The flower power in my garden usually diminishes significantly by August, although we've had a relatively mild summer along the west coast so far this year. We've experienced two heatwaves but our temperatures never soared above 95F (35C). Nevertheless, some plants did get toasted and others aren't looking their best, yet I still managed to accumulate a large number of photos. I've thrown the vast majority of those photos into collages this month.
Dahlias and zinnias provide the real fire power in my summer garden so I'm giving them the starring roles this month. Some are still taking their time about flaunting their blooms but there are enough to show off. I've listed the dahlias in order of their appearance.
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| Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda' was not only the first to flower but she's still the most vigorous. Bees seem to love this one too. |
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| 'Labyrinth' came in on Mikayla's heels |
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| I had 2 'Creme de Cognac' Dahlias in my garden last year and I have 2 again this year but I also gave away 2 divisions of the tubers. It's a sturdy and prolific dahlia! |
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| 'La Belle Epoque' is new this year and I haven't made up my mind about it yet. I like it better in its early bloom stage (left) rather than the paler mature version (right). |
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| The tuber for this was sold to me as 'Cafe au Lait' (which should be pale peach/pink or beige in color) but it looks more like 'Cafe au Lait Rose' or, in its faded state (right), possibly 'Cafe au Lait Royal' |
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| This is 'Summer's End', another of my favorites. It has a waterlily-like form. I planted 2 of the tubers and gave away others. |
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| As it turned out the tiny tuber I threw into a barrel with the large 'Labyrinth' turned out to be not that but a second 'Catching Fire' Dahlia and the first of the 2 in my collection to bloom |
I've twenty dahlia plants in total in my garden this season of which three are duplicates. Of the seventeen varieties, two more were on the verge of opening but not quite there.
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| Both 'Blue Bell' (left) and 'La Luna' (right) were close to revealing themselves yesterday afternoon but hadn't fully opened yet |
Three more dahlia plants have obvious buds; an additional three have what may be buds, and two have offered no signs of buds at all yet.
Just four Zinnias grown from seed are doing well but I have hopes for other seeds I sowed later.
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| Clockwise from the upper left are: Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Lime', 'Queeny Red Lime', what I think is 'Queeny Lime Peach' (but could be 'Queeny Orange Lime' which I also sowed), and 'Benary's Giant Wine', the most vigorous by far |
Several other plants deserve notice for their vigor as well.
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| I have at least 4 varieties of Abelias in my garden but Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' is the most vibrant of them all |
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| The majority of the Agapanthus that came with the garden are done for the season but a few named varieties I've planted in recent years were later arrivals. From left to right are: 'Elaine', 'Stevie's Wonder', and 'Twister' |
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| All of a sudden the Amaryllis belladonna have exploded into bloom in my back garden. To my knowledge, all my bulbs came from a blogger friend based in Virginia years ago (including a few white ones). How one clump ended up on the upper level of my steep back slope (middle photo) I can't fathom because there's no way I crawled up there to plant them. |
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| I planted a lot of Eustoma grandiflorum (aka lisianthus) obtained as mail order plugs this year but I've lost the majority of them due to a combination of low rainfall and poor timing with my planting schedule. I'm disappointed but at least I have 3 varieties in carmine, green and white. I'm still holding out hope for a few of a light apricot variety too. |
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| I didn't catch Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy) at the height of their bloom. The small flowers have a bad habit of turning a dingy brown but the bees love them! |
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| With a little pruning last month, I managed to get another flush of blooms from Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail) |
As always, there are a range of my old dependables in bloom, not as flashy as some plants in my garden but offering colorful spots nonetheless.
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| Gazanias, some new and some self-seeded |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, Grevillea 'Moonlight', G. sericea, and the ever-blooming G. 'Superb'. The first and the last are bee magnets. Hummingbirds also love 'Superb'. |
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| Masquerading as flowers, Leucadendrons 'Blush', 'Summer Red', and 'Safari Sunset' |
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| The common myrtle (Myrtus communis) was just starting to get its bloom on last month |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Pelargonium peltatum (aka ivy geranium) in coral, red and dark pink. The last one (lower left) is an unknown Pelargonium (although not P. pelatum). |
A few plants took me by surprise once again.
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| Pelargonium schizopetalum produced another batch of flowers! |
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| I don't look forward to blooms on Mangaves (or Agaves). This is one of 4 'Pineapple Express' Mangaves planted in the same area and I dread the possibility that others will follow soon even if they produce pups as the mother plants dry off. |
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| Ignoring my back slope at the height of summer is egregious on my part but I try to avoid the area when the fire ants are most active. I just about missed the 5 Drimia maritima bulbs (aka sea squill) in bloom and I certainly didn't catch them at their best. They didn't bloom at all last year so, with rainfall so low this year, I really didn't expect them. |
Everything else of note was tallied up in color-themed collages.
