Bloom Day - July 2022

It's July.  One of my least favorite months, running neck-in-neck with August.  While temperatures in my area have been remarkably cooler than usual so far this month, especially by comparison to other parts of the US, it's still very dry.  Under current guidelines for our area, irrigation is limited to twice a week.  Some of my favorite plants usually at their peak in midsummer, like the shaggy Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) a dear friend gave me years ago, never really got their bloom on.  Others, like Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' and Salvia clevelandii, looked so sad I didn't even bother to photograph them.  Although our rainfall in 2022 has been nearly double what we received in 2021, it's only about half our "normal" average.  Two bad rain years in a row is having an impact.

Even so, the garden offered gifts.

Although the first of my current crop of dahlias to flower, the earliest blooms of Dahlia 'Calin' were badly malformed and I almost gave up on the plant.  However, after treating it for ants and aphids, it came back.

The other Dahlias now blooming are: 'Enchantress', 'Southern Belle', and 'Summer's End'.  I lost 3 tubers to rot and a few others simply failed to sprout.  Trying to speed up the season, I think I may have planted my tubers in soil that was still too cold.  It's also possible some tubers were missing the eyes necessary to sprout.

Many of the Zinnias I sowed from seeds are still in bud but I planted others from 6-packs to fill empty spots in my cutting garden as I pulled other plants out

I failed to sow any wild carrot seeds this year but last year's Daucus carota 'Dara' did the work for me.  It's come up in 4 areas this year.  The flowers in one area (left) are nearly white while others (right) look more like the original flowers.

The white and blue Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) are doing well this year.  The pink variety isn't nearly as vigorous. 

I planted more Orienpet hybrid lilies last year but the rabbits stripped several plants of their leaves before I realized what they were up to and caged the remaining plants.  Clockwise from the upper left are Lilium Conca d'Or, L. 'Orange Planet', L. 'Pretty Woman', and a noID variety I received as a gift.

Warmer temperatures have prompted lots of flowers from Magnolia grandiflora

Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba' is still going strong too

I picked up Rudbeckia hirta 'Denver Daisy' a couple of weeks ago to fill an empty spot in one of my half barrels

The garden presented a few unexpected surprises.

Delphinium elatum 'Cobalt Dreams', cut back after its first flush in April, returned bigger and better with a second flush of blooms

I started sunflowers in small pots but I didn't keep them well watered and ended up with only a handful of transplants.  Helianthus annuus 'White Lite' is the first to bloom but, like my sunflowers last year, it has a very short stem and a relatively small flower.

Lantana 'Lucky Yellow' isn't an unusual plant but this one has woven itself through a Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire', which drew my notice

The Lepismium cruciforme (aka hurricane cactus) I picked up my local botanic garden's spring plant sale just produced its first tiny blooms

The orchids in my lath (shade) house always surprise me when they bloom.  Clockwise from the upper left: Oncostele 'Wildcat' and 3 noID Phalaenopsis.

 

My old standbys continue to produce a steady stream of flowers (of floral substitutes).

The Grevilleas keep on giving.  Top: G. 'Peaches & Cream' and G. 'Poorinda 'Leane'
Middle: G. sericea and G. 'Scarlet Sprite'
Bottom: Grevillea 'Superb'

What looks like flowers on Leucadendrons are colorful bracts.  Clockwise from the upper left: L. 'Summer Red', L. 'Safari Sunset' and L. 'Blush', and L. 'Jester' (center) surrounded on both sides by L. 'Winter Red'.

 

Once again, I've thrown the best of the rest into color collages.

Top: noID Agapanthus, 'Agapanthus 'Elaine', and Ageratum houstonianum
Middle: Felicia aethiopica, Lavandula angustifolia, and Limonium perezii
Bottom: Platycodon grandiflorus, Salvia 'Black & Blue', and Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Deep Blue'

Clockwise from the upper left: Anthurium 'Maine', Cuphea 'Honeybells', Hoya carnosa, Centranthus ruber, Cistus 'Sunset', and Digitalis purpurea

 

 

 

Clockwise from upper left: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, Osteospermum 'Berry White', Rosa 'Pink Meidiland', Salvia canariensis var candidissima, Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Rose Pink', and Stachys hybrid 'Lilac Falls'

Clockwise from upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Alstroemeria 'Claire', Angelonia 'Archangel White', Centranthus ruber 'Alba', Crassula pubescens, Fuchsia magellanica 'Hawkshead', Myrtus communis, and Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light'

Clockwise from the upper left: Berlandiera lyrata, noID Coreopsis, Gazania 'Gold Flame', Grindelia camporum, and Gaillardia 'Amazon Sunset'

Clockwise from the upper left: Aloe nobilis, Antirrhinum majus 'Double Azalea Bronze', Lobelia laxiflora, Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach', and Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell'

Top: Aeonium nobilis, Alstroemeria 'Inca Lucky', and Cyclamen 'Djix'
Middle: Echeveria 'New Black', Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy', and Hemerocallis 'Spacecoast Behavior Pattern'
Bottom: Pelargonium peltatum 'Burgundy', P. sidoides, and Penstemon 'Mini-bells Red'

 

That's a wrap for my July Bloom Day report.  Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to discover what's blooming elsewhere in the US and other parts of the world.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - July 2020

Even though it's July and it's been warm, we haven't had any temperatures higher than 95F yet this month.  Better still, the mercury has fallen this week and at the moment temperatures are in the downright comfortable range of the mid-70sF.  There are still a lot of different flowers in bloom but the quantities are small in most cases.  I'll start off with those that are most abundant or eye-catching.

