Monday, August 16, 2010

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - August 2010

August in the gardens is Phlox, Agastache, Golden Glow, Gloriosas, Coneflowers, Cosmos, Cleome, Dahlias, Zinnias......
and so much more!
Wonderful color everywhere!


Now that the daylilies are finished in the Lily Garden, that large clump of Agastache foeniculum/Anise Hyssop is the main attraction. It's been blooming for weeks!


In the Lower Rock Garden there's plenty of Gloriosa Daisies/rudbeckia hirta and other lovelies.


Coneflowers are still blooming happily with Phlox and Gloriosas.


The Phlox in the Driveway Garden have had a spectacular season, with blooms more abundant than I've ever seen. I took lots of photos and will have to do a "look back" post to show you some of them. Is it just me, or does summer get busier every year? I just can't seem to find time to blog lately. Posted by Picasa


The Golden Glow/Rudbeckia laciniata "Hortensia" (aka Cut-leaf coneflower, Outhouse plant) falls all over the place in gay abandon and still manages to look beautiful. Hubby's rustic fences are meant to keep it upright, but it creeps out beyond them and I haven't found time to dig it up and put it back where I want it.


The red shed makes a perfect background.


Hannah and the other cats think it's their own personal jungle.

Let's wander down to the Lily Garden where there are some pretty annuals blooming. Posted by Picasa


Cleome in glorious shades of pink.


Aka Spider Flower


Coreopsis Ruby Frost was a gift from Terra Nova nurseries for helping to name the new plant through a Birds and Blooms magazine competition. What a lovely surprise when 4 plants arrived in the mail! Isn't it beautiful?

I love this Dark Opal Basil paired with Zinnias, and it smells wonderful whenever I'm working near it and brush against it.


I left this one Gloriosa seedling where it planted itself and am very happy that it's turned out to be a double with some rusty tones in it. I haven't seen many of them this year. They're mostly the more common school bus yellow.


I'm so pleased with my beautiful Verbena bonariensis growing in the Lower Rock Garden!
Thank you, dear Barbara of Abenteuer Garten!
A few of them self-seeded from last year but most of these were started from seed indoors in the late winter.


It also pairs well with Zinnias. Posted by Picasa


We are lucky to have a small, local nursery owned by friends, and it's a real treasure chest of new plants to try. I was excited to find, among other things, 2 salvias that I haven't seen in these parts before. This one is Salvia greggii "Desert Blaze"/Variegated Autumn Sage.


And this one is Salvia coccinea "Coral Nymph"/Hummingbird or Texas Sage.


Bright orange nasturtiums are blooming with calendulas and marigolds at the bottom of the Rock Garden. Posted by Picasa


Speaking of bright orange, the lovely Oriental Tigerlily has been blooming up near the butterfly bush in the Driveway Garden for weeks!


Windowboxes are overflowing with petunias! This one has "Pink Morn" paired with Scaevola/Fan Flower, Alyssum, Vinca and an Ivy Geranium.


Soft mounds of Cosmos glow in the morning sun outside the back door. Posted by Picasa


Across the driveway, Dahlia "Park Princess" is pretty in the Pink Garden.


Daylily "Summer Wine" is the only one still producing blooms. There aren't many buds left now, but it's been blooming for more than a month. This is a late July photo because I forgot to take a current one.


August is the month for my overwintered geraniums to really come into their own. The Ivies are blooming like crazy and looking glorious.


We've had some cooler weather and a couple of good rains lately. One recent misty morn I caught the geraniums sparkling with jeweled drops after an overnight rain.
This is "Belladonna".


and  "Chirocco".


Vancouver Centennial Geranium is beautiful once again with Sweet Potato Vine "Blackie" and Calibrachoa "MiniFamous Tangerine". Posted by Picasa


There are many more blooms - too many to mention, so this will have to do for now. Thanks for visiting and happy Bloom Day to you!


I hope you'll manage to find the time to visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens and have a look at what's blooming in other gardens all over the globe on this August Bloom Day.

