Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day July, 2009

When I started blogging in October, it didn't take long for me to find blogs that participated in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I Googled it, and found that Carol, of May Dreams Gardens isthe hostess of this monthly event. I joined in immediately, and it is now my first July posting. (Clicking on the photos will enlarge them.)

It is the height of the day lily blooming, as well as liatris, false sunflowers, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and other rudbeckias. The annuals I planted from seeds in the ground are doing as well or better than their counterparts started inside.

I have been pleased when people make comments as they drive by, as most of my flowers are visible from the street. Yesterday, a woman was in the yard taking photos while her husband sat on the curb. My son saw her out the window, so I went out to see if I knew who it was. The man stood up and said his wife was taking photos, and he apologized for her being in the yard. They didn't speak much English, and I don't know how much of what I said they understood, but they did understand I was pleased they enjoyed my flowers, and they could walk anywhere in the yard and take pictures.

Speaking of pictures, I still go out to take a few photos for a post, but end up with a huge number of them, and then struggle to get it down to a reasonable number. Some of what are blooming now not pictured are thyme, winter savory, germander, catmint, portulaca, pansies, snap dragons, spiderwort, bachelor buttons, larkspur, and the pansies that are hanging on so far.

From left to right are Heather Queen Agastache, Queen Anne's Lace, Butterfly Pink Pentas, Paprika Yarrow, and Pastel Sunset Zinnia, that is the first of those planted from seeds in the ground.



Cleome, Tithonia, that I grew from seed inside, ginger mint, beautyberry bush, goldenrod, I think, Little Lemon, and liatris:



The mountain mint flowers are opening up enough for bees and wasps to enjoy them. Next are Rudbeckia pinnata with a coneflower that may be Magnus and a day lily. Under the mountain mint is a bloom from the tall plant behind the rudbeckia, which is Rudbeckia Herbstonne. In the bottom row are a skull cap, quaking grass, black-eyed Susans, false sunflower, and in the last photo here, you can see the flowers in the photo above, then next to them are ornamental onions, Russian sage, liatris, catmint in the front, and an amsonia plant on the right looking as pretty as the blooms.


Before the globe thistle and hollyhocks got tall, I saw that a morning glory was coming up, and left it there to grow up the ladder that is leaning against the fence. I didn't know if it was getting enough sun to make it up the ladder, but noticed a bloom this morning (Tuesday). Can you see it? The Virginia Mountain mint will continue to bloom and draw bees and wasps to it all summer, and is growing behind a goldenrod I bought for my father-in-law about 13 years ago, and planted against the shed. I moved this last year when the shed needed to be repaired. In the bottom row are cupid's dart, false sunflowers, and rue.



We just went from the front yard, and down the side. We are now in front of the vegetable garden. The red on the fence is an annual sweet pea, and in front of it are a light colored larkspur and one of the 4 O' Clocks, that are just starting to bloom. The purple phlox get powdery mildew each year, and I thought I had them all pulled, but a couple came back and are blooming. On the bottom are a close up of a 4 O' Clock, then one of the several lantanas I'm growing for butterflies, and a David Phlox.


Verbena bonariensis with dill seeds and moonflower-datura, not the vining kind, are a few blooms from the veggie garden. I'm letting the parsley bloom in in the herb garden in my back yard for caterpillars, but haven't seen any yet. The pink begonia is an angel wing of some kind growing in the shade of the deck. The annual, Priairie Sun rudbeckia is fun to have around, and the last flower is a non-stop begonia.



Laguna 4 Deep Blue Lisianthus, sweet pea, Black and Blue Salvia, and ageratum all in pots near the vegetable garden, except for the sweet pea, and a morning glory and wild petunia from the back yard.



I had to include a few of the day lilies in bloom. To see more, and to see other recent blooms, scroll down my blog.



Here are some blooms from my garden across the street. The first, and the one under it are the same plant, kiss me over the garden gate, given to me by a friend. The zinnias are from free Thomson and Morgan seeds that were supposed to be Giant Cactus Flowers Mixed, but look nothing like the photos on the package. I like them, though. The African marigolds are doing well, and the sunflower is the first of the Flash Blend sunflowers to bloom.



