I refuse to believe it is the middle of August. Where has the summer gone? It's time for another Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, and I hope you, my readers, are all well.
In my Zone 5b garden in upstate New York, summer is on the downhill slide. The days are getting noticeably shorter. Fall is around the corner - winter squash has started to hit the farmers markets. Our garden is pumping out zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes.
And flowers are peaking. Some bloomed inbetween July 15 and August 15, such as my astilbes.
But my daylilies hung on - two of them are blooming today and have enough buds for tomorrow and maybe the next day. Their names are lost in the mists of my terrible record keeping.
Once again I have so many flowers, I've resorted to collages for many of them. First up, my zinnias. I somehow missed my Tequila Lime, but here are the others.
White. Nicotiana and white alyssum.
Pink/Purple. Clockwise from middle, pinks, mystery (more in a minute), Guacamole hosta (which sometimes looks white to me and sometimes purple-ish) and the same flower as the right side. Just different lighting. Sometimes, flower color depends on lighting. This is a flower that blooms in light to moderate shade and I can't remember what it is.
Yellow-ish. Bottom, My last two (literally) pansy blooms. It's been a long run but they have succumbed to summer heat. On top is a perennial variegated Mexican sunflower (I think) except the variegated leaves aren't right now, and Superbells Lemon Slice.
So much for the collages for now. My tall phlox has escaped the mildew that normally plagues it by now.
The leaves of this tall hisbiscus have a hint of purple in them. This plant has exploded in blooms this year. Unfortunately, the Japanese beetles love to munch on the leaves, so it's a battle. One of my husband's cousins insists hisbiscus won't grow where I live. Well, they do.
I will leave you with several more collages.
At my community garden, sunflowers (I don't have room for them at home.)
From upper left: petunias, another petunia, another petunia, orange geranium and a petunia, a pink strawberry (everbearer - its fruit is small, tart but delicious), purple aster.
Come join me again September 15, when the bloggers of Carol of May Dreams Garden's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day meet again online to share their flowers with you all. By then, my fall flowers will be in full swing.
In the meantime - please visit other GBBD'ers to see what they are presenting this month!
Stay safe, and see you soon!
Really pretty selection. I tried growing blackberry lilies from seed, later read the seeds have to be freshly harvested. I don't know if that's true, but mine never grew and they weren't fresh. Do you know what the second daylily down is? It's so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what any of my daylilies are. I am terrible at keeping track of my perennials. Also, I bought several of my daylilies from a botanical garden sale where a deceased daylily collector's plants were being sold, and the garden didn't know what varieties they were. Finally, I'm a sucker for the end of season clearance sale and have bought perennials at clearances where they aren't marked! I have perhaps 15 different day lilies in my small yard, and I should try to figure them out one day.
DeleteWhere did the summer go?
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are lovely
Thank you, Songbird.
Delete...those zinnias are sweet!
ReplyDeleteZinnias are one of my favorite flower for many reasons.
DeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteHappy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
The same to you, Lea.
DeleteI use a lot of collages too, especially for GBBD. My jaw dropped when I saw you still had pansies, even if they were the last of the crop. Your sunflowers are doing much better than mine - I just have one bloom thus far and it didn't even make it into my post.
ReplyDeleteThis must be near a "latest pansy" record for me. I bought the black pansy in Oswego, New York last September. It was a variety that you plant in the fall and they overwinter. I'm unable to find them where I live and I am not going to be traveling anywhere this year. I find these "plant in the fall" varieties also tend to resist summer heat better, for some reason.
DeleteSo many lovely flowers. Happy August.
ReplyDeleteThe same to you, Liz. August is a happier time here than February, for sure.
DeletePretty. My flowers are struggling in the heat. And lack of rain.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing all those beautiful flowers. Wish only deer would leave mine alone
ReplyDeleteOh those are my spring flowers .Stunning hibiscus blooms.It would be my pleasure if you join my link up party related to Gardening here. http://jaipurgardening.blogspot.com/2020/08/garden-affair-link-up-party.html
ReplyDeleteHello there ! You have some very pretty flowers here .. I used to have Nicotiana and loved it's perfume . I can't seem to find it any more. I have some mislabeled day lily that I can't identify and that drives me crazy .. August ? well .. I am all in for Autumn already, enough of summer I say ? .. I'll probably be sorry saying that come late January ! LOL
ReplyDeleteSo many lovely flowers. I do admire your zinnias. Such a wonderful flower for butterflies.
ReplyDeleteyou have so many beautiful summer flowers, your garden sure is a paradise :-)
ReplyDeleteLovely blooms, Alana. It's a blessing to be surrounded by them. Each one stands out uniquely. Our straggly passion flower creeper with its purple and intoxicating fragrance is making me very happy these days, as are the Portulacas, and periwinkles.
ReplyDeleteI'll share some pictures this #WordlessWednesday :)
https://natashamusing.com/2020/08/i-am-a-tree-wordless-wednesday-wednesday-wisdom-natasha-musing/
Your flowers are beautiful! I love how you presented them, the zinnias are my favourites. Oh I agree, the summer is fleeting...my garden isn't doing too well, but that's okay, there is next year! :)
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are amazing. Such variety and the colors gorgeous.
ReplyDelete