Here's my one-day late Bloom Day post. Are you interested in excuses why it's late? Probably not, so I won't offer any.
Every year there's at least one plant that blooms in a flash in the interim between bloom days. This year it was the tall Campanula that I got at a bloggers' exchange a couple of years ago. It was just preparing to bloom as I went away to the Bloggers Fling back in June, and by the time I got back, it had very few flowers left that were unopened and unfried by the extreme heat (temps in the 90s) that struck while I was away. I took a picture and then cut the stalks back to the ground a few days later.
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| Tall Campanula |
I took a handful of pictures out in the garden earlier this week, but many of these were taken last evening as the sun was going down, so the light was fading. They're not my best.
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| Hydrangea 'Annabelle' |
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| Hydrangea quercifolia has become a big, sprawling monster |
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| Cyclamen coum still flowering in the northeast corner, where I've been watering all summer |
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| A few honeysuckle buds are left, all the others are blown |
Who can advise me about Agapanthus? I planted one in the front bed about 3 years ago, and this is the first time I've had a flower from it. The basal foliage is about a foot wide, but only one flower stalk? What a stingy plant. That's a lot of space to devote to a plant that gives back so little. Is it common for Agapanthus to flower like this?
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| My one and only Agapanthus |
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| I love how Inula blooms unfold |
While weeding the front bed earlier this spring, I realized I recognized the leaves on this plant. I was pretty sure it was a self-sown Inula, from a mother plant several feet away. I'm glad to see I was right.
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| Echinacea purpurea |
The daylilies and true lilies are in full swing.
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| Hemerocallis |
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| Hemerocallis 'Strawberry Candy' |
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| Hemerocallis 'Bold Tiger' |
Some of the lilies planted only 3 years ago in the front bed by the street have created large swaths of blooms from just a handful of original bulbs.
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| Lilium 'Royal Sunset' |
Others still send up just a couple of blooms after several years in the ground.
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| Lily 'Llandini' |
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| Lily 'Eyeliner' |
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| Lobelia tupa |
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| Geranium 'Rozanne' |
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| Berkheya purpurea, which gets very tall and flops like mad. I may have to yank it. It's an interesting flower, but not interesting enough to justify the ugliness of support poles. |
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| Glaucium flavum aurantiacum |
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| Glaucium flavum auranticum seedhead which gives it the common name horned poppy -- looks pretty horny to me |
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| Unopened Glaucium bud |
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| Acanthus dontknowsius |
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| Dianthus caryophyllus 'Chomley Farran' |
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| Floppy Cupid's Dart (Catananche caerulea) |
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| One of the delicate bell-shaped Clematis |
'Lucifer' is the only one of my Crocosmia to flower this year, which also happened last year. Lots of foliage on the others, but no flowers. I thought last year it was a lack of water, so I watered more this year, to no avail. I fear my recourse is to dig them up and divide.
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| Crocosmia 'Lucifer' |
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| Agastache 'Golden Jubilee' |
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| Veronica spicata |
In the annuals department:
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| Cerinthe sown from seed this year has started blooming |
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| Annual poppies that have self sown into the gravel |
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| The Nigella is not quite as prolific this year as in past years, with a less interesting range of colors |
Flowering in pots:
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| Iochroma 'Ashcott Red' is a gawky, ugly plant, but it does have beautiful flowers |
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| Aloe aristata |
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| Begonia boliviensis |
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| Tuberous Begonia |
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| As I headed back to the door, I spied this bee settling down for the night on a bloom of Eryngium 'Blue Glitter' |
Carol at May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, on the fifteenth of the month. Check out her post
here.
