August Bloom Day

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

I scrounged through my phjotos I have saved for Instagram postings, and took a few tonight before the sun went down. The 15th sneaked up on me this month.

Interesting story on this. If you snoop through past years of posts, you know I like growing different dwarf sunflowers. The last cultivar tried had some seeds I saved for the birds. I planted a few the following year, and saved these seeds and planted this year. The blooms are a nice manageable size, but they are not very drawf, stading at about 5-feet (1.5 m) tall, and do not match the original hybrid. I like the flowers though.

Tithonia is new to me this year. I am impressed by the pollinators that constantly visit it, and it's preference for poor soil, and a hot dry environment.

Cutleaf rudbeckia last week, Now, after some rain storms, it's falling over but still blooming up a storm.

This is the only ruby red zinnia 'Cherry Queen' I photographed so far. Hummingbirds stop by, but I don't really know how much they get out of the flower. Beautiful color.

Just starting to bloom now, the cardinal flower lobelia was labed as 'Blue Lobelia' at the spring plant swap. Oops.

Late summer blooming garden phlox. Another pollinator love.

Find more ther garden bloggers' blooms on May Dream Gardens.

July Bloom Day

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

I wanted to wait until dark when the moonflowers open before taking the last shots for this July. These are some of the blooms at this time of year.

Datura arrayed along the entry to the house where I enjoy the intoxicating fragrance every summer evening. They reseed themselves every year.

Rudbeckia hita native loves the sun. They last about two years, but easily reseed.

Rudbeckia laciniata picked up at a plant swap, it grows 6 feet (2 m) tall and easily falls over. Thanks to Janet, Queen of Seaford in identifying for me.

I thought a closeup of the balloon flower would be interesting. Platycodon grandiflorus reseeds but they're difficult to move because of their deep tap root.

Phlox paniculata 'Jeana' giveaway at the Washington DC Garden Bloggers Fling. Pollinators love it as much as I do.

When echinacea purpurea is planted in part shade, it gows 5 feet tall (1.5 m).

Echinops ritro is about ready to bloom and inviting all the bumbles to it.


Will it go round in circles? Watch bees on coneflowers go around the ring of pollen on the flower.

Find more ther garden bloggers' blooms on May Dream Gardens.

The Fallen

With some heavy rain and a touch of laziness from the owner for not staking again this year, the hydrangea has once again succumbed to its own success. The large blooms of what I believe is 'Incrediball' have fallen down and cannot get up. I now support the peony before it also goes down, and keep thinking that I will do the same for the hydrangea when it starts to peek out of the ground. But since I cannot find any support system large enough, I need to make my own, and that involves some involved work. Maybe next year.

These rudbeckia mentioned in Bloggers Bloom Day love the location against the masonry house. Nice and warm in the winter, and beautiful non-clay soil thanks to years of fallen leaves where ivy once roamed. They are taller and more robust than in any other of my gardens. Taller means easier to bend over.

Another reseeder is the nicotiana: white in the back, and green in the front yards. The white species grow taller and always flop over, and I always let them. The green nicotiana don't do this to the same extent maybe because they do not grow as tall. Maybe because they get full sun and the whites don't, or because they are just a different shorter variety.

Native Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia) is now blooming and down it goes. The plants tend to support each other in the center of the cluster, while those along the perimeter take a bow like in this photo. The dark leaves turn green when the yellow blooms appear in summer.

Not yet down is the yellow-flowered plant I picked up at a plant swap. I think it is a type of helianthus or coreopsis. It bloomed in late summer when about 3-feet high (90 cm) and proceeded to bend down. This year it is about 4-feet (120 cm) tall at the moment, with some buds appearing. And so far it is standing tall.

When the weak fall, it is difficult to get them back up permanently, so I usually let them lay.

June 2019 Bloom Day

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

If getting back into the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day again, May-June-July is the time to do it for me.

Spring has been good so far - off to a cool start, but over the past few months, we have had good weather and good rain. Things are growing - including the weeds.

Starting with the rudbeckia that needs a little birth control this year. I think every seed ever dropped came up - even the ones in the lawn and sidewalk cracks.

And the rudbeckia that appeared came with some interesting variety. For example, this green-eyed is a hybrid from some 'Irish Eyes' I grew a few years back.

This came all by itself. The bees must have been busy in some neighbor's garden one day last year.

Still another rudbeckia variation in markings.

The Asian lilies, name unknown, are taking off.

Echinacea are just beginning to peek out.

And my cultivar echinacea 'Sundown', part of the Big Sky series.

A snapdragon mix was started from seed two years ago. Now, they annually reseed themselves in a myriad of colors. I was stunned by this one. Have you ever seen such a color combination?

For other garden bloggers' bloom day photos, spring over to the blog May Dreams Gardens.

