How can it be the middle of August already? The summer months seem to go by faster than any of the others! Oh well, it is what it is and here's a sampling of what's blooming in my garden this month.
Anemone hupehensis
The sweet fragrance of Clerodendrum bungei and the bright pink blossoms at this time of year make me forgive it for sending up suckers everywhere. A great plant but be sure that you want a thicket of it before you plant it. The good news is that the suckers pull easily.
Many hardy fuchsias are in full swing right now. Here's Delta's Groom
And June Bride.
Hydrangeas
Hydrangea 'Pistachio'
A perennial impatiens that came from Annie's Annuals several years ago.
Roscoea purpurea 'Cinnamon Stick." Fortunately, the blooms don't last long as the plant is the real attraction.
This goofy fluorescent pelargonium will represent the many that are blooming right now.
Abutilon something or other that made it through the winter in the ground.
Abutilon megapotamicum that made it through the winter in a pot with no protection.
White brugmansia. My 'Charles Grimaldis' and the pink one suffered damage this winter when the heat didn't get turned up in the glass room so they aren't blooming yet. Maybe next month.
Begonia boliviensis
Phlox
Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Golden Arrow' Put it in too much sun and the golden leaves burn, too much shade and the leaves turn chartreuse. Either way it blooms.
Clerodendrum tricotomum has been more floriferous this year than ever. The bees and humming birds have been very busy so hopefully there'll be lots of gorgeous metallic turquoise berries inside the red calyces.
Eryngium alpinum blooms are not as blue this year as usual.
Albizia julibrissin
Macleaya cordata gets pulled up every year and somehow comes back stronger and spreads farther. I love the foliage so don't want to totally eradicate it.
Impatiens niamniamensis ‘Congo Cockatoo’
My very first Crinum bloom. I have another in the garden that has been there for at least nine years and has never bloomed. Probably not in enough sun. Anyway, I got this bulb on sale this spring, planted it in a pot and put it in the sun. Hooray, blooms.
The last of the fragrant oriental lilies, 'Tom Pouce.'
Lobelia tupa survived an attack early in the season by one of the people with mental disabilities who live across the alley from me. It was lying flat on the ground but I got a stout stake and tied the lobelia to it. It's quite a sizeable clump so I was unsure if it would pull through but it did with no permanent damage at all. The Clematis tangutica vine on the fence behind was not so lucky and died after being pulled off the fence and torn to bits.
Leycesteria formosa
NOID crocosmia that a neighbor has given to everyone in the hood. It spreads fairly quickly and blooms nicely. The rest of my crocosmias bloomed much earlier.
Hibiscus syriacus or Rose of Sharon is the only hibiscus that performs really well for us up here and blooms well with no summer heat. It's also hardy in the ground.
This NOID buddleia came home as a little start of a thing and has grown into quite a shrub. The flowers hand downward, have a slight fragrance and are a hummingbird favorite. Also, this one doesn't seem to be seeding everywhere.
Dicentra scandens is a charming perennial vine and is tough as nails.
I let a few fireweeds grow in my parking strip. They really are lovely flowers.
Romneya coulteri is just about bloomed out but there are still some blooms left.
Another weed that I allow is Lathyrus somethingorother, a perennial pea that blooms in either this deep pink or white. They don't have a fragrance, but they climb over shrubs nicely and provide a shot of color in high summer. It's easy enough to pull up what you don't want. As legumes, they fix nitrogen in the soil making the other plants happy.
Cotinus 'Pink Champagne' and fennel for the butterflies.
Lots of roses. This one will represent all of them.
That bad boy of impatiens, I. glandulifera, reseeds rampantly. We pull thousands of them up each year but leave a few. It creates a great deal of biomass for the compost heap.
Agastache is another hummingbird favorite.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens is the host of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the fifteenth of each month. Click here to visit her blog and see what's blooming all over the world right now. Thanks for inviting us all to the party and for being such a great host Carol!