Since 2018, I've depended upon dahlias as the backbone of my summer flower garden. My tubers got a late start this year because the cool season flowers held on for an extended period, as did our cooler-than-usual temperatures. In late April, when I finally pulled the tubers out of the garage where they're kept during their dormant season, I planted them in temporary pots to germinate but getting them moved into the raised planters of my cutting garden was also delayed because I held off on clearing the space of the cool season flowers until early June. So here we are in mid-August with the dahlias just getting started.
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| Dahlia 'Catching Fire' is off to a good start, while soft lavender 'Mikayla Miranda' is only getting started. Other dahlias have lots of fat buds, which are taking their time opening up. |
Luckily, not all my flowering plants have been so slow to get their bloom on. Here are some of the plants providing starring roles this month.
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| Amaryllis belladonna (aka naked ladies because the bulbs bloom well after their foliage dies back) started flowering in earnest before I even looked for them |
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| Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' produced a massive flush of bloom last week |
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| Succulent Crassula pubescens ssp radicans is blooming en masse in spots throughout my garden |
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| I wouldn't usually give Lantana star status but the 'Lucky White' and 'Lucky Yellow' varieties I cut back a couple of months ago have put on a major effort to elevate this area of my front garden |
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| Unlike the dahlias, Zinnia elegans, most of which were sown from seeds in early June, didn't dilly-dally about blooming. The varieties here include 'Benary's Giant Purple', 'Queen Lime Orange', 'Giant Salmon Rose', 'Lemon Peach', 'Mazurkia', and an assortment from 'Candy Mix' |
Other plants may not deserve a starring role but they're great team players.
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| Planted last year, Cuphea 'Honeybells' took its time to develop but it's putting on a great show this year. It's a trailing variety unlike my other Cupheas that have stems that stand upright. |
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| Dipladenia, a relative of Mandevilla with a trailing habit, is new to my garden this year. Both of these are growing in large containers mixed with other plants. |
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| Gazania 'Otomi' has flowered more profusely than I'd expected. The flowers vary in appearance as they develop. |
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| I almost forgot about Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy), which I cut back hard several months ago |
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| I can't forget the reliable and ever-flowering Grevillea 'Superb' |
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| This Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' has been blooming for months now |
Some plants are still providing splashes of color even as they're in the process of exiting the stage for the season.
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| I cut the last of the white Agapanthus in my garden on Sunday but there are still a handful of blue Agapanthus here and there. The ink-blue colored flowers of Agapanthus 'Elaine' (left) got a late start, as was also the case last year. |
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| The first flush of Leonotis leonurus is coming to an end but I've cut many of the stems back to see if I can get a second round |
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| The paper-dry flowers of Limonium perezii are fading literally and figuratively |
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| Magnolia grandiflora was dropping leaves by the bushel earlier this summer. The leaf drop is now minimal but flower petals are littering the ground at a rapid rate. |
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| I cut back Monarda hybrid 'Peter's Purple' earlier and got a second flush of flowers but I'm not sure it's got the energy for a third flush |
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| Myrtus communis is an attractive but not particularly flashy plant. I've found it isn't a great addition to floral arrangements either. |
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| Just 10 days ago, Pandorea jasminoides (aka bower vine) was blanketed in white flowers but it seems to be about done now |
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| This was the second flush of bloom from Salvia canariensis var candidissima, which is currently looking scruffy |
As usual, my garden provided a few surprises, one of which isn't auspicious.
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| I tried Echinops ritro ruthenicus (aka globe thistle) a few years ago but it died without blooming. It's doing better this time. |
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| This is the second year I've gotten Medinilla myriantha (aka Malaysian orchid) to bloom |
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| A friend gave me a Oxypetalum coeruleum (syn. Tweedia caerulea) a couple months ago. This is another plant that I've tried and killed before but this one's made it to bloom stage. |
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| The pretty flowers of Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' aren't a surprise as I've shown them often enough. The plant blooms year-round, albeit not as heavily as Grevillea 'Superb'. However, it's dropped a substantial portion of its leaves over the last 2-3 months, which has me concerned that it may be failing. There was a gopher in the immediate area so that might have something to do with its decline, or maybe the heavy rainfall followed by a substantially drier period has something to do with it. I lightly pruned the leaf-less stems and I'm monitoring it closely, while keeping my fingers crossed. |
I'll end this post as I usually do with the best of the rest, lumped into collages organized by color.
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', noID Bacopa, Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', the dried remnants of Cynara cardunculus (aka artichoke), Gazania 'Gold Flash', and noID yellow-orange Lantana |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Achillea ptarmica, Angelonia 'Archangel White', Asparagus densiflorus, Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', Helichrysum petiolare, Scabiosa columbaria, and Phyla nodiflora |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Purple', Nemesia 'Honey Bicolor Orange Flame', noID Phalaenopsis, Polygala myrtifolia, Scabiosa columbaria 'Deep Blue', and Sollya heterophylla |
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Top row: Cistus x scanbergii, C. 'Sunset', and Cuphea 'Starfire Pink'
Middle: Pelargonium 'Dynamo Hot Pink', P. 'Dynamo Purple', and noID Pelargonium
Bottom: Pentas 'Graffiti Pink', noID Thymus, and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland' |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Daucus carota 'Dara', noID Hoya, Fuchsia 'Voodoo', and Pelargonium peltatum in red and burgundy |
For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts published on or after August 15th, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
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material © 2012-2023
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
