Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and my list sounds like a broken record. (Anybody else here remember what a broken record is?) Many of the plants in bloom today have been mentioned in previous GBBDs this year. Let's start with the ones that are new this time. As before, links are to my photos.
- Gazania rigens 'Daybreak Mix'
- Salvia coccineum 'Coral Nymph'
- Agastache foeniculum
- Morning Glory 'Star of Yelta'
- Buddleia/Buddleja: 'Lochinch', 'Black Knight', 'Potter's Purple',
- Caryopteris
- Eupatorium coelestinum
- Miscanthus purpurascens
- Chyrsanthemum, salmon pink
- Coleus (Do you pinch the flowers off? I used to, but the hummingbirds like them.)
- Hosta 'Krossa Regal'
- Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora
Here are the oldies:
- Petunias
- Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'
- Mirabilis jalapa (Four O'Clocks)
- Cosmos bipinnatus 'Picotee'
- Cleome
- Asclepia tuberosa
- Rudbeckia hirta 'Gloriosa Daisies'
- Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm'
- Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
- Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue'
- Salvia farinacea: 'Evolution', 'Strata'
- Larkspur 'Blue Cloud' (repeat bloom)
- Torenia 'Duchess Mix' (now I know why it's called Wishbone Flower)
- Lantana
- Alyssum
- Assorted Cupheas
- Nicotiana
- Sedum kammschaticum
- Calamintha nepetoides
- Passiflora incarnata
- Verbena bonariensis
- Hibiscus syriacus 'Blue Satin'
- Agastache (maybe A. cana?)
The flower season is winding down here and it's just as well because the drought is really starting to take hold. We were out of town for a few days, and even though I watered as much as I could before we left, it was tough to find plants that looked happy enough to be photographed.
I don't know what's blooming in central Virginia because we haven't been there for 10 days. I'll have an update in a few days if anybody's interested.
Labels: in bloom
8 Comments:
Your paniculata grandiflora looks so fresh and lovely, Entangled - and your list is long! It's interesting to see flowers just starting on your buddleja and Coral Nymph - those have been blooming here for two months, but my Eupatorium- mist flower is just thinking about blooming now.
I'll be back to see what's blooming in your other garden.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I know what a broken record is! I agree with Annie, you've got a nice long list of blooms for August. Your gardens must be wonderful to walk through right now.
Thanks for participating in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Great shot of the spider laying in ambush. Interesting juxtaposition of white on white, catmint and Hydrangea. Looking over your list it sure doesn't seem like things are "winding down". We are very dry now too. I'm unhappily watering every day. We need about 2" of rain, a good soaking before plants start dying.
These are marvelous, as are the butterflies in your butterfly roundup. If you want to encourage monarchs, plant more Asclepias species--the adults need to lay eggs on them, the caterpillars eat only Asclepias, and then when they pupate and hatch out as adults, they will have lots of yummy choices (they adore V. bonariensis in our garden, and so do I--in anyone's garden.)
If that's "winding down" we should all aspire to have that happen in our gardens. :) I had wondered why they were called "wishbone flowers" too, so I'm glad that you posted the picture.
As for your question, it depends on the kind. I have 'Dark Star' coleus that puts forth a lovely light purple flower stalk, so I leave it. There's a red/yellow/chartreuse speckled one that puts up a wimpy purple and white flower stalk that detracts from the foliage, though, and that stays pretty well pinched back.
Now that you mention coleus flowers, I just realized that my 'Royal Glissade' is huge in the pot and yet has never thrown up a bloom stalk. Weird.
Annie: A couple of the buddlejas had a setback this spring - one was a construction casualty and the other (in a container) hated the cold spring after the warm January. Both of them came back and bloomed, to my surprise. The Coral Nymph salvia is always late - they're self-sown and it seems like I never even see the seedlings until June.
We're headed down south later today. I'm anxious to see how the garden fared while we were gone.
Carol: Thanks for hosting. Thanks for hosting. Thanks for hosting. Thanks for host....... (maybe it needs a new needle)
Ki: The hydrangea/catmint combo is a pollinator magnet, with the catmint getting a lot of tiny wasp/hoverfly thingies (haven't tried to ID them). I feel like I'm spending all my available gardening time on watering. I'm hoping for a nice benign tropical storm to come through.
Jodi: Thanks for the monarch tips. I only have Asclepias tuberosa at present, but I'll look for a spot to squeeze in some other species. The A. tuberosa has been defoliated in some years by tussock moth caterpillars - those larvae are much better-looking than their adults.
Blackswamp Girl: I get all excited when I see a hummingbird at any flower, and then that flower gets to stay no matter what it looks like. One of these days I'm going to be more disciplined about these things. But not today. ;-)
Now I have to go look up 'Dark Star' and 'Royal Glissade'. I haven't bought any of the vegetatively-propagated coleus for a while. I used to have one called 'Tilt-a-Whirl' with funky swirly leaves, but I have no luck overwintering them.
I've been pinching back my coleus, after reading here yesterday that the hummingbirds like the coleus bloom, I happened to be looking out the window today and saw one sipping nectar from my coleus. I don't think I'll pinch them off anymore.
Robin: We were just outside a few minutes ago (between storms) and 2 different hummingbirds stopped by the coleus flowers. But after reading Blackswamp Kim's comment, I do notice that the flowers on the dark-leaved ones look better. Maybe just the contrast?
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