It is Garden Blogger Bloom Day, and we have
Carol at May Dreams Gardens to thank for that. Head over there to see more blooms around the world! I personally have Carol to thank for the zinnias blooming here and there in my garden...she talks about hers often and posts lovely pictures of zinnias in her garden so this year I actually remembered to start some seeds and then scatter the plants around the garden here. They are adding some needed color to my heat weary garden!
There are some blooms on the gaura now and they are sweet swaying in the afternoon breeze.
A very happy bloomer is the ornamental oregano Hopley's Purple that I have divided and spread around. It is a nice summer ground cover, dying back in winter here in the central valley of California and returning reliably every spring. It climbs up through many things, here through lambs ear that appeared one year in my garden, probably tagging along in some purchased plant.
My new anisodontea Strybing Beauty is settling in nicely. I am hoping the hummers are enjoying it as much as I am since I planted it with them in mind.
The wisteria is still blooming its light summer bloom, just enough to keep the carpenter bees busy and brighten up the fence it grows along.
Eriogonum grande, red buckwheat, is blooming in the front garden. It has not managed to get as big as I hoped but there is always next year!
Glossy abelia is an easy to grow drought tolerant shrub that blooms here for months and keeps the bees happy.
Every so often rain lilies pop up in places I had forgotten about as these did just yesterday...good timing on their part.
Dahlia Tutti-Frutti has been a success this year, pumping out blooms now for over a month. It is one of the few successes I have had with dahlias. Funny how those successes make us want to keep trying. But I need to give up on dahlias again...they are, in general, just not that happy in my garden.
Cooler weather has arrived, at least for the time being. It is a good time to garden and thoughts of what to plant this fall are starting to appear. However, I doubt summer has left yet so those thoughts will remain in the planning stage for now.
Happy Bloom Day!
