August 2011 Bloom Day

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
What's blooming in the garden on the 15th of the month.
Mass blooms are highlighted this month. First up is the cleome that ate Alexandria. This out of control monster does a good job of scaring away the neighborhood kids. Dwarf sunflowers cower in fear at the other side of the yard. Across the walk are some Mexican zinnias continuing to spread and merge into one large clump.

The hedge of cosmos feeding the bumblebees are showing their age with fewer blossoms and thinner plants. My canary yellow zinnias are new this year and live up to their name. If I can only keep the finches from plucking off the petals to get at the seeds, they would be spectacular.

And the sweet alyssum is flowing and oozing onto the brick pavers, providing a delicious fragrance and giving some contrast to the frog - my garden bling.

Find other garden bloggers' bloom days at the blog May Dreams Gardens.

Cleome hassleriana
Helianthus annuus "Waooh"		Zinnia agustifolia
Cosmos sulphureus		Zinnia "Canary"
Lobularia maritima

Garden Calendar:   • Harvested: 8 cherry tomatoes, 3 cucumbers, 2 chilis, 2 tomatoes

June 2011 Bloom Day

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

There is so much going on in the gardens, I needed an extra day to document it all, and ended up leaving some things out. The peony poppies are about pooped out while the yellow daylilies are coming on. A maroon daylily was handed out at a master gardener tour last year. Coneflowers are all over - purple, coconut lime, and a sundown series. Cleome is robust. Bachelor buttons are new for me this year and so are the yellow oriental lilies. Get a load of the production on the rudbeckia, nicotiana and cactus!

The Find other garden bloggers' bloom days at the blog May Dreams Gardens.

unknown poppy		unknown daylily
unknown daylily		unknown asiatic lily
Echinacea 'Sundown' Big Sky Series		unknown asiatic lily
Astilbe 'Radius' (Astilbe x arendsii)		Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana)
Cactus Opuntia		Echinacea 'Coconut Lime'
Bachelor Button (Centaurea cyanus )		Cleome (Cleome hassleriana )
Rudbeckia hirta		Nicotiana sylvestris

August 2009 Bloom Day

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

Blooming in addition to the photos:
Nasturtium, Nicotiana, Alyssum, Cosmos, Snapdragon, Canna, Spiderwort, Castor, Basil

Mexican Zinnia		Dwarf Sunflower Incredible

Cleome Lavender Sparkler		Zinnia Violet Queen

Seven Cleome Surprises

This year, more plants new to the backyard gardener have been planted than any past year. The first to make a blog post is the Cleome (Cleome hassleriana), also called spider flower or grandfather's whiskers. The lavender cleome from the Sparkler series was selected from the Park Seed catalog because of its lavender color and dwarf height. The front display garden is small, and does not need any freakishly tall plants hulking over everything. Also, subtle colors were needed in the summer to soften the cannas and sunflowers shouting for attention.

The seeds were started and began growing in April - tiny, tiny seeds. After a painfully slow start, four plants eventually survived the poor germination and poor care and were hardened off and planted in the garden in June. They proceeded to do nothing after a month of constant nursing. Suddenly at the end of June, they began to grow, real fast.

Never having grown cleome before, this plant was full of surprises. If you haven't grown these, here are some facts you will not find in the garden catalogs:

• First, the 'Sparkler' plants are growing into bushes with several side stalks producing their own side stalks. They were apparently planted too close together - about 12-inches (30 cm) and are muscling in on the poor nearby zinnias and calendula.
• Second, dwarf with this plant means 4-feet (1.2 m) high. However, it's a good height for where they were planted.
• Third, where did the thorns come from? No catalog mentioned thorns.
• Fourth, the leaves stink.
• Fifth, the blossoms are somewhat light sensitive, and open fully at dusk until morning.
• Sixth, the lavender color seems pink, although lavender looks more true in these photos than the plants actually are
• Last, they look great, and will be back next year. Do these come back from seed true to their original?

For The Record: • Good, well-drained soil • Full sun • Small amount of organic fertilizer at transplant time • Unique flower form and number gets ooo's & aah's Garden Calendar: • Blooming: nicotiana, cosmos, coneflower, zinnia, nasturtium, loosestrife, cleome, snapdragon, hostas • Harvested: Broccoli • Progress: Tomatoes and peppers fruit reach full size

July 2009 Bloom Day

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

Green Nicotiana		Echinacea purpurea (coneflower)

Cosmos sulphureus		Physostgia virginiana (obedient plant)

Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium)

Cleome hassleriana