Bloom Day - August 2017

We've been enjoying unusually pleasant weather for the past week.  The marine layer is back in position each morning, which keeps the afternoon temperatures down.  However, it is mid-summer, normally the lowest point in the gardening year here.  Although there are flowers scattered here and there throughout the garden, the heaviest concentration of floral color right now can be found in the cutting garden.  I gave up vegetables for flower seeds and bulbs this year and I'm very happy with the result.

It's not a large space but it's supporting a bevy of bees and butterflies

Dahlias, sunflowers and zinnias dominate the 3 raised planters, although there are also some flowering herbs, most notably 'African Blue' Oncimum, a noID Origanum, and Salvia elegans.

Dahlia 'Hakuyou' is a dinner-plate type.  This its first bloom.

Dahlia 'Loverboy', a semi-cactus type, is in competition with 'Terracotta' as the most vigorous thus far

Actually, Dahlia 'Little Robert', a pom-pom type, is a strong performer too but its smaller flowers make less of a splash

Dahlia 'Terracotta', another semi-cactus variety, has been over-taking 'Loverboy' in flower-power in the past 2 weeks

Meanwhile, Dahlia 'Punkin Spice', classified an an informal decorative type, is only now producing its first bloom.  Just 2 other dahlias grown from tubers, 'Fairway Spur' and 'Otto's Thrill', both dinner-plate varieties, have yet to show themselves, although both have finally produced buds.

The sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) surprised me by seemingly blooming all at once.  This one grew from a 'Flash Blend' seed mix.

I think this one is Helianthus annuus 'Lemon Queen' but I can't say I kept my seeds straight

I also mixed up my Zinnia seed mixes so I'm not even going to try to name these

In the back garden, Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' produced its largest flush of bloom yet in late July.  The blooms were already fading in early August when I took this photo, but I couldn't resist sharing it.  If there's a pattern to this Callistemon's bloom cycles, I haven't discovered it.

The flowers were already turning a buff color here but they were profuse and attracted both bees and butterflies.  Growers describe the flower color as pink but it reads as more of a rosy peach to me.

Other plants providing healthy flushes of flowers include the following:

While the pink variety of Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) isn't as vigorous this year as last year, the blue variety seems to be hanging on longer into the season than it has in prior years

Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' continues to out-perform every other Gaillardia in my garden

Since adding 6 Alternanthera 'Little Ruby' to the narrow partial shade bed beside the house, I've been watering the area more to help those foliage plants establish good roots and that extra water has given the dark burgundy ivy geranium (Pelargonium peltatum) a major boost 

Pelargonium peltatum and Pandorea jasminoides continue to merge congenially over the arbor separating the cutting garden from the dry garden

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' is off to a good start for the season that extends from late summer through winter

Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' is finally putting on a good show

As usual, certain ever-blooming plants continue to pump out new flowers, even if the volume has dipped in response to summer's toasty temperatures and bone dry conditions.

Clockwise from the left: Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', G. 'Superb', G. 'Ned Kelly', Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink', and Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy'

A couple of plants provided surprises on a small scale too.

A lone surprise lily (Amaryllis belladonna), also known as naked lady because it blooms well after its foliage has died back, appeared.  In 2015, Tammy Schmitt of Casa Mariposa sent me 2 dozen bulbs she rescued from an inhospitable spot in her garden.  Foliage emerged following our winter rains but thus far this is the only flower to make an appearance.  I have my fingers crossed that others will follow.

This is a recent purchase, Lotus jacobaeus.  It produced blooms much sooner than I'd expected.  They look like tiny black butterflies. 

I'll end this post with a few collages of flowers deserving honorable mentions.

From left to right: Anagallis monellii, blooming again after a severe haircut; Catananche caerulea, which has bloomed for 2 months now;Tibouchina urvilleana; and Trichostema 'Midnight Magic'

From the left: Bauhinia x blakeana, still with more flowers than leaves; Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom, back from near death; and an unexpected bloom on my noID purplish-pink rose

Clockwise from the upper left: Mandevilla 'Sun Parasol Apricot' with Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' beneath; Coreopsis 'Big Bang Redshift' with the best flush of bloom in years; Lantana camara 'Irene' also returning after a trim; one of few remaining Leucanthemum x superbum; noID Phalaeonopsis, which keeps producing new bloom spikes; and self-seeded Tanacetum parthenium

For more Bloom Day reports, visit our host, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party