Red Eyes This Year

I am finding it more difficult to write for my blog. There is a backlog of photos sitting on my computer waiting to be posted once the stories are written. Another online gardening project is taking my time - our Master Gardener web site. I am webmaster for this new project (we see as a new service to the community) that launched last May 2015. It is updated every month, and in addition to producing the layout, graphics, etc. I occasionally dabble with a little writing.

But this post is about the red eyes. Last year, I wrote about the rudbeckia Irish Eyes [posted 2015.06.01] with the green centers that did not stay green as time went on. I also wrote that the eyes did not glow red, but that statement was made too soon.

The Irish Eyes reseeded themselves and this spring, I expected to be singing 'Oh Danny Boy' in a field of Irish babies. Instead I got Rosemary's Babies. A few of the blooms did have green eyes, but most of the eyes were curiously red. These were not a fiery chili pepper red, but more like a Carol Burnett red.

Apparently Irish Eyes, a cultivar like many of the green-eyed rudbeckia, had this unusual red-centered rudbeckia as a parent. The centers are more of a round iridescent red globe that gradually goes black as the bloom matures and the center opens.

A few of the new plants sported some darker rings on the petals near the centers, and thinner petals. I still like the variety produced, and hope they come back in future years as these have done - with red, green, and black eyes.

For The Record:   • Average soil with organic amendments over time   • Full sun   • Little fertilizer   • Decent drainage   • A few mites in the spring, otherwise pest free Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: mexican zinnia, cosmos, rudbeckia, marigold, zinnia, datura   • Harvested: 1 pepper, 2 zucchini, 3 tomatoes (it been a bad year for them), numerous peperoncinis

August Bloom Day

The good news is that I have made three garden bloggers bloom days in a row. The bad news is that there is little else to show between the posts. However, I have three posts waiting in the wings, including my annual review of a dwarf sunflower variety. I will begin posting them next week.

Let sleeping bumblebees lie. The first dwarf sunflower variety is finisehd blooming, but the second one is now going full strong: Elf by Burpee.

This is Tiger Eyes marigold from Park Seed. There is something going on with this marigold that I have yet to figure out. It starts out looking bicolor like it supposed to. Then, it begins to change to a monocolor, maybe a little more yellow, then the bicolor, with larger bottom petals, then a deeper orange. I am thinking the environment affects its booms, like temperature, moisture, or fertilizer; or maybe all three. The plant is growing in three other locations, with one reseeded from last year. All exhibit different qualities at different times. (Note the red on the plant in the background.) Love these tough little guys though - sometimes so do the mites.

Rudbeckia hirti reseeds itself year after year wherever it wants to, and sometimes produces a few suprises like this one. Petals are narrower with a slight marking in the interior, and the color is slightly more orange than the others.

Leftover seeds were dumped in a corner of the front yard from this mix of zinnias. I don't remember a peach colored bloom last year.

The zinnia agustifolia love reseeding every year, popping up anywhere they please. I let them form a border. They are slow beginners, but really get going this time of year. The dead looking stuff is dill gone for the summer. I am an untidy (..lazy?) gardener in August.

Black Pearl ornamental pepper from the winter Seed Exchange forms a handsome color combination. Dark purple foliage turning green, shiny black peppers ripen to a scarlet red. Pretty enough to eat ... and incinerate your insides.

In front of the colocasia, the buddleia looks full and neat because I keep pinching it back during the spring. This also delays bloom a little.

One of the many visitors to the butterfly bush, a Great Spangled Fritillary.

For other garden bloggers bloom day photos, check out our host at blog May Dreams Gardens.

July Bloom Day

It has been a month since the last post. No excuses are offered but another rush out the door after work today to snap a few photos hopefully makes up.

Echinacea is very thick and the goldfinches are probably drooling waiting for the seeds to be ready.

One flower finally opened on this particular zinnia, 'Oriole'. I was expecting more of an orange hue.

Pollinator-magnet liatris is nearing the end of its bloom. Funny, as it blooms from top down each stem.

Rudbeckia 'Irish Eyes' reseeded after blooming early this year. This result grew up and bloomed already - without green eyes.

This Rudbeckia hirti plant developed some brown markings.

It's not a ditch lily, but a double-ditch lily. And, it grows in semi-shade and is thriving.

My newest daylily 'Cherokee Star' seems to bloom one blossom at a time. Its location does not allow a good angle for photos.

Monarda 'Violet Queen' looks a little sparse. It probably needs more sun than it gets now.

Echinops is in varying stages of bloom. Bumblebees love it.

I love this marigold 'Tiger Eyes', and it reseeded itself true to form. Dark green, thick, lush foliage and no problems.

Cleome seeds found their way 60-feet (18 m) down the hill into a shady spot all by themselves, and grew. I let them. Anything that makes that journey deserves to live.

For the first time, a few little sky blue Platycodons germinated from last year's seeds. I guess some like the extra shot of winter.

Only five cosmos plants came up this year after the severe winter - the least number ever - but they still look full. Zucchini makes a nearby foliage plant in my front yard.

For other garden bloggers' bloom day photos, check out our host at blog May Dreams Gardens.