![Heliopsis & Echinacea](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855090698_77d5aaaa94_z.jpg)
The blossoms are lush on this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. We've had plentiful rain and warm temperatures, and the plants are happy.
Once again, I'm limiting coverage here to one area, since there are so many things blooming. Items in this post are found on the sunny side of the house, in and around the potager garden.
The Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) are plentiful and bright.
False Sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) are blooming, budding, and brightening their space along the front porch railing.
![Echinacea](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855200199_1319d3617a_z.jpg)
The Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) are plentiful and bright.
![Heliopsis](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855200594_cd089711e5.jpg)
False Sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) are blooming, budding, and brightening their space along the front porch railing.
Meanwhile, other blooms are nearing their completion, but beautiful still...
These include the Drumstick Alliums (A. sphaerocephalon), here poking up out of foliage of Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), which will bloom later this summer;
'May Night' Salvia (Salvia x sylvestris), which offers repeat blooms with deadheading; and
![Allium](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855200359_6c9fbe707a_z.jpg)
These include the Drumstick Alliums (A. sphaerocephalon), here poking up out of foliage of Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), which will bloom later this summer;
![Salvia](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855200469_c5b3fc6da1_z.jpg)
'May Night' Salvia (Salvia x sylvestris), which offers repeat blooms with deadheading; and
![Alcea](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855200429_5d9fe88ed7_z.jpg)
Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea), the current star of the mix.
![Asclepias tuberosa](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53853942387_071f521f4d_z.jpg)
Always brightening their spots and welcoming monarch butterflies are the milkweeds, including Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa); and
![Asclepias incarnata](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53854831686_1f0c6b1fe4_z.jpg)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), which has a lovely vanilla scent.
![Cosmos](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855200139_f8088fa5d7.jpg)
The Cosmos (C. bipinnatus 'Sensation Mix') I grew from seed will bloom until the first hard frost, providing plentiful cut flowers in the weeks ahead.
![Zinnias](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53853964062_b493f5375c.jpg)
Joining them in vases and as repeat bloomers (with cutting) are the 'State Fair Mix' and 'Zowie Yellow Flame' Zinnias (Z. elegans). These are also hummingbird and bee favorites.
![Lantana](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855090633_92178b48c9.jpg)
For some reason (too much rain?) the Lantanas (L. camara) dropped most of their blooms, but they're producing more buds. Shown here are Bandolero 'Pineapple' and Bandolero 'Guava' varieties.
![Angelonia](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53853942552_5311e4a7ee_z.jpg)
Another bloom that will continue all summer (with cutting) is the Angelonia (A. angustifolia). This plant was mismarked, but I'm guessing it's Angeldance 'Fuchsia Bicolor.' I really love it and hope I'll be able to find it again next year.
Still other bloomers are just getting going...
![Rudbeckia](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53853942702_5429c3b498_z.jpg)
Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) add even more golden tones to the potager. I enjoy them in full bloom and at this stage, as the flower petals begin to unfurl.
![Liatris](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855200539_a57cd4ea75_z.jpg)
Blazing Star Liatris spikes (L. spicata) share such a beautiful complementary lavender-blue to the group.
![Gladiolus](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53855090408_557dff0be5_b.jpg)
Finally, the Gladioli (Gladiolus Grandiflora hybrids) are just beginning to add their drama to the garden and in vases.
Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! What's blooming in your garden?
Beautiful blooms Beth. Summer does bring such gorgeous color to our gardens. I was happy to see your Butterfly Weed. I had some a couple of years ago and need to find some more of it.
ReplyDeleteHi Judy: Thanks. :) It's been a weird year in the garden...something I should probably post about at the end of the growing season. But currently, everything that's growing is full and happy. Butterfly Weed is great, isn't it? I love that it's bright and beautiful and a host plant for the monarchs. :)
DeleteI should follow your example and restrict my GBBD posts to just one area, Beth. I envy you that summer rain! (Rain in summer is virtually unknown here, although some areas surrounding us reportedly got some yesterday due to a stray monsoonal system off desert areas to the east.) I adore that Angelonia and wish I could grow hollyhocks, which are such magnets for rust here. Your butterfly week is gorgeous too.
ReplyDeleteTime and a need to focus are reasons for the restrictions. LOL. We've had too much rain this summer (for the farmers and flooding in some areas) and drought last summer. It would be nice to have a "normal" summer, but maybe that won't happen anymore. I hope I can find that Angelonia again...maybe I should try to overwinter it in the sunrom because I love it!
DeleteBeautiful... oh this heat and humidity has really made the garden happy. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love your hollyhocks.
Carla
Hi Carla: Yes, my garden is happy because it's growing on the "side" of a hill so it drains. I do feel for the farmers and people in low-lying areas because they've been flooded--so different from last summer. Anyway, the gardens on hills/with drainage are happy. :)
DeleteNice to visit your garden today. Have much of the same blooming here, and why not since we are almost neighbors !!! this gardening hobby sure is a healthy thing for the spirit. Love it.
ReplyDeleteYes, gardening is definitely healthy--in so many ways! It cheers the spirit in difficult times and it's such great exercise and so fulfilling. Enjoy the months ahead!
DeleteEnjoyed walking through your garden virtually. Beautiful glad and butterfly weed. I've never grown black-eyed Susans so I've never seen one as they start to unfurl. It looks like a basketweave and I found it fascinating. I love the scent of milkweed but, in my small garden spaces, I don't dare grow it.
ReplyDeleteHi Alana: Thanks for your kind comments. :) I don't have much space for milkweed either, so I don't grow Common MW (A. syriaca) because it tends to spread. But the Butterflyweed and Swamp Milkweed (and a few others) are much better behaved and still great host plants for monarchs. (Maybe that would be a good subject for a blog post. ;-) ) Happy Bloom Day!
DeleteAmazing amount of color! I think most of the rest of us today are a bit jealous of your plentiful rain! I miss cosmos this year, they just didn't take.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa: Yes, I'm feeling thankful for the moisture and heat for the plants. I've only had to water when I've put new plants in the soil this season. But I'm on a hill, so I have plenty of drainage. I do feel for people in low-lying areas and for farmers...because they've had flooding...after a months-long drought last summer. :(
DeleteLovely you got some good rain but flooding--it's not good.
ReplyDeleteA joyful array of flowers. Wish I could grow Echinacea here--they need a winter chill, I'm guessing. What a stunning Glad, love the Salvia--so many gems. Happy blooms!
Thanks. Yes, the excessive rain is OK on a hill, but not so great for the farmers and landowners in low-lying areas. The Echinaceas are blooming at their peak currently throughout the area. The pollinators are happy. :)
DeleteBeautiful blooms! Great photos! My favorite is the Black-eyed Susan just beginning to unfold.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lee. :) I really enjoy the Rudbeckias at that stage.
DeleteYour garden looks gorgeous and what an interesting view of the liatris! I'm jealous of your rain and your gladioli (our deer have been relentless at eating the gladioli, even if I spray deterrent).
ReplyDeleteThank you. :) Sorry to hear about the deer eating your Glads. I have mine behind fencing to protect them from rabbits. But if we had significant deer, they might be able to reach them. :(
DeleteBeth, you have so many beauties. Don't cosmos make the most satisfying bouquets? I love yours and oh, the Hollyhocks!
ReplyDeleteYes, I love the Cosmos and they're great cut flowers! For these, I simply sprinkled the seeds where I wanted them in the garden, and they took off! Amazingly easy and satisfying. :)
DeleteYour garden is always beautiful and this month the Hollyhocks and Zinnias too are the stars of the show! Thank you for the lovely tour!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lee. So much to celebrate in the garden currently. Trying to live in the moment. :)
DeleteI like the Black-eye Susan caught mid bloom. A second later and the picture would have been missed. You caught something unique in a fleeting moment of time.
ReplyDeleteJeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
Thanks, Jeannie. They are favorite summer bloomers, and sometimes the moment before full bloom is so fascinating. :)
Delete