Wednesday, August 15, 2007

AUGUST 15th 2007 GARDEN BLOGGER'S BLOOM DAY

The garden has a late summer look. Seedheads are numerous. Leaves on the ornamental gourds that had been large and showy are getting powdery mildew and need to be removed. In a few short weeks it will be fall. This August is hot and humid with many sudden downpours that are tough on flowers. Today is cloudy and drizzly. The camera does not like this weather.
For a list of other bloomers about the bloggers neighborhood check out May Dreams Garden .



Blackeyed Susans amid the remains of liatris. I don't deadhead much.


The orange gaillardia have started blooming.


The yellow gaillardia started blooming first and I thought there was not going to be any other color for awhile. I love the heavy texture and gray green color of the foliage. The first leaves at the base are shaped like oak leaves and grew all summer before flower buds formed. These gaillardia were winter sown in a milkjug from a couple of seedheads.

Yellow coneflowers behind a wild panicum.



A trailing verbena that would flower heavier if I remembered to deadhead more often.

Rattlesnake Master with panicum.

An autumn clematis.


A white dwarf buddleia 'White Ball' maybe? only a couple of feet high fits well into a perennial garden. Got a late start this year.




Garlic chives have such pretty flowers. They open into white balls then get black seeds throughout. Self sows way abundantly so I'll regret it, but they hold up well in fall. Right behind the chives is another self sowing herb, a variegated lemon balm that has gone to seed. Yikes!

The chelone will be moved to the rain garden when the weather cools. The soil stays too dry along the garage for this moisture loving native.


The berries have been ripening on the Virginia Creeper and a few touches of red are begining to appear in the leaves.




An annual cicada sits in the garden seeming to watch, maybe ready to molt...

8 Comments:

Blogger Annie in Austin said...

It's cool how you can see right through the cicada's wings to the plants beyond.

Your flowers all harmonize beautifully, Gloria - I really like the yellow gaillardia, and seeing your photo makes me miss my old Sweet Autumn clematis - and want to inhale that scent!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

15/8/07 3:50 PM  
Blogger Carol Michel said...

Your flowers are beautiful, so whatever you are doing/not doing in your garden is working. Sometimes just leaving plants alone and not being overly neat with deadheading is better for them, anyway.

Thanks for participating in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Carol at May Dreams Gardens

15/8/07 6:39 PM  
Blogger David said...

I like the clematis...I want some to grow on the fence under my bedroom window. All your white flowers are very pretty! And cool cicada picture!

15/8/07 8:11 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

OOOOh, I'd LOVE to grow rattlesnake master...I have the Agavifolium eryngium, but I don't think it's going to flower this year. Hopefully next (hopefully it makes it through the winter...)
These are wonderful photos; I especially like the white flowers, which reminds me that I keep saying I'm going to build a white bed somewhere in the garden...

15/8/07 9:25 PM  
Blogger Gloria said...

Annie, after the 17 year cicada madness earlier this summer I thought the reliable guy that shows up each year should get a bit of recognition. They are larger and do not have those spooky red(or occasionally pale blue) eyes.
The Autumn clematis has really taken off this year. I like to cut it back almost to the ground each year to keep it in bounds and still it is sprawling. When it is fully blooming I will take a picture of how large it grew in one season. It takes a lot of flowers to get that scent on the air.

Carol,it is such fun to see what and how everyone is growing. Some plants are everywhere,but each gardener has a unique touch and every garden has a regional personality.You are a fine host.

David,all the clematis are pretty. I just love the deep purple Jackmanii and keep talking about picking up a red.

Jodi, the rattlesnake master is such an upright strong statement. And the stems and seedheads last all winter even under an onslaught of snow and freezing rain. I will have to look up the Agavifolium.


Thanks to everyone for stopping by.

16/8/07 3:53 PM  
Blogger Gloria said...

Oh...Agavifolium eryngium/sea holly...my duh...lol

16/8/07 5:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Garlic chives opened in my garden this week, just in time for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Nice to see someone else growing them. Yours look farther along than mine.

18/8/07 2:04 PM  
Blogger Gloria said...

M Sinclair Stevens, if you have never grown garlic chives be careful of the seeds. Very pretty in the drying flower but will reseed like grass when the soil is moist and warm. Very easier to pull up though, I have been growing them since a moving neighbor dug up a clump and passed over the fence about 12 years ago.
We grow many self sowing herbs.

18/8/07 5:22 PM  

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