October 2012 Blooms

Bloom Day was Monday, I took pictures Wednesday, and am finally posting Sunday.  Oh, well.  Here's what's blooming on the Crest in mid-October.

(Wednesday was a beautiful, bright, sunny day, so the photos are a bit flat and washed out.)

Mums:  some in the ground, some I planted in a pot several years ago:

Asters.  The New York asters and smooth asters are done, but these Tatarian asters are in full bloom.  Most are flopping, but I found some photogenic straight specimens.

In the still-going category, Lespedeza is still putting on a show in the front, and the sedum have gotten rather dark:

 

And in the "what season is it?" bucket, the zinnia along the front walk still think it's summer, while the pink penstemon and strawberries have gone back to springtime.

 

In the strawberries' defense, they are 'everbearing'.  They just too a long summer hiatus.

Not too bad for October.

July 2012 - Belated Blooms

I took some Bloom Day photos a day late (I was traveling on the 15th), but neglected to do anything with them.  So here, 10 days late, I'll show you what was blooming way back when.

The reality:  not much.  It's been hot and it's been dry, so there's not a lot to look at outside the veggie garden.  Coneflowers and Rudbeckia, my summer staples, have even been looking sad and wilty.  The annual rudbeckia dried up and called it quits.

The front garden is the star this month, if anything really stars in my seemingly barren yard.  Along the front walk are some zinnia.  I started these from seed and transplanted them in late spring.  I always wish I had more of them.  Perhaps I should try direct-sowing.

In the front bed, the self-seeded four-o'clocks are doing their thing, filling in the otherwise blank spaces.  Catmint is still blooming along also, if sporadically.

I have cannas in that bed also.  I grow them for their tropical foliage.  Mine have never flowered, and I've been okay with that.  So I was surprised to see this plain-leaved one in bloom.

Around back, phlox are brightening up the garage bed

The structure there was supposed to hold cucumbers.  Only one seed sprouted in that new location, and it hasn't done much.  That's okay, I have more cucumbers than I know what to do with, thanks to a volunteer in the main veggie garden.

August 2011 Blooms - Surprises

August has become a month of surprises! Here are some in the garden:

Larkspur I was so excited that the larkspur I planted last year finally bloomed in June. But I was really surprised to see repeat blooms in August!

Larkspur

Cosmos Last year I started some cosmos from seed, and planted them in the lower front bed, where they did absolutely nothing. Oh, well, not much likes that scorching hot space. So I was quite surprised to see one cosmos plant growing - and blooming - this summer. How did this annual, that never flowered last year, so never made seeds, come back and flower this year? So pretty.

Picotee Cosmos

Lycoris I wasn't surprised by my surprise lilies this year. Or so I thought. But I wasn't expecting a second round of blooms, from later-sprouting flower stalks. Got me!

Lycoris

Also blooming this August: Zinnia, Crape Myrtle, and Four O'Clocks.

Zinnia

Crape Myrtle

self-seeded Four O'Clocks

That's all I have to show for August.

July 2011 Blooms - The Front Walk

Rudbeckia steal the show in the summer. Along my front walk, five varieties are blooming today.

Annual rudbeckia:

Perennial Rudbeckia:

Goldsturm, I think

Rudbecki triloba

Rudbeckia 'Henry Eilers'

Keeping them company, some other annuals I started from seed this year. I'm not very good with annuals, so these have been scrawny and slow to bloom. But, finally, I have:

Melampodium

Zinnia

 

And here's the whole thing:

For more July blooms, head on over to May Dreams Gardens, where Carol hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.