15 August 2014

August 2014 Bloom Day

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
What's blooming in the garden on the 15th of the month

Rather than the same ol' same ol' let's present some of the newer items rearing their heads this year. I will throw in a few items that have not been here a while, too. I even put the photos on the X-Large setting for this posting. Today it's about the pictures -- not the story.

The Irish Eyes are smiling. This rudbeckia "Irish Eyes" with the green centers was planted from seed twice in the past two years, but this was the first year anything survived and bloomed. They are growing but blooming sparsely. Let's see if they stick around for next year.

Yes, these are the actual colors. Seed for these mini zinnias were almost tossed out. They were free from the winter seed swap and found in my goodie bag, but I am not fond of mixed colors of anything. I threw the seeds down, and these min-zins popped up. Maybe it's time to reevaluate mixed colors -- I kind of like them.



Aren't you glad? These mini glad corms, (note "mini") were picked up at the winter seed swap, too. The bag was labeled 'orange mini-glads.' I never heard of mini glads. Well, the first one bloomed at 6-inches in height (15 cm), but does it look orange? I am waiting on the others.
The blue never stops ... as long as you deadhead. Bachelor buttons were grown once in the past, but they gave out when the summer heat turned on. These were an experiment to see if they could be kept going into summer. The answer is "Yes," but it is increasingly difficult to deadhead because of the number of blooms.

I grew these last year in a less hospitable spot. This year, they are thriving in a new location. This cultivar known as "Pinca," has squared off type petals which forced me to break open the wallet. The petals start out pastel yellow, turn deep pink, and than fade to very light pink.

And for the first time in its 8-year history, the unknown daylily is reblooming here in August. Is this a weird summer (to go with the weird winter) or what?

Go ahead and visit other garden bloggers' bloom days at the blog May Dreams Gardens.

7 comments:

  1. The Zinnias are outstanding. So is the green eyed rudbeckia. Seed growing holds so many pleasant blooms. So do mystery corms despite their labels.

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  2. I would love to try some of the mini glads. The tall ones just don't hold up under our wind and rain, but those should do fine. I have always loved the mixed colors of a garden. Especially mixed impatiens. I think it adds impact. And zinnias have always been one of my most favorite flowers. For me it's been on of the major draws for butterflies.

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  3. Jean,
    Thanks. Garden mysteries are fun, the anticipation adds interest to life.
    Sue,
    I have come around to mixed colors as long as there ia a large enough number of plants to create a 'unified palate.'
    Ray

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  4. I always grow some of the zinnias with smaller flowers and foliage, they tend to be less prone to mildew. This year however, all zinnias, even the old fashioned cut flower types, are doing great. No mildew and continuous blooms.

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  5. Les,
    My zinnias usually got mildew when planted in my side yard, -- rarely in my front garden which is mostly open and gets lots of sun. They got zapped by the frost sooner there, though.

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  6. Love those blue bachelor buttons. I've heard they spread pretty aggressively, though.

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  7. Jason,
    They haven't spread in my garden. With all the blooms this year, maybe some of those dropped seeds will produce next year.
    Ray

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