Bloom Day - September 2023

In mid-August I whined over the sad state of affairs in my cutting garden, especially the significant delay in getting my dahlias to bloom.  I won't run through the reasons for this again.  Suffice it to say that the situation is much improved this month with dahlias playing the starring role on this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

View of my cutting garden.  The biggest problem with it this month are that many of the larger dahlias are flopping over one another because they weren't all properly supported early in their development, which was entirely my fault.

Top row: Dahlias 'Belle of Barmera', 'Fairway Spur', and 'Labyrinth' Middle: 'Summer's End' and a noID variety that was supposed to be 'French Can Can'but isn't Bottom: 'Mikaya Miranda' and 'Lavender Ruffles'

Two views of Dahlia 'La Luna', a tuber that never bloomed last year and was mistakenly left in its raised bed, only to appear this year with a vigorous crop of flowers

Dahlia 'Catching Fire' (not shown) bloomed profusely in August.  It has a few buds so I may see it again before the end of the season.  Meanwhile, five other late bloomers have buds but have not yet bloomed: Dahlias 'Break Out', 'Calin', 'Iceberg', Lady Darlene', and 'Romantique'.  I'm trying to remain patient.

Instead of sowing seeds of Cosmos bipinnatus once I cleared the raised planters in in early June, I planted plugs.  They're all blooming now.

I've had a good experience with the seed-grown sunflower, Helianthus annuus 'Joker', shown on the left and upper right at its peak this month.  I bought Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' as a potted plant in May and gave it more room to grow in a half-barrel (lower right).  It's rewarded me with continuous blooms ever since.

I've been very pleased with Rudbeckia this year.  The hybrid Rudbeckia 'August Sun' shown at the top is a new acquisition purchased in a pot but Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset' (shown bottom row) were planted as plugs.

The annual zinnias are flowering less vigorously this month than last.  A lot of them have been crowded out by the flopping dahlias.  Clockwise from the upper left, those still putting on a good showing include: Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Purple', 'Candy Mix', Mazurkia', and 'Queen Lime Orange'.

There have been several small surprises elsewhere in the garden this month.

I planted 5 bulbs of Hymenocallis festalis 'Zwanenburg' (aka Peruvian daffodil) last year and got the first blooms this year following Tropical Storm Hilary.  They stagger their blooms, one showing up after another finishes.  Hopefully, they'll naturalize and I'll get a more abundant display in future years.

This noID Plumeria is blooming for the first time.  The bulb was given to me years ago by a neighbor who retrieved it from a trash can, which I planted in a large terracotta pot.

I planted a single Stachys 'Lilac Falls' in a back garden border in February 2016.  It soon disappeared and I hadn't seen it again until this month.  I assume that it was brought back from the dead by our unusual summer rainstorm.  According to online sources it's a hybrid of Lamium and Stachys.  The flowers are tiny but pretty.

Stapelia grandiflora (aka starfish flower) blooms erratically on its own schedule

The Symphyotrichum chilense 'Purple Haze' I intentionally removed in 2021 is back!  It's a native California aster that spreads by rhizomes and, although I appreciate the flowers, it's more aggressive than I'd like when it gets a lot of water.

Tillandsia ionantha bloomed inside my lath house but it has a pup so I hope it'll stay with me awhile yet

Many of my garden stalwarts produced a flush of blooms following the rare tropical storm that passed through our area in late August, delivering two glorious inches of rain.

Clematis terniflora (aka sweet autumn clematis) is the only member of this genus I've managed to keep alive.  This year, in addition to climbing up an arbor, it's creeping through my Cistus shrubs.

Cupheas respond well to rain!  Clockwise from the upper left are Cupheas 'Honeybells', 'Starfire Pink', and 'Vermillionaire' (shown in closeup and in context).

The coral and white Dipladenias, relatives of Mandevilla, do well in heat with sufficient water

Many of the Gazanias in my garden are self-seeded.  The only named variety in this group is Gazania 'Otomi', shown on the upper right.

Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy) has been productive this year

Grevillea 'Superb' is productive year-round every year

Lantana are beloved by butterflies and hummingbirds,  I have a variety of them in my garden, most of which are probably the shrubby Lantana camara.  The exception is the one in the middle of the top row, which is Lantana montevidensis (aka trailing Lantana).

I'd been disappointed by Salvia 'Mystic Spires' this year but it sprang to life after Tropical Storm Hilary's visit

Tulbaghia violacea (aka society garlic) is blooming more heavily now than it did this spring

Two plants that provided abundant color earlier in the year are now poised to exit the stage until next year.

The pale blue and white Agapanthus are done for the season but this dark-flowered cultivar, 'Elaine', is still producing new flowers.  I need more of these!

The majority of the pink-flowered Amaryllis belladonna are gone but I found a few slackers hiding out in shadier parts of my garden.  As usual, the white-flowered variety comes along at the tail end of the season.

I'll end as I usually do with the best of the rest, collected in collages organized by color.

Clockwise from the upper left: Sutera cordata (syn Bacopa cordata), Euryops chrysanthemoides, Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Crassula falcata, Daucus carota 'Dara', and Leucadendron salignum 'Blush'

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Angelonia, Eustoma grandiflorum, Fuchsia 'Wind Chimes White', Catharanthus roseus, Osteospermum 'Berry White', and Pelargonium hortorum 'Dynamo Purple'

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Achillea ptarmica, noID Angelonia, Pandorea jasminoidies, and Scabiosa columbaria

Clockwise from the upper left: Duranta erecta 'Sapphire Showers', Monarda 'Peter's Purple', Nemesia 'Sun Glow Yellow Bicolor', Echinops ritro ruthenicus, and Medinilla myriantha

For more posts celebrating September's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, visit our host, Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  Enjoy your weekend!

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party