Mid-August Blooms

When I returned home from the river last evening, I immediately grabbed my camera and headed back outside. Time to see what's blooming in mid-August. Too late for an official Bloom Day post, but necessary for my personal record, since I missed the fifteenth.

The first thing I noticed was that I was being eaten alive. The rains over the last few weeks produced a lot of standing water. With the dry start to summer, I'd gotten out of the habit of checking for such things. Time to remedy that!

As I swatted my way around the yard, I found very little to make me smile. The coneflowers are looking peaked:


Black eyed susans continue to brighten the semi-shade in the upper garden:

But the ones in full sun out front have had enough.

The pinkish mums that came with the house are starting to bloom. Their lack of color disappoints me every year. Why do I still have these in my herb garden?


At lease my dahila, blown over in the big thunderstorm two weeks ago, is putting out new growth and new flowers:


Seed pods are adding interest in the upper garden:

On the left are ripening Asclepias tuberosa pods. The ones in the center have split open, letting the tufted seeds take to the wind. On the right the Baptisia pods continue to add purple color to the garden.

Also in the upper garden, my chelone has buds. It struggles all year with lack of water. I always wonder if it will have enough strength to bloom.


And out front, the white rose has come back for another round of blooms:


Around the north side, one of my hosta is flowering. I usually ignore hosta flowers, but these are quite large and such a pure white I actually enjoy them:


So maybe I did find a few things to smile about.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens, whose monthly GBBD is the only reason my photo log is remotely up-to-date!