Bloom Day - July 2022

It's July.  One of my least favorite months, running neck-in-neck with August.  While temperatures in my area have been remarkably cooler than usual so far this month, especially by comparison to other parts of the US, it's still very dry.  Under current guidelines for our area, irrigation is limited to twice a week.  Some of my favorite plants usually at their peak in midsummer, like the shaggy Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) a dear friend gave me years ago, never really got their bloom on.  Others, like Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' and Salvia clevelandii, looked so sad I didn't even bother to photograph them.  Although our rainfall in 2022 has been nearly double what we received in 2021, it's only about half our "normal" average.  Two bad rain years in a row is having an impact.

Even so, the garden offered gifts.

Although the first of my current crop of dahlias to flower, the earliest blooms of Dahlia 'Calin' were badly malformed and I almost gave up on the plant.  However, after treating it for ants and aphids, it came back.

The other Dahlias now blooming are: 'Enchantress', 'Southern Belle', and 'Summer's End'.  I lost 3 tubers to rot and a few others simply failed to sprout.  Trying to speed up the season, I think I may have planted my tubers in soil that was still too cold.  It's also possible some tubers were missing the eyes necessary to sprout.

Many of the Zinnias I sowed from seeds are still in bud but I planted others from 6-packs to fill empty spots in my cutting garden as I pulled other plants out

I failed to sow any wild carrot seeds this year but last year's Daucus carota 'Dara' did the work for me.  It's come up in 4 areas this year.  The flowers in one area (left) are nearly white while others (right) look more like the original flowers.

The white and blue Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) are doing well this year.  The pink variety isn't nearly as vigorous.

I planted more Orienpet hybrid lilies last year but the rabbits stripped several plants of their leaves before I realized what they were up to and caged the remaining plants.  Clockwise from the upper left are Lilium Conca d'Or, L. 'Orange Planet', L. 'Pretty Woman', and a noID variety I received as a gift.

Warmer temperatures have prompted lots of flowers from Magnolia grandiflora

Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba' is still going strong too

I picked up Rudbeckia hirta 'Denver Daisy' a couple of weeks ago to fill an empty spot in one of my half barrels

The garden presented a few unexpected surprises.

Delphinium elatum 'Cobalt Dreams', cut back after its first flush in April, returned bigger and better with a second flush of blooms

I started sunflowers in small pots but I didn't keep them well watered and ended up with only a handful of transplants.  Helianthus annuus 'White Lite' is the first to bloom but, like my sunflowers last year, it has a very short stem and a relatively small flower.

Lantana 'Lucky Yellow' isn't an unusual plant but this one has woven itself through a Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire', which drew my notice

The Lepismium cruciforme (aka hurricane cactus) I picked up my local botanic garden's spring plant sale just produced its first tiny blooms

The orchids in my lath (shade) house always surprise me when they bloom.  Clockwise from the upper left: Oncostele 'Wildcat' and 3 noID Phalaenopsis.

My old standbys continue to produce a steady stream of flowers (of floral substitutes).

The Grevilleas keep on giving.  Top: G. 'Peaches & Cream' and G. 'Poorinda 'Leane' Middle: G. sericea and G. 'Scarlet Sprite' Bottom: Grevillea 'Superb'

What looks like flowers on Leucadendrons are colorful bracts.  Clockwise from the upper left: L. 'Summer Red', L. 'Safari Sunset' and L. 'Blush', and L. 'Jester' (center) surrounded on both sides by L. 'Winter Red'.

Once again, I've thrown the best of the rest into color collages.

Top: noID Agapanthus, 'Agapanthus 'Elaine', and Ageratum houstonianum Middle: Felicia aethiopica, Lavandula angustifolia, and Limonium perezii Bottom: Platycodon grandiflorus, Salvia 'Black & Blue', and Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Deep Blue'

Clockwise from the upper left: Anthurium 'Maine', Cuphea 'Honeybells', Hoya carnosa, Centranthus ruber, Cistus 'Sunset', and Digitalis purpurea

Clockwise from upper left: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, Osteospermum 'Berry White', Rosa 'Pink Meidiland', Salvia canariensis var candidissima, Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Rose Pink', and Stachys hybrid 'Lilac Falls'

Clockwise from upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Alstroemeria 'Claire', Angelonia 'Archangel White', Centranthus ruber 'Alba', Crassula pubescens, Fuchsia magellanica 'Hawkshead', Myrtus communis, and Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light'

Clockwise from the upper left: Berlandiera lyrata, noID Coreopsis, Gazania 'Gold Flame', Grindelia camporum, and Gaillardia 'Amazon Sunset'

Clockwise from the upper left: Aloe nobilis, Antirrhinum majus 'Double Azalea Bronze', Lobelia laxiflora, Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach', and Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell'

Top: Aeonium nobilis, Alstroemeria 'Inca Lucky', and Cyclamen 'Djix' Middle: Echeveria 'New Black', Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy', and Hemerocallis 'Spacecoast Behavior Pattern' Bottom: Pelargonium peltatum 'Burgundy', P. sidoides, and Penstemon 'Mini-bells Red'

That's a wrap for my July Bloom Day report.  Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to discover what's blooming elsewhere in the US and other parts of the world.

All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party