Garden Bloggers Bloomday-Beware the Ides of August

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   August has always been one of my least favorite months in the garden. Heat, spider mites, rust and mildew.  This year it's been 6 months since our last rain, and though we are summer-dry and accustomed to months of drought this year our rainfall totals were paltry and ended a good two months earlier than usual. Still, there are blooms to be had , vine ripe tomatoes to be picked and our beautiful fall season to look forward to. Be sure to stop by and see our hostess Carol at May Dreams Gardens for more August flowers.

Aster 'Purple Dome'


This is Pelargonium 'Pinki Pinks' which has been blooming for months and has great foliage to boot.

Bronze Fennel. It's been several years since I grew this and never experienced the prolific reseeding that some speak of. Hopefully that continues to be the case.

Sombreuil

Origanum dictamnus aka 'Dittany of Crete' , is my favorite of the ornamental Oreganos.

The Dahlias were slow this summer and fully half of my tubers didn't make it. I'm toying with the idea of digging them this fall and potting them up early. This is Labyrinth. I have been diligent about leaf miner patrol and so far they aren't the mess they were last year-but of course they have spider mites along with many other plants in my garden.


 This Caryopteris is either 'Good as Gold' or 'Hint of Gold' --I have tags for both . It is hands down my best Caryopteris and always covered with bees.

'Bee Happy'

 

 Erigeron 'Wayne Roderick'



Rudbeckia 'Chim Chiminee' newly planted a month or two ago from a 4" pot has rapidly put on size and these flowers are huge. I'm hoping it seeds around.


Verbascum 'Dark Mullein'

Echinops ritro. My second try, this time purchased from the UC Davis Arboretum spring plant sale. Love everything about this plant and if/when the fall plant sale comes around I'm hoping these will be offered again -they have achieved the coveted repeated element status.

 
 
 
Boutellea 'Blonde Ambition'  

 

         Clematis 'Arabella'  just keeps blooming away even though the foliage looks like crap.

'Plantinum Blonde'


The lilies are in the last days of flowering for this year. This one is 'Black Beauty' .

 The last two flowers of 'Silver Scheherazade'. This was a freebie with one of my lily orders a few years ago and has done really well.



Comments

  1. LisaAugust 15, 2021 at 7:38 PM

    I love Dittany of Crete. I had one for a few years and one spring it just didn't come back. I'll have to get another. I forgot how pretty it is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ksAugust 16, 2021 at 7:07 PM

      They were getting so hard to find for a couple years here I bought 3 when I finally found them.

      Delete
  2. Kris PetersonAugust 15, 2021 at 9:06 PM

    Happy GBBD Kathy! I also dislike August. Growing dahlias and zinnias has done a lot to brighten up midsummer for me in the past but those plants were slow to get going for me again this year so they haven't pulled me out of my summer doldrums yet. Your August bloomers look impressively healthy to me. I'm envious of your Erigeron 'Wayne Roderick' as mine is a burned-up brown mess this year. The Echinops and Bouteloua were unhappy here as well but I have my fingers crossed for Clematis 'Arabella' which I planted last month (despite my self-imposed ban on summer planting).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ksAugust 16, 2021 at 7:15 PM

      I am really enjoying my Dahlias this year Kris, even though I had so much 'crop failure' ! I wish you well with Arabella. She seems to take the heat well, but the foliage really looks bad in late summer. I'm experimenting with a late summer pruning.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousAugust 16, 2021 at 7:35 AM

    Beautiful blooms. I love the shot of the Labyrinth dahlia. It is gorgeous. This year I'm in borer patrol too. They seem to be worse than other years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ksAugust 16, 2021 at 7:17 PM

      Thanks Angie..this is my first year growing Labyrinth and it's a keeper.

      Delete
  4. SwimrayAugust 16, 2021 at 6:26 PM

    My floppy asters are not blooming yet, Yours are really full and looking beautiful.
    -Ray

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ksAugust 16, 2021 at 7:20 PM

      'Purple Dome' is the one and only aster that doesn't flop for me. It makes a nice tidy mound . I have another NOID that flops like crazy and I actually remembered to Chelsea-chop it this year so we'll see if that helps. So far so good !

      Delete
  5. luv2gardenAugust 19, 2021 at 10:27 PM

    Gorgeous! I grow Echinips ritro, battanicus and an enormous one I started from seed E. tianschanicum. They are all bee magnets and are great for flower arranging. as well as just looking at.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hoover BooAugust 23, 2021 at 10:13 PM

    Lovely. Looks like it rained there yesterday, even if it's been six months.

    ReplyDelete

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