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Top row: Digitalis purpurea (with bee), Polygala myrtifolia, and Monarda 'Peter's Purple'
Middle: Felicia aethiopica and Salvia 'Mystic Spires'
Bottom: Hebe 'Grace Kelly' and Salvia canariensis var candidissima |
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Top row: Arbutus 'Marina', Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'
Middle: Cistus x scanbergii and C. 'Sunset'
Bottom: Argyranthemum 'Grandaisy Pink', noID Dianthus, and Impatiens hawkeri 'Celebration' |
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Top row: Alstroemeria 'Claire', Argyranthemum 'Mount Everest', and Crassula pubescens
Middle: noID Dianthus, noID Dipladenia, and Echinacea 'Pow Wow'
Bottom: Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', Osteospermum 'Lemon Ice', and Oxalis triangularis |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Arctotis 'Large Marge', Argyranthemum 'Aramis Apricot' (now yellow), Chrysocephalum 'Desert Flame', Echinacea 'Sombrero Lemon Yellow', and noID Lantana |
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Top row: Aloe lukeana, Cotyledon orbiculata, and Salvia 'Skyscraper Orange'
Bottom: Daucus carota 'Dara', Crassula perfoliata var falcata, and Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' |
Check in with Carol at
May Dreams Gardens, the band leader for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.
Best wishes for a nice weekend.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
So many blooms and just about everything represented! You have plants blooming now that I would not associate with flowers this time of year (like digitalis). I only have a few dahlias in pots and only one is blooming now.
ReplyDeleteI'm scratching my head about the foxgloves, Phillip. They're generally cool season flowers here. I planted the plugs a little later this past winter and they did little to nothing this spring. I usually pull them in early summer but our temperatures stayed on the cooler side and I got blooms from a few this summer, especially the one included in this post. Fours plants crammed in between dahlias in my cutting garden still look good, even if they've produced only a couple flowers stalks so far, but others elsewhere look awful and I'm in the process of removing those. I'm chalking the situation up to the whims of our weather!
DeleteI know your garden is large, and the blooms are spread out, but still that's a lot of flowers for August! Almost the day before heading north last April my Grevillea 'Moonlight,' trained as a standard/small tree, lost a huge branch. And as you say, it is so good for bees and hummers, so that's a big loss. Maybe I'll replace it eventually with C. 'Cane's Hybrid.' Your grevilleas look healthy and strong. Love that species pelargonium bloom!
ReplyDeleteGrevillea 'Moonlight' took its time to bloom in my garden, Denise! It's been in that spot over 5 years and is only now producing more than a couple flowers at a time. I hope it's not a fluke! Meanwhile, the 'Cane's Hybrid' Callistemon has grown to tree-like proportions. It's been there 10 years so perhaps that's be expected but I'm now having my tree guys cut it back each year.
DeleteWow, no wonder you have enough for 2 and likely 3 arrangements every week! I like your water lily type dahlia, as well as the Creme de cognac with it's darker center. I have a weird cafe au lait that put out maybe 1 or 2 blooms last year, this year it's blooming better -but it's 8' tall? When I see your Grevilleas & Leucadendrons I always think to myself, I need to add more.
ReplyDelete'Cafe au Lait' (and its cousins) do get big but 8 feet is really BIG, Tracy! I've found that dahlias do better after the first year or 2 as the tuber mass bulks up. Although I dig up and divide my dahlia tubers at the end of each season I rarely cut them down to a single tuber. I'm not good at identifying the "eyes" necessary to ensure the production of flowers and I figure the more tubers connected to a neck, the better the odds of ample flowers.
DeleteSo many beautiful blooms! To me that Pelargonium schizopetalum looks surprised. It's crazy that we've been hotter than you. Our latest heatwave was three days at 99. Strangely we're looking at rain (an atmospheric river they're saying) today and overnight, so odd for the dry season.
ReplyDeleteIt's be nice if that atmospheric river materialized AND it crept down our way! But then I can't remember ever getting a weather system like that during the summer months. The best we can hope for is a tropical storm from the south or an off-course monsoonal system from the eastern desert area. Neither Weather Underground nor AccuWeather show any chance of rain here in the foreseeable future. The persistent marine layer is what's keeping us on the cooler side of the spectrum along the coast.
DeleteWell your flower power is certainly not diminishing this August. What abundance. You really are going to town on dahlias and you have some beauties. I am surprised they get going so late with you. Everything is fabulous, I am particularly taken with that amazing pelargonium.
ReplyDeleteI think the late arrival of my dahlia blooms is because I plant them anew from stored tubers rather than leaving them in the ground; plant them in temporary pots to ensure they sprout before I give them valuable space in the raised planters in my cutting garden; and then pinch them back when they're a foot tall to encourage branching. Cooler summer weather may be a factor too. The good news is that they usually flower through October here.