The Pia Hydrangea I planted last year is blooming. It had the spots on the leaves then, too. The seller said it wasn't a disease, but from what I researched, it looks like it is. I'll have to keep an eye on it. I deadheaded it last year, and it didn't bloom again like I thought it would. The tag said it blooms all summer. Well, I'll leave the flowers on it longer this year.



There were some questions about this "combination" in a recent post. It is a rattlesnake master with a cardinal climber vine growing on it. I also have the thinner leaved cypress vines from last year's plants that are not blooming yet.

Happy GBBD! I hope all of you and your flowers are happy and healthy. I'm behind in my blog reading again. I hope to see what's blooming in your gardens this month.

24 comments:

  1. You have so many beautiful flowers Sue! Happy GBBD! I did not see your name entered on May Dreams Garden's Blog.

    -Cathy

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  2. So much color, your yard must be something in person. Love the last combo!!

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  3. Wow Sue, so many blooms in your garden. Isn't it wonderful?

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  4. You have so much going on in your beds. Lots of color. Love it.

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  5. You have a lot blooming. My cleome and golden rod haven't started and there isn't much here except daylilies and the agastache.
    Marnie

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  6. Wow Sue, you have such a wonderful, colorful mix of flowers. They are all beautiful.

    FlowerLady

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  7. Hi, Sue, I did see your name on the GBBD list. Bodacious presentation you have. Did you mention that we can click on the pics and see them even bigger?

    I haven't gotten around to preparing my pics for Bloom Day, yet. We've been busy with a projectc caused by yesterday's storm, so I made photos of what we were doing and a few of today's blossoms. Forgot some of the most spectacular, but they'll be there for next month's surprise.

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  8. Thank you for sharing your garden. I truly loved it.

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  9. Hello Sue,
    Your flowers are gorgeous. I don´t wonder that those stranger woman took photos of them. I was taking care of my friend´s house for two days and she also has countless number of flowers as inside as outside. And I also took big amount of photos of them:-)
    Have a nice day.

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  10. Susan~~ I surmise that these passersby were not the only ones. There are the flying ones too. Such tantalizing goodies.

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  11. What a lovely variety, Sue!
    I may do that next year, but this year I missed the boat, GBBD
    Rosey

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  12. Sue, you always have the most beautiful picutres....these are some of the very best!!!!!
    Prayers, Bo

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  13. Sue, Beautiful blooms and such a delightful variety....I love stopping by to see what you have in store for us...gail

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  14. There are 2 yards on my daughters street that we ride by going about 3 mph just so we can look and gawk at the beautiful flowers. That should make you feel so wonderful that strangers stopped. Your flowers are glorious! I especially liked the daylilies and hollyhock.

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  15. Your garden must be overflowing with flowers and I can see why someone would take pictures. It must make you feel good to see someone appreciating all the hard work you've put into it!

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  16. Wow, so much in bloom, Sue! No wonder you had strangers wanting to take pictures of your garden. Thank you for adding the photo of the rattlesnake master at the end--I've seen this in catalogs and mentioned in different articles, but have never seen a really good photo of it. Very interesting plant.

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  17. Absolutely fantastic blooms.

    Hello Kathy.
    Regina

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  18. Sue, I can see why people stop to take pictures. :) Isn't it fun?? Did you start the cardinal vine indoors? I let it self seed here (s. IL) and it doesn't show up until about now. Doesn't take it long to grow by leaps and bounds, though! :) ~~Rhonda

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  19. Sue,
    Your garden is a botanical feast. It must be wonderful to be appreciated by folks wanting to make photos.
    Donna

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  20. Happy Bloom Day! So glad you got to join everyone. Your gardens is splendid this summer. Isn't it nice for people to stop by and say sweet things.~~Dee

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  21. I came to see Skywatch Friday, but ended up spending most of my time in your garden!! Wow!! It is something else! I am in a 5a zone, so I know a lot of the plants you have. I was sick in the spring, so most of my garden is taken up with borage, and I am trying to keep it deadheaded so the blossoms will keep coming. I love them in salads, and the bees simply love them.

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  22. You have a lot of beautiful flowers! I especially like your daylilies.

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  23. So many flowers, Sue, how do you keep track of them all? Do you have a heavy routine of watering your containers? Hydrangeas are tricky to prune, in my experience. I keep reading up about it every year, and am never quite sure of what I'm doing.

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I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.