28 comments:

BernieH said...[Reply]

Just wonderful ... your August garden is packed full of colour and interest. The Golden Glow looks magnificent against the red of the shed ... the Cleome is gorgeous ... and the two new Salvias are great. Particularly love the Coral Nymph! So many great blooms ... it all looks terrific!

Tabor said...[Reply]

I have to move more toward the hardy species with the terrible heat and drought that we have had this summer followed 6 weeks later by torrential rains. This is not an easy place to garden!!

Susan Tidwell said...[Reply]

I love your garden, I love how you know the names of everything - do you keep extensive notes and a map of your yard with the names of flowers - OR - is it all in your head?

Wonderful colors, great post, thanks for the tour of your beautiful yard.

Marrissa said...[Reply]

I've been away for a while and missed seeing your blog with all it's great photo's! I especially love the shot of 'belladonna'. You've captured a beautiful moment there. Glad to be back here in blog-land :) Marrissa

Lisa at Greenbow said...[Reply]

Wow, your garden looks glorious Kerri. I enjoyed seeing the overall pictures. Those red buildings do make a great backdrop for your plants. Happy GBBD.

Anonymous said...[Reply]

Very pretty plantings. I scrolled down to look at July's Bloom Day and you have gorgeous beds. You must live on a little piece of heaven. I like cows and love to see them in a pasture. Having a working farm must have been wonderful. I live in Western New York, so you must have been experiencing all our 90 degree days as well, but your flowers weathered the high temperatures well.

Philosophical Karen said...[Reply]

So many blooms to enjoy right into August. My garden is just about finished. I have been taking mental notes of your blooms so I can add some August interest to my garden. Thanks for this, Kerri!

Kit Aerie-el said...[Reply]

Great photos! Your gardens are lush and gorgeous. Love the red barn and Golden Glow Rudbeckia in front, accented with a kitty cat. It's all beautiful! Happy GBBD!

Alice said...[Reply]

So many beauties in your garden, each of them perfect. I scroll down the photos and think "this is my favourite", until the next one!

But the pale pink Salvia, the Tiger Lily and the bright pink Daylily really stand out. Although I'm always in awe of your lovely hanging baskets. You know I want baskets just like them, but never seem to achieve it, so I'm happy that I can enjoy yours.

We're only a couple of weeks from Spring here and that means that Autumn is creeping up on you too. In some ways it will be a little relief for you from the business of Summer, but just don't visualise the Winter beyond. Still, you seem to keep very busy with your indoor winter gardening these days.

Thank you again, Kerri, for the wonderful tour of your garden - it's always so refreshing and exciting.

We've been busy in the 'new' section of ours so I must take photos today before it rains.

Sorry I've been so slack on the blogging and emailing.....there's so much to catch up on that it becomes a bit overwhelming.....I think a Skype session might be the answer?

Love to you all.

andrea said...[Reply]

hi kerri, your gardens are looking beautiful and full of color! glad to hear you still have some lilies blooming - summer wine is very pink isn't it? goes well with your pink coral nymph sage, cleome, zinnias, and all the other pinks and purples you have there! well done. i think someone should convince you to grow market flowers for her next year... ;) enjoy your day!

Anonymous said...[Reply]

My comment disappeared yesterday after I sent it, and I didn't want to do it again, in case it was just late showing up. I just looked, it isn't there so here it goes again.

That red barn looks wonderful with your flowers. It makes a perfect setting.

I love the all the different pinks this month. You yard just keeps looking better and better.

Hope you have a nice August, and that frost stays awhile from your flowers a long, long time!

Bonnie said...[Reply]

I too, live in upstate NY and have the same flowers blooming. I don't know where you found the time to post all those beautiful pictures. I think I'll be playing "a look back at summer" this winter when life slows down.

Pam said...[Reply]

Lovely!

