Plant of the Month-Can You Guess?

From In the Garden

The garden is looking mighty tired but there are bright spots in and amongst the drying and wilting 'sticks' in the garden. The butterfly above (I believe a clouded sulpher) is one such bright spot. It found a roost on the impatien; one of a few that has managed to bloom and do well this very dry summer. Now let's see the contenders for August's Plant of the Month.

From In the Garden

Patrina has been blooming for more than six weeks now and is a stunner! My daughter says it looks kind of like goldenrod but I just don't see it, but then again both plants are yellow. The color yellow is for sure the color of the day in my gardens. Helenium is sneaking in next to the patrina here. Patrina is a definite contender for Plant of the Month, if not for Plant of the Season.

From In the Garden

Sedums, well what can you say that is not good about the sedums? Okay, occasionally they flop but wow when they are happy and looking good! The 'Autumn Joy' clumps in my garden are all in various states of blooms due to the various amount of light they receive. I love them all but this stage of 'Autumn Joy' is particularly attractive to me. Sedums are a definite contender for Plant of the Month.

From In the Garden

The 'Knockout' roses are getting their second wind in the garden. I am a big fan of these since they are such low maintenance plants and since they do okay in the part shade conditions of my garden. This one does have a bit of leaf damage though so perhaps it is not a good contender for Plant of the Month.

From In the Garden

More helenium backed by an unknown grass. I'm not sure of the variety of grass but it does make a great foil for helenium and other perennials. Heleniums are looking good this year though it is far from their best year. Heleniums like a bit more water than what we have had here so the foliage of the heleniums is lacking in beauty. I'm not so sure helenium is the best choice for this month's Plant of the Month.

From In the Garden

Crepe myrtles are shining despite the drought and hot weather. A few do slump and wilt though and their staggered bloom, while great for a long show, does not quite make it the star this month.

From In the Garden

Ah, here we go-can you guess what I have chosen? It is ornamental grasses. Grasses are so easy to grow and require no supplemental watering in my garden. They never fail to bloom and give four seasons of interest. Yes, the ornamental grasses have it here in my gardens. While the other plants are great they do not add as much to the August gardens as the ornamental grasses; in this case it is the variety 'Adagio'. Adagio grows in part shade conditions though it would prefer full sun. It is small and compact yet big enough to make an impact and it is easy to grow and does not self seed. Division is the mode of creating more plants here for this grass. There are several more blooming here but 'Adagio' gets top billing. I think you can't go wrong with ornamental grasses....

in the garden....


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Bloom Day-July 2010

Bloom Day this steamy month of July sees my gardens slowing down a bit. The daylilies are winding down and the late summer bloomers are just coming into play leaving coneflowers, rudbeckias, phlox, veronicas, crepe myrtles, annuals such as cosmos, cleome, impatiens, and lantana to make up the bulk of the flowers blooming here. Let's take a look at a few of them.

From In the Garden

Lilies, probably 'Stargazer' though these are 5 feet tall and I'm not sure if 'Stargazer' gets that tall. The fragrance is intoxicating.

From In the Garden

Coneflowers and daylilies in the Northside Shrub Border. Some might call this clown pants gardening, but hey, I love it! The colors work for me and that is what counts. Along with these two bloomers are amsonia (the fine leaf plant), and mums in the background.

From In the Garden

Coneflowers and Gladiolus. I lucked out and captured this shot of three swallowtails enjoying the coneflowers in the Sunny Perennial Border. Did you see all three at first glance? This sunny area has a LOT of pinks in it. I'll be preparing a post on the neat pinks. You can see only two here but I'll share the other three at a later date. Together they all make quite a pink statement here.

From In the Garden

Orange cosmos and hibiscus 'Fireball' in the Sunny Perennial Border.

From In the Garden

Dayliles, 'Moonbeam' coreopsis, coneflowers and catmint in the Perennial Bed.

From In the Garden

Peruvian Daffodils in the pot ghetto. These were purchased last year to go in a new garden bed but when it was found out they were not hardy, plans changed. They did not bloom last year but have more than made up this year. Each stalk has about four blooms per. It is a really cool summer flowering bulb.

From In the Garden

Patrina scabiosifolia and coneflowers. The patrina was a purchase from Summer Celebration last summer. I love it. The flowers are quite airy and bloom for a l-o-n-g time. I hope it spreads around a bit. One word of caution though, I've read it is a host for a daylily disease so site away from daylilies. I've found it easy to grow. I have my patrina sited in the Front Foundation Bed along with coneflowers, 'Sunny Border Blue' veronica, helenium and a few other significant plants. The combos are nice though and I've finally got a good plan for all of these flowers. Do you all know patrina? If so, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Also blooming: 'Stargazer' lilies, 'Sunny border blue' veronica, 'Royal Candles' veronica, impatiens, crocosmia, baby's breath, mophead hydrangeas, 'Pink Diamond' hydrangea, phlox, 'Miss Manners' obedient plant, daylilies, lantana, agapanthus, geraniums, 'Diamond Frost', sedum, crocosmia. cleome, Chinese indigo, gladiolus, toad lilies, and hostas....

in the garden....

Note on the toad lilies. I thought 13 July was a bit early to find toad lilies blooming but when I looked back at last year's records I find that the toad lilies began blooming on 11 July 2009, so we are right on track.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden