What's Bloomin' - July 2011

Here's a look at what's bloomin' in my garden this month... 

Enjoy the tour...

This violet Salvia greggii has been a bit of a disappointment in years past, but this month it seems to be making up for lost time!

A collection of...

Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' 

Summer Phlox

Salvia greggii (pink)

Cosmos

'Henry Duelberg' Salvia

Holy Basil

Shasta Daisy

'Becky' Shasta Daisy

Hayrack filled with:

Dragonwing Begonias

Purple Angelonia

Creeping Jenny

This next plant was given to me by a friend, and it has turned out to be one of my favorites!  This picture does not do it justice.  It blooms nonstop from spring to frost, handles the hottest temps, attracts butterflies and bees.  It goes dormant in the winter, but even after the deep freezes and snow last winter, it bounced right back in the spring.

'Azure Skies' Heliotrope

Another photo of 'Henry Duelberg' Salvia. 

I think 'Henry' shows up in almost every Bloom Day post
because it is almost always in bloom!

The bumble bees like it

And so does this little one

 Mexican Milkweed...

...waiting on Monarchs

And here comes the Pink again...

Knock-Out Rose

'Rosa Radrazz'

If you want to see more pink, click here

Holy Basil

I wish you could smell this through the computer! 

It smells...um...

heavenly!

It also is a reseeding annual and filler of blank spaces :-)

Some annual color in containers...

Begonias

Torenia 'Summer Wave Bouquet Deep Rose'

 Sweet Potato Vine 'Midnight Lace'

Caladiums 'Carolyn Whorton' & 'Red Flash'

Formerly a flower...

Yellow Pear Tomatoes :-)

A few more annuals...

Angelonia (Serena series)

'Cora' Vinca

Note:  The 'Cora' variety of periwinkles is resistant to Aerial Phytophthora fungus.  

Click here to learn more 

And some 'Cora' Vinca with Melampodium

Both the vinca and melampodium are annuals that reseed in my garden each year and fill in any blank spots between the perennials.

And finally a few parting shots of the front perennial beds...

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

Visit Carol and May Dreams Gardens 

to see what's bloomin' all over the world!

Toni :-)

The Alphabet's Journey to July (P)

And we continue our journey through the garden alphabet...

I have so many pink flowers that I decided to devote this post to just one letter, so without further ado...

"P"

is for Pretty in Pink

Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata) top the list as they are in profuse bloom
(when they are not drooping from heat exhaustion!)

Another Phlox, called 'John Fanick,' is a variety found by Greg Grant at a home in San Antonio.  It is designated a Texas Superstar because of its mildew resistance and heat tolerance (which is certainly being put to the test with these triple digits lately!)

Hydrangeas are pink in our alkaline soils

Crape Myrtles lift pink up to about 15 feet

And pink Katie's Ruellia grows only to about 3 inches tall

Salvia greggii saves its best show for autumn...
but doesn't disappoint this month

Loosestrife puts on its best show in the heat of the summer

Purple Coneflowers are always happy to pose for a picture
(I don't know why they are called "purple," because they sure look pink to me)

And finally, Pentas, Begonias, and Caladiums add pink
to my container plantings this summer

Wow, that's a lot of pink!

Please come back on the 15th for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day so I can show you the other colors I've got blooming in my garden this month ...

and maybe just a little bit more pink :-)

To view previous alphabet posts, click on the letters below

A-D

E-H

I-L

M, N, O

Happy gardening in God's colorful creation...

Toni :-)

The Sound of a Texas Summer

Ah, the sound of a Texas summer

when the cicadas start to singin'

The cacophony of buzzing

just sets your ears a ringin'

When the skeeters start to biting

and the temps begin to swelter

I have no choice but to endure

or just go seek some shelter!

We look forward to our summers

when we can live with ease

Though one request that we would have...

is just a little breeze :-)

The phlox have started drooping...

The hydrangeas are a sagging :-(

With plants that look as sad as that,

I must curtail my bragging!

Yet still I see some hopeful blooms

as I look among my flowers

They defy the triple digits

and laugh at lack of showers

In winter we wish for spring

In summer we long for fall

But any time that we can garden

is our favorite season of all

(by Toni @ Signature Gardens)

Happy Summer!

Y'all stay cool now, ya hear ...

Toni :-)

Patriotic Posies

In honor of the 4th of July,

here are some of the reds, whites, and blues of my garden...

Red Dragonwing begonias are great "fillers" for my summer containers.

Turk's Cap 

(Malvaviscus drummondii) 

is a Texas native that attracts hummingbirds

'Becky' Shasta Daisies 

  remind me of eggs that could be fried on a Texas sidewalk in July!

Salvia 'Snow Hill' 

(Salvia nemerosa 'Schneehugel') 

blooms nonstop all summer

'Augusta Duelberg' Salvia is a white variety of salvia farinacea, 

found by Greg Grant at the grave-site of Henry and Augusta Duelberg.   

You can see 'Henry' in the blue section below.  

Greg Grant is a horticulturist from east Texas who goes around to abandoned home sites and graveyards looking for plants that thrive on neglect.  'Henry' and 'Augusta' fit the bill!   I love to plant these two salvias side by side in my garden so that Henry and Augusta live on together in bloom.

Datura wrightii is also known as jimsonweed, angel's trumpet, or moonflower.  It starts blooming in the evening and smells heavenly.   I have this plant right next to my deck.  It is about nine feet wide and four feet tall.

  I counted over 80 blooms on it yesterday!

The bloom starts out in a tight spiral.

Then begins to unwind...

The trumpet-like bloom is about six inches long and wide.

The bees were so thick on these blooms in the early morning that their unified hum could be heard from a few feet away

Right on cue, 

my 'Tropical Giant' Spider