And ooh, I've discovered a strand of coneflowers that have survived in my garden! I might get - oh - three flowers! I think you're right that they don't like the heavyish soil where I want them to grow. This bit is in a lighter area. Still - success at last!

joey said...[Reply]

Your August garden is lovely, Kerri, the red shed and Hortensia especially stunning! Enjoy the remains of summer :)

Babara said...[Reply]

Does your day have more than 24 hours, dear Kerri? I imagine all the work you do in your beautiful and so lush flowering garden when seeing your splendour. I love very much the special red of your daylily "Summer Wine" and the salvias. And I am also delighted to see that you have a lot of verbena bonariensis doing so well in your garden. We have the first signs of autumn in our gardens here. I think summer is over now. Thank you for leaving your kind comment in my last post. Besides the lemon balm syrup I use for a drink (like a lemonade) or for dessert (in creams, cakes and ice creams). It is quite common here.
Enjoy the last summer days and don't work too hard ;-) !!
Barbara xxx

Barbee' said...[Reply]

Overwhelmingly beautiful!! Things here have burned up, including me :)

ozjane said...[Reply]

Frances gave me a link to your blog.
I love the pink salvia.....I have a red one which is lush and bushy so hope the pink one I have just planted it as pretty as yours.

Sunita Mohan said...[Reply]

What a colourful garden you have, Kerri! I feel like I have wandered into a very colourful painting.
Those Rudbeckias really pop against the red backdrop, don't they? How clever to plant them there!
And I've never seen Salvia in such a pretty shade before. Lovely!

*Ulrike* said...[Reply]

So many beautiful flowers! You must have great dirt!, can you send some my way as all we have is this red clay!! I like the ruby frost, and when my garden house is finished I'll need to start thinking of what I'll put around it for next year.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Ulrike

Needled Mom said...[Reply]

Everything looks so pretty and lush at this time of the year, Kerri. It must have been a good summer for your flowers. You can start to see an autumn glow taking over the garden. I really love the Dk. Opal Basil with the zinnias. As well the Golden Glow against the rustic fence is stunning. Your pictures of the geraniums with the fresh raindrops are stunning.

Thanks for the wonderful tour.

em said...[Reply]

hi kerri, what a great year for growing; your garden looks spectacular! now it's september and i'm wondering if you will share photos of your garden. i haven't posted much either, but i do look forward to seeing your photos. i saw an oriole last week, but just for a moment. do you ever see any by you? you know, we never did go upstate to see any schools... just to maine and pa... hope you and your husband are well.

em

Ilona's Garden said...[Reply]

Enjoyed the walkthru - those are gorgeous flowers you had in August! Similar climate to mine... so will try some that you listed. On the Verbena Bonarensis- mine died out quickly, I see you replaced with new starts. I'll need to try that.

Connie said...[Reply]

What a gorgeous array of color! I love that new coreopsis...will have to look for that one. Have wanted to try the Golden Glow Rudbeckia, but not sure yet where I can plant it and let it do it's wild thing. I love Verbena Bonariensis anywhere in garden for it's airy lovliness!

Elzie said...[Reply]

You have such a beautiful garden. I've said it before and will probable say it again, lol. Even though I feel ashamed for not visiting more often.
Hope you have a nice day.
Love Elzie

Sue said...[Reply]

Hi,

Your garden is soooooooooooo--beautiful.

Can you share advice for growing such beauitful plants

Sue

Paul said...[Reply]

Lovely. It surely must be time for another update?

Corner Gardener Sue said...[Reply]

Hi Kerri,
I'm not going to be able to remember all the plants I wanted to comment on as I was reading this post. One that stands out is the cut leaf coneflower. I think that's the plant I've been admiring growing in a corner curb bed on a busy street near my house. A few weeks ago, I stopped to ask for seeds, but no one answered the door, so I took a few. The ones I planted didn't come up, probably, because the area dried out. I have some more, but may go back now that the heads are truly dead.

I love that pink dahlia. Congratulations on helping to name that coreopsis. It's a beauty!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...[Reply]

It may be the umpteenth time that I am telling you this but I have to tell you again that I am sure that all the beauty that you choose to and work hard for to surround yourself with must make you such a beautiful person and vice-versa! :)