Our native California aster, Symphyotrichum chilense, is blooming both early and vigorously.  While it's very pretty, it's spread with abandon to take over much of one bed and I'm going to have to do something to corral it at the end of the season as it's threatening to choke out other plants.

Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail) isn't invasive but it's having a very good year

Okay, these Leucadendrons aren't true flowers but they do a good job of imitating the real ones.  Those shown here are Leucadendron 'Jester' and L. 'Summer Red'.

I've shown the Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' and L. 'Devil's Blush' before but they're almost impossible to ignore

I don't envision Cupheas as the stars of my garden but, like some actors in supporting roles, they do occasionally steal the show.  This is hybrid Cuphea 'Starfire Pink'.

This is Cuphea 'Vermillionaire'

It's hard to ignore the exuberance of Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' either.  They're the Energizer Bunnies of my summer garden.

Pandorea jasminoides (aka white bower vine) is having a good year too

I haven't kept the Globularia x indubia (globe daisies) as manicured as I like but they're blooming better than ever this year

This noID Lavandula angustifolia (English lavender) has been here for years and always put on a good show.  It's bee and butterfly approved.

The blooms of Phyla nodiflora (aka frogfruit) are tiny but profuse, choking out most weeds (except for the occasional opportunistic Gazania)

Other blooms are fading but still deserve a shout-out.

The Agapanthus didn't get the attention I usually give them this year and now they're waning, although there are new blooms opening here and there

Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' has continued to produce new flushes of blooms and, photographed from this angle, it does a nice job of playing off the blooms on the mimosa tree in the background

The dark blue Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus) bloomed all at once this year and, in this location at least, appear to be preparing to exit on the same schedule too.  I don't have the range of colors in these plants I've had in prior years.  They're short-lived perennials here and I pulled most of last year's plants, expecting to get new plugs this spring, which didn't happen.

Most of my daylilies are done blooming.  This deciduous variety, probably Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell', which came with the garden, is finishing up now.

The foliage of Lagurus ovatus (bunny tail grass) died out a month or more ago but the flowers still look fresh

A friend of mine bought these frilly noID Leucanthemum x superbum (Shasta daisies) for me following my mother's death in 2013.  My friend passed away somewhat unexpectedly last year.  I think of both of them every time I look at these flowers. 

The flowers of Limonium perezii (aka sea lavender) dries well but, as it gets scruffier, I start cutting it back

Two of my largest Salvias, Salvia canarienesis var candidissima (left) and Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman' (right), are finishing up the season

There are some recent arrivals to admire as well.

I expect this is as good as the mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) is going to get.  It was literally cut in half in December 2018 in an effort to save what we could from the damage done by shot hole borers.  It looks okay as long as I don't let myself compare it to a healthy intact specimen.  The good news is that it drops a lot less leaf and flower litter than it used to.

The red fountain grass (Pennisetum x advena 'Rubrum') is just starting to bloom

As I was late in sowing Zinnia seeds in my cutting garden this year, I added plugs purchased at my local garden center to this bed on the south side of my garden when I pulled the remains of my California poppies to provide an immediate Zinnia fix

What's most obviously missing from my July garden this year are Dahlia blooms.  As with the Zinnia seeds, I was late in getting my tubers in.  They were planted between mid-April and early May instead of early March as was the case in 2019.  I'm trusting that those blooms will make an appearance eventually. 

I'll conclude as usual with color collages featuring the best of the rest.

Top row: Anagallis monellii, Duranta repens 'Sapphire Showers', and remnants of Monarda 'Peter's Purple'
Middle row: Platycodon grandiflorus, Plectranthus neochilus, and Plumbago auriculata 'Imperial Blue'
Bottom row: Thymus serphyllum 'Minus', Trachelium caeruleum, and Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic'

Top row: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', noID Cosmos, and noID Crassula
Middle row: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Magnolia grandiflora
Bottom row: Myrtus communis 'Compacta' and Orlaya grandiflora

Top row: Achillea 'Moonshine', Alstroemeria 'Inca 'Sundance', and Cuphea micropetala
Middle row: self-seeded Gazania, Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', and Lantana camara 'Irene'
Bottom row: noID dwarf Phalaenopsis and Phlomis fruicosa

Top row: Bignonia capreolata, Cotyledon orbiculata, and Grevillea 'Superb'
Middle row: Ammi majus 'Dara' and Calibrachoa 'Cabernet Coral Kiss'
Bottom row: Grevillea 'Ned Kelly' and Pelargonium peltatum 'Dark Burgundy'

Top row: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Arbutus 'Marina', Arctotis 'Pink Sugar', and Cistus 'Sunset'
2nd row: Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy', G. pulchella, Hebe 'Wiri Blush', and noID Hoya
3rd row: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, Origanum 'Monterey Bay', Osteospermum 'Berry White', and Pelargonium cucculatum
Bottom row: Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard', Rosa 'Pink Meidiland', and Scabiosa columbaria

That's a wrap!  Drop in on Carol at May Dreams Gardens to discover what she and other gardeners have blooming in their gardens this month.



All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party