in the end i for envious looking at my most favorite flower, echinacea.

tina said...

They all look pretty fantastic!

susan said...

I love your photos! I think I'm most envious of the echinacea 'coconut ice.' I love them, & so do our slugs here in Ireland! Also not as many varieties are available to us at the moment. I've just gotten 'summer cocktail' & I adore the colour changing flowers. Also I just got in 'tomato soup'- still waiting for the bloom so I can see the colour. Happy days!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What gorgeous blooms. I like the passiflower best. Is it hardy in your area? If you can grow it I should be able to. Your potatos look yummy.

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