Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - July '08

It seems to me that the warm summer days are going by very fast. There's so much to do in the gardens, and never enough hours in the day for me. Each morning, as I find myself wondering where to begin, the familiar motto runs through my mind..."One bed at a time".

Bloom Day is upon us once again and I'm happy to say there are too many blooms to show them all, so I'll just tell you about the most noticeable ones at the moment.

There's an abundance of Phlox taking over this garden that need to be thinned to give some other plants room to grow.

The Day Lilies have begun to bloom,

and the Gloriosa Daisies (Black-eyed Susans) are a riot of color.

They sew themselves wherever they like, and I try to leave them whenever possible as they don't really like to be moved. At the bottom of this garden they're surrounding Cleo, one of my favorite lilies.

Let's look a little closer.

Cerise Queen Achillea (yarrow) can be seen in the background of the photo with Cleo. She's another one that needs to be thinned.

I moved the 'Ruffled Apricot' Daylily from the bed in the background where she was being crowded and getting too much shade, and she's much happier now!

This lovely Asiatic lily is 'Centerfold'.

I don't remember the names of these 2 gorgeous red Asiatics. This one is tall....

......and this one is short.

A dear elderly gardening friend gave me this Liatris last summer. I'm hoping to see some hummingbird moths feeding on it.

In the 'Lilac Garden' the red Monarda (Bee Balm) pairs nicely with the Shasta Daisies. That very large lilac in the background gives this garden its name.

Aren't they pretty together?

Down in the Fence Garden you can see the tall red Asiatic blooming with Gloriosa Daisies....

....and Monarda in a pretty shade of lilac.

On the other end 'Atlanta Moonlight' has a gorgeous big bloom.

This was the first Daylily to bloom for us this year, not including the early 'Lemon Lilies'.

In the Lily Garden .......

....Larkspur is putting on a fine show, but there were very few lily blooms, except for....

....the lovely 'Persian Market'. There are several other lilies blooming elsewhere, but I'll save those for another post.

Clematis 'Sprinkles' is climbing on the corner of the fence. She still has a few small blooms.

I planted pretty blue Browallia in front of the hostas in the Front Porch garden....

....and Torenia (Wishbone Flower).

Fuzzy Pink Astilbe is hiding some of the silver paint on the Hostas behind her.

And here's a different Astilbe growing at the other end of the porch with the bleeding hearts. I had to cut them back to give her some room.

Heuchera (Coral Bells) is tucked in here as well.

We're walking around to the back of the house now....

......past this cheery clump of Coreopsis.

The Jackmanii Clematis is definitely the star of this little garden, but Carnaby in the corner is beautiful too.

There's still some Foxglove blooming in other gardens, but I cut off the seed stalks in this bed today. The flowers lasted a long time.

The Hydrangea is just beginning to bloom.

Outside the back door Cosmos is starting to flower. The Gloriosas have sewn themselves here too. The lovely Ivy Geranium in the basket is 'Butterfly'.

Over in the 'Pink Garden' Snapdragons are blooming beside self-sown Alyssum.

There's a pretty view if we walk around the shed toward the barn, and turn to look back. That's Murphy waiting for his dinner :)

This shade of Monarda is my favorite.

Happy Bloom Day everyone!

To see what's blooming in other gardens visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Thanks so much for your kind words of commiseration on my last post. They were very much appreciated. Only other gardeners can truly understand the anxiety that type of situation can create :) The painted leaves will probably stay with us all summer, but most of the plants are doing just fine.