Bloom Day - August 2023, a day late and a dahlia short

Since 2018, I've depended upon dahlias as the backbone of my summer flower garden.  My tubers got a late start this year because the cool season flowers held on for an extended period, as did our cooler-than-usual temperatures.  In late April, when I finally pulled the tubers out of the garage where they're kept during their dormant season, I planted them in temporary pots to germinate but getting them moved into the raised planters of my cutting garden was also delayed because I held off on clearing the space of the cool season flowers until early June.  So here we are in mid-August with the dahlias just getting started.

Dahlia 'Catching Fire' is off to a good start, while soft lavender 'Mikayla Miranda' is only getting started.  Other dahlias have lots of fat buds, which are taking their time opening up.

 

Luckily, not all my flowering plants have been so slow to get their bloom on.  Here are some of the plants providing starring roles this month.

Amaryllis belladonna (aka naked ladies because the bulbs bloom well after their foliage dies back) started flowering in earnest before I even looked for them

Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' produced a massive flush of bloom last week

Succulent Crassula pubescens ssp radicans is blooming en masse in spots throughout my garden

I wouldn't usually give Lantana star status but the 'Lucky White' and 'Lucky Yellow' varieties I cut back a couple of months ago have put on a major effort to elevate this area of my front garden

Unlike the dahlias, Zinnia elegans, most of which were sown from seeds in early June, didn't dilly-dally about blooming.  The varieties here include 'Benary's Giant Purple', 'Queen Lime Orange', 'Giant Salmon Rose', 'Lemon Peach', 'Mazurkia', and an assortment from 'Candy Mix' 

 

Other plants may not deserve a starring role but they're great team players.

Planted last year, Cuphea 'Honeybells' took its time to develop but it's putting on a great show this year.  It's a trailing variety unlike my other Cupheas that have stems that stand upright.

Dipladenia, a relative of Mandevilla with a trailing habit, is new to my garden this year.  Both of these are growing in large containers mixed with other plants.

Gazania 'Otomi' has flowered more profusely than I'd expected.  The flowers vary in appearance as they develop.

I almost forgot about Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy), which I cut back hard several months ago

I can't forget the reliable and ever-flowering Grevillea 'Superb'

This Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' has been blooming for months now

 

Some plants are still providing splashes of color even as they're in the process of exiting the stage for the season.

I cut the last of the white Agapanthus in my garden on Sunday but there are still a handful of blue Agapanthus here and there.  The ink-blue colored flowers of Agapanthus 'Elaine' (left) got a late start, as was also the case last year.

The first flush of Leonotis leonurus is coming to an end but I've cut many of the stems back to see if I can get a second round

The paper-dry flowers of Limonium perezii are fading literally and figuratively

Magnolia grandiflora was dropping leaves by the bushel earlier this summer.  The leaf drop is now minimal but flower petals are littering the ground at a rapid rate.

I cut back Monarda hybrid 'Peter's Purple' earlier and got a second flush of flowers but I'm not sure it's got the energy for a third flush

Myrtus communis is an attractive but not particularly flashy plant.  I've found it isn't a great addition to floral arrangements either.

Just 10 days ago, Pandorea jasminoides (aka bower vine) was blanketed in white flowers but it seems to be about done now

This was the second flush of bloom from Salvia canariensis var candidissima, which is currently looking scruffy

 

As usual, my garden provided a few surprises, one of which isn't auspicious.

I tried Echinops ritro ruthenicus (aka globe thistle) a few years ago but it died without blooming.  It's doing better this time.

This is the second year I've gotten Medinilla myriantha (aka Malaysian orchid) to bloom

A friend gave me a Oxypetalum coeruleum (syn. Tweedia caerulea) a couple months ago.  This is another plant that I've tried and killed before but this one's made it to bloom stage.

The pretty flowers of Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' aren't a surprise as I've shown them often enough.  The plant blooms year-round, albeit not as heavily as Grevillea 'Superb'.  However, it's dropped a substantial portion of its leaves over the last 2-3 months, which has me concerned that it may be failing.  There was a gopher in the immediate area so that might have something to do with its decline, or maybe the heavy rainfall followed by a substantially drier period has something to do with it.  I lightly pruned the leaf-less stems and I'm monitoring it closely, while keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I'll end this post as I usually do with the best of the rest, lumped into collages organized by color.

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', noID Bacopa, Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', the dried remnants of Cynara cardunculus (aka artichoke), Gazania 'Gold Flash', and noID yellow-orange Lantana

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Achillea ptarmica, Angelonia 'Archangel White', Asparagus densiflorus, Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', Helichrysum petiolare, Scabiosa columbaria, and Phyla nodiflora

Clockwise from the upper left: Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Purple', Nemesia 'Honey Bicolor Orange Flame', noID Phalaenopsis, Polygala myrtifolia, Scabiosa columbaria 'Deep Blue', and Sollya heterophylla

Top row: Cistus x scanbergii, C. 'Sunset', and Cuphea 'Starfire Pink'
Middle: Pelargonium 'Dynamo Hot Pink', P. 'Dynamo Purple', and noID Pelargonium
Bottom: Pentas 'Graffiti Pink', noID Thymus, and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'

Clockwise from the upper left: Daucus carota 'Dara', noID Hoya, Fuchsia 'Voodoo', and Pelargonium peltatum in red and burgundy

 

For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts published on or after August 15th, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party