Garden Bloggers Bloom Day -- August 2010

It's the 15th of the month, and you know what that means . . . . Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. The premise is to post photos of what’s blooming in the garden on this particular day. May Dreams Gardens hosts, and provides a list of participating garden blogs.

The extreme heat and strong storms last week took a toll on the gardens, but the hardy (and a few delicate) plants are still standing and blooming. I think we're still a couple weeks early on the bloom schedule because a few of the things that are blooming are "fall" plants. Here’s what’s blooming in Auntie K’s Garden today:

The fall blooming anemone I purchased two years ago (as a tiny start) is blooming this year. It's still small, but eventually will fill the space with beautiful foliage and lovely pink blossoms.







The sedum have started blooming, too.







And one of the New England Asters has started budding.









Natives are still going strong: Purple Coneflower, White Coneflower, Ratibida, Anise Hyssop.








Knautia Macedonia (pictured), Stella D'Oro, and Lychnis Chalcedonia (not pictured) are having a second bloom.





The beautiful Leopard Lily, alternately called Blackberry Lily, (Belamcanda chinensis) has started to go crazy in the sunny boulevard garden.

The volunteer sunflowers and cosmos are both still going strong, too.

Seeing Red? Nope, Not Here . . .

I walk through the gardens a couple times a day. I look for dead stuff, wilty stuff, unhealthy stuff, and pests. I notice what’s blooming and what’s past its prime. And, I look for buds of new growth. But, yesterday, I walked through and noticed the gardens as a whole, and I noticed that the garden completely lacks red! There’s not one speck of true red in any of the gardens this time of year!

I avoided true reds close to the house because of the barn red trim, but hadn’t realized that I had omitted red everywhere until yesterday. I have red tulips, red poppies, and one red monarda—otherwise, no red. The lilies, Monte Negro, are in the red family, but aren’t a true red. Neither are the Knautia Macedonia (more wine colored) or the Lychnis chalcedonia (leaning orange). Both of these, however, are on several lists of “Red Perennials.” A friend suggested a rose. I could do that. I’d need to move a wild rose to a partly shady spot to do it, but it’s a possibility. Is lobelia really my only non-rose perennial option?!

Maybe the way to get some red into the gardens is to get a few planters and fill them with red geraniums and impatiens, like my grandmother and father have done for years. They’re long blooming and do provide a big impact.

Let me know how you get red in your gardens.

Peony Bed Needs an Overhaul

I’m so thrilled that my fragrant garden came together exactly as I imagined, because my Peony Bed did not. I was playing with color and texture, trying to keep everything in this bed with round flowers. It’s not a complete disaster, but it does need a serious overhaul.

What’s Working? The peonies work. Thank goodness. Or, I'd need to re-name the bed, too! Most of them bloomed this year. (I planted them late in September, 2008 and had hoped they would bloom last year, but they didn’t.) The Knautia Macedonia is definitely a keeper. I saw this in someone’s garden last year and fell instantly in love with the raspberry colored, scabiosa-like blossoms. And I think the Artemesia, Silver Mound is working. The low silvery mounds echo the shape of the Knautia and provide a different texture than the foliage of the Peonies and Knautia.

What’s Not? The old-fashioned lace cap hydrangea. Blech. What was I thinking? (I was thinking the shape of the flower would echo the Knautia and the Peonies.) But, the woody stems don’t work in this herbaceous bed. Lamb’s ear. The ones I planted in another sunny garden stayed small and lovely. The ones in the Peony Bed are taking over. Yuck.

So. I think the lesson I learned here is to keep it simple. I may add some hosta lancifolia after I get rid of the hydrangea and the lamb’s ear, but will place the clumps and leave them for a day or two in their intended locations before planting them permanently.