GBBD: August 2011

Today I'm joining lots of other garden bloggers as they document what's blooming in their gardens, on Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. Carol at May Dreams Gardens urges gardeners to photograph what's blooming on the 15th of each month, and she compiles a list. I haven't participated before, mainly because I'm not organized enough and the 15th passes me by each month, but it's a great idea.

So here's what's blooming right now in my garden. I may have missed a plant or two, but I think I got most of them. This is one of my butterfly bush seedlings, smelling sweet and delicious as always.

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The Datura growing in my driveway crack has many more flower buds now. Each bloom opens in the evening and lasts just a day, but they're so dramatic I'm going to plant this again next year:

Maybe I'll even plant it in the soil instead of forcing it to grow in the driveway.

It's almost impossible to photograph the blooms without capturing some critters along the way:

I'm not sure exactly what this plant is, but it's perennial and is getting quite large. The tiny clusters of white flowers attract many different pollinators, and the willow-like foliage is quite nice so I don't mind it. Does anybody know what plant this is?

My 'Morden Sunset' rose is no longer threatened by Japanese beetles, but it is still a favorite snack of something else. It's still producing new blooms, although it's not easy to snap a photo before the munching begins:

The Ratibida is going strong, as I posted recently:

The "Rose of Sharon" is doing okay, although I'm pretty sure the bloom count is way down this year, which is probably a result of the too-hot and dry July we had:

The surprise lilies have emerged, although yesterday's post contained photos taken after these:

The Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum' are starting to fade, but still impress. Another look at them here.

The Plumbago quietly pumps out these nice little blue flowers for months, and I never really notice them until I do. Know what I mean?

It's also taking over the purple coneflower bed, and I'm not sure what I can do about that. There are still some coneflowers blooming, which is a little surprising:

The 'Home Run' roses are also appreciating the absence of the Japanese beetles, and are flowering profusely:

That's such a difficult color to photograph -- something about the sensitivity of the sensors to these shades of red I believe.

The cleome are starting to fade a bit, although some of the plants are still going strong:

The cleome share a bed with Agastache foeniculum and some annual Gailardia (blanket flower):

I've got drifts of Rudeckia triloba, and this is the time of year when it really impresses:

I'll be pulling triloba seedlings by the hundreds next year, but it's worth it.

On the left is castor bean before it produces the hot spiky pods, and the black stem taro is flowering on the right:

Mexican petunia seems to have been held back a little bit by the heat, but now that it has cooled off a bit I expect it to produce more and more blooms:

The hyacinth bean vines which got a late start this year are starting to produce blooms, which is good news to this little butterfly (which may get its own post later this week):

I love Agastache, and the orange Agastache rupestris is probably my favorite, with its spicy rootbeer scent. The tiny-flowered 'Pink Pop' delights the medium to small bees:

The tomatoes have made it through the heat and have started producing flowers again:

This Jasmine on the deck stairs perfumes the air each evening and morning. Such a great scent to have near the house!

The Maypop flowers are quite fragrant too, with more "perfume" than the Jasmine. I still can't get over how complex these blooms are, and seeing half a dozen at the same time is amazing:

The oleander just keeps blooming (on the left), as does the Malabar spinach, although it's hard to call these "flowers" I'd say (on the right):

I wanted to keep to actual blooms in this post, ignoring all of the grasses that are flowering right now. I just couldn't resist this 'King Tut' Papyrus though, because I love it:

There's so much going on outside now, it's probably my favorite time of year in the garden. Taking a thorough look this way is a good idea too, although I'm not sure I can handle doing it every month.


Be sure to check out May Dream Gardens for a look at what's blooming right now in well over 100 different gardens all over the world.

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