DeleteAfter reading your post, I've been struck with a huge case of "oh how I wish I lived in a milder climate". I love dahlias but I no longer grow because they must be dug up in fall where I live My favorite was the Summers End. And that Pelargonium schizopetalum, which I would need to mail order. Would I want it as an annual? It certainly would be (for me) unusual.
ReplyDeleteWe do have very different climates, Alana! I actually dig up my tubers at the end of each season, not because my climate requires that but because growing space and water constraints make that a more manageable approach for me, even though it's labor intensive. I admit it's a little crazy.
DeleteKris, your Dahlias are gorgeous! I wish I could grow more of them here, but the few that I buy, after being dug up and stored indoors in winter and set outdoors in spring, rarely make it for more than a year or two. That Pelargonium flower is amazing--never seen one like it! You have such a variety and amount of blooms in your garden!
ReplyDeleteI love that Pelargonium schizopetalum too. It develops a large tuber, which is relatively easy to divide. It's not a prolific bloomer, though I have hopes it'll get more robust in time.
DeleteImpatiens hawkeri 'Celebration' has an astonishing electric-pink color but what makes it even better is the dark foliage! Wow, what a combination.
ReplyDeleteChavli
A famous "destination" garden center in Orange County had that 'Celebration' Impatien variety grown and named in honor of its 50th year in operation. While I didn't manage to visit during the anniversary event, a friend did and gifted me with 2 plants. It was generous of her as well as a nice remembrance of the event. It's also a great plant ;)
DeleteWow, so much happening in your garden in August. Looks like the weather has been kinder this year. It must take you ages to put together a post like this with all the individual flower photos to add. I love the blooms of the Pelargonium schizopetalum. Looks like crazy hair.
ReplyDeleteWell, spring's weather wasn't kind in that we got a pitiful amount of rain but this summer has been milder than most, courtesy of the persistent morning marine layer. It's actually somewhat wet this morning, albeit not wet enough to measure. As to the bloom day photos, I collect them in batches over several days ;)
DeleteYou still have a lot of color even when everything is winding down. Our summer has been extra dry and hot, and it shows. My eye is drawn to that Pelargonium schizopetalum every time. Such a beauty. Heading out soon to do some emergency watering. Our Clarkia is going to seed. I'll collect some for you to send your way if you like. Fall is a great time for planting it.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to follow your example and head out to water my cutting garden - dahlias are thirsty things! We're socked in by a deep marine layer this morning. The pavement is damp but we haven't registered any measurable precipitation since early May.
DeleteSo many gorgeous blooms, but I’m jealous of all your gorgeous dahlias Kris! I definitely need to plant more of them next year.
ReplyDeleteI have a dahlia fixation, Candi! But Dahlias and Zinnias are the most reliable flowering plants during our hot and very dry summer season - growing them has redeemed the season in my eyes. We don't generally get any rain between early May and late October at best.
DeleteBeautiful flowers, I especially like the Dahlias and Zinnias.
ReplyDeleteBest regards /Marika
Thank you for visiting my blog, Marika!
DeleteI love your bloom day posts, Kris. So many beautiful flowers all in one garden! Dahlia heaven this month, and Pelargonium schizopetalum is just so cool. So much to love! Eliza
ReplyDeleteSummer turned from a season I dreaded to one I can now appreciate on some level when I discovered dahlias, Eliza ;)
DeleteDevo smetterla di passare da qui, non fa bene alla mia invidia :D
ReplyDeleteIl Leonotis l'ho provato un paio di volte ma non ce la fa proprio invece gli Amarillys sono ora in bocciolo dopo 6 anni. Non vedo l'ora di vederli! La Drimia invece mi è fiorita un anno e quello dopo è marcita. Evidentemente il clima alpino non è il loro preferito.
Il tuo giardino è comunque sempre il migliore!
Ti auguro una buona estate.
That is kind of you to say, Gabriel. However, I think we both do the best we can given the restraints - as well as the relative advantages - of our respective climates ;)
DeleteHai perfettamente ragione! È anche vero che quando si ha un inverno gelido si sognano sempre le tue piante più esotiche :)
DeleteUna buona serata!
Luckily, we do not get freezes along my part of the Southern California coast. Even though we are close to the ocean, we do get sizzling heatwaves, though. In fact, a particularly nasty heatwave is expected starting tomorrow :(
DeleteYou are the dahlia queen. I continue to be amazed at the huge variety of colors and textures. Mikayla Miranda, oooooh!
ReplyDeleteI admit to being a dahlia addict, although I suspect I'm only positioned within the upper 10% ;)
DeleteYour garden is amazing and I do love your collection of Dahlias and Zinnias! I think ' 'Summer's End' is my favorite of them all!
ReplyDeleteThe blooms of the 'Summer's End' Dahlias may not be huge like some of my others but their shape and color do make them special!
Delete