IAVOM & Bloom Day Mash Up - August 2022

I don't much like it when In a Vase on Monday and Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day fall on the same day as it makes for a very long post but this is the first and only occasion on which this will happen in 2022 so I hope you'll bear with me.  The fact that this particular confluence falls in August is helpful in that my garden is at low ebb at this time of year so there are fewer photographs to wade through.  In addition, as my husband is scheduled for surgery this week, I'm planning to take a brief blogging break to focus on him so cramming everything into a single post offers the advantage of efficiency.

I'll start with an abbreviated view of this weeks floral arrangements, created from materials collected from my garden.

Even the flowers in my cutting garden were thin on Sunday after a week of temperatures in the low-to-mid 90sF/32-35C but I cobbled together an arrangement from my toughest Dahlias and Zinnias.  Clockwise from the upper left of the lower collage are Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Coleonema album, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Dahlia 'Enchantress', D. 'Iceberg', and Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Purple'.

I scouted elsewhere in my garden for the makings of a second, smaller arrangement.  Clockwise from the upper left in the second collage are Agapanthus 'Elaine', Angelonia 'Archangel White', Eustoma grandiflorum 'Blue Balboa Rim', and Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata'.

To find IAVOM creations from other contributors to this popular weekly meme, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

Now on to Bloom Day.  Our temperatures haven't climbed as high as those in many other parts of the country or the world but it's still been uncomfortably warm.  As there's been no rain since April and rain levels have been far lower than average for the past two years, the garden is also very dry.  I've been diligent in abiding by water restrictions in my area in spirit as well as practice so I'm not providing as much supplemental water as I've done in summers past.  As a result, the garden - and the gardener - are both stressed at the moment.  But let's start with the plants making the biggest statements this August.

Amaryllis belladonna (not to be confused with Hippeastrum) is blooming throughout the back garden.  They're commonly known as naked ladies because the flowers appear on leaf-less stems.  The foliage appears following our winter rainy season and dies back in early summer before the flowers emerge.

Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' seems to produce a flush of bloom whenever our humidity level rises, as it's done recently with monsoonal moisture creeping in from the desert areas to the east of us.  However, since I took this photo, most of the flowers have turned a dusty beige.

Seven Dahlias have bloomed but several others are still taking their time.  Clockwise from the upper left are: 'Breakout', 'Calin', 'Summer's End', 'Enchantress', 'Iceberg', 'Lavender Ruffles', and 'Southern Belle'.  'Breakout' surprised me by popping up in 'Calin's' pot.  I apparently left a piece of a tuber in the pot I used to grow 'Breakout' last year.

Magnolia grandiflora is producing flowers in record numbers this year

I treat Rudbeckia hirta 'Denver Daisy' as a splashy annual

I grew several of the Zinnias shown here from seed, including 'Carmine Rose', 'Benary's Giant Purple', 'Benary's Giant Deep Red', 'Queen Lime Red', and'Queen Lime Orange'.  The others were planted from plugs of a 'Magellan Mix'.

Plants that are just now getting their bloom on include the following:

Increased humidity also prompts Bauhinia x blakeana (aka Hong Kong orchid tree) into bloom

Succulent flowers aren't as flashy as some others but those of Crassula pubescens (left) and C. falcata (right) make an impression by means of repetition

While most of my Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) are done for the season, 'Blue Balboa Rim', planted from plugs in February, has only just started to bloom

Leucophyllum laevigatum (aka Chihuahuan sage) also responds to heightened humidity by flowering

The Pennisetums are just starting to flower.  Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' is on the left and P. 'Sky Rocket' is on the right.

Coleus 'Vino' (now classified as Plectranthus scuttellarioides) is blooming despite my efforts to stop it.  The plant itself is huge.

This is one of 2 noID Plumerias I have in pots

Even when summer throws its worst at us, there are some plants I can depend upon to add floral color.

Cupheas 'Honeybells', 'Starfire Pink', and 'Vermillionaire'

After being cut back hard in late winter, Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' is exploding with flowers once again

Grevilleas 'Peaches & Cream' and 'Superb'

Lantanas 'Lucky Orange' and a mix of yellow and orange varieties

Leucadendrons 'Safari Sunset' and 'Blush'

A host of Pelargoniums.  Top row: Pelargonium peltatum 'Deep Burgundy' Middle row: Pelargonium sidioides and P. peltatum 'Lavender' Bottom row: Pelargonium schizopetalum and a noID variety

Orchids in my lath (shade) house: Oncostele 'Wildcat' (upper left) and a variety of noID Phalaeonopsis

I'll close the Bloom Day segment of this post as I usually do with the best of the rest organized in collages sorted by color.

Clockwise from the upper left: Agapanthus 'Elaine', Delphinium elatum 'Cobalt Dream', noID Delphinium, Felicia aethiopica, noID Plumbago, and Rotheca myricoides

Clockwise from upper left: noID Calibrachoa, blue Eustoma grandiflorum, Limonium perezii, and Hebe 'Grace Kelly'

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', Cistus x skanbergii, pink Eustoma grandiflorum, Fuchsia 'Old Berkeley', Oxalis triangularis, and Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Rose Pink'

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', A. g. 'Kaleidoscope', Angelonia 'Archangel White', Cosmos bipinnatus, Daucus carota 'Dara', Osteospermum '4D Silver', Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light', and white Calibrachoa

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Lucky', Anthurium 'Maine', Aloe 'Rooikappie', noID Coreopsis, Echeveria 'New Black', and Grindelia camporum

For other Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, check in with our host, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

I hope to be back to creating blog posts by next week but I'll be following other blog posters in the meantime as time and circumstances permit.

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