Blasted Garden(Snowflurry in July)

It's not just me~ since the beginning of June this summer has been a real scorcher. The garden is crying out for attention that I can't give it. There will be casualties but some recent rain has helped many plants revive and a few plants are just survivors anyway.

A little Verbena 'Snowflurry' in July is a wonderful thing. This plant amazes me with its transient nature. It dies out here and pops up there with fresh blooming plants appearing at any time of the year~ willy nilly,lol.



This is what I would expect to see thriving in this weather. This sedum was a special trade with Gardenweb friend Nancedar. I'm afraid I haven't labeled it so its identity is in question. Have yet to see blooms from this one.



You can't keep a good wildflower down. Rudbeckia triloba is a welcome sight with fresh blooms and a visitor.



The bronze fennel has been a pleasure this year for the gardener and the insects. Black Swallowtail caterpillars in all stages were feasting on Tuesday morning.



A little less than perfect but the bees still love the Bog Sage~ Salvia uliginosa.

My casualties from last year's round of new plants from Plant Delights Nursery were numerous~ this new ironweed, Vernonia lettermannii was not among them.

The last of my Bachman seedlings to bloom~ this was the last flower:(

and the Energizer Bunny award for daylilies this year goes to 'Cripple Creek'~ I can't praise this one enough. Mwah!

Bloom Day ~ July 2010

I nearly missed posting yet another bloom day so I decided to be a purist and post just these 5 images of blooms taken this morning before leaving for work( for the sake of brevity if nothing else).

The ants are happily pollenating the Pineapple Lily~ this is Eucomis comosa I believe. If it's a named selection I've forgotten the name.



Reliable Hibiscus 'Red Flyer' has just started blooming this week. It's not as tall as I've seen it but I'm grateful it's bloomimg at all.



Phlox paniculata has not taken off in my garden so I was delighted to find this one stalk lagging behind and giving new flowers.



I have a couple of blooms from my Sweetbay rugosa.



and the Daylily star of the day was Cindy's seedling.



The weather has been brutally hot and way too dry for the garden to look good as a whole but the beauty of blogging is that you don't have to see all of that:) For more eye candy visit our hostess at May Dreams Garden where you'll find links to gardens around the world.

Daylilies Continued~ The Lates

It has been two weeks since my last daylily update and the bloom season has definitely slowed to a crawl but I'm thankful for the late season ones that are still going since I have little else in bloom right now. We've had rain but not enough and the temps are still abnormally high. All of these pics were taken simce my last daylily post although just a few are still going~ one of which is...

Cripple Creek from Ned Roberts is my favorite late bloomer. Seen well from way across the garden, its form and saturated color are a welcome sight right now.



Star Asterisk by Stamile is an Early that's giving me another round of perky star shaped blooms.



Volcan Fuego from Brian Mahieu's Volcano series is another tall late hybrid that is well seen from afar.



So Lovely has just begun to bloom. Introduced by Lenington in 1969 it is listed as a Mid season bloomer but has been reliably on the late side for me here.



Peggy Jeffcoat Joiner 1995~ at least I believe I bought this as PJ. The color doesn't really match up to the pics on Tinker's but it's also listed as a Mid late so that part is right.





Pearl Harbor Carr 1997 is one of my few "edged" daylilies.



Pale Moon Windmill Crochet 1996 ~ this is its last bloom of the year:(



This beauty is an unnamed cross that I received as a bonus from Cynthia Tyrrell~ hemlady on Dave's Garden forum. Her Rebekah's Gothic Spider is partially responsible for leading me to the path of daylily fever.



Another seedling~ this is one of four that I purchased from Dan Bachman at Valley of the Daylilies. I have its parentage here somewhere...



Easy Ned Brown 1987~ is classified as VL(Very Late). This is the first year I've had blooms from him since I got him in 2007. He must like a colder climate than mine.



Hearts of Fire Stamile 1998~ if you love true red this one's for you.



Lemon Berry Frost Bell 2002~ classified as Mid. Has bloomed earlier for me in the past (probably tired of life in a 3 gal nursery pot:0)



Double Pompon Miles 1972




Autumn Wood Dougherty 1991~ a favorite that I need to move out of the Bog Sage surrounding it.



As I finish up this post on Monday morning July 12 I have in bloom: Galaxy Explosion, So Lovely, Cripple Creek, Twister Time, Lady Neva, Volcan Fuego, rebloom from Vintage Bordeaux and Cindy's seedling. Not too shabby for a Monday:)

Holiday Snapshots in the Garden

Since the Fourth of July fell on Sunday this year it was really like just another day for me... other than the grilling of hamburgers for lunch and some celebratory adult beverages in the evening. Before heading off to work I thought I'd share some of the day in photos.

The garden is in a lull for blooms with daylily season almost over and many perennials on strike for lack of water and TLC from the gardener. Buddleia 'Potter's Purple' is the place to be for all of the butterflies in the neighborhood.






Old faithful Echinacea 'Magnus' is blooming now too. I never thought it would make it this many years but it is a true stalwart.



The Bronze Fennel contributing fireworks to the garden with the shape of its flowers and umbels.



For everyone who has this week as vacation~ Enjoy! (and for everyone else: hang in there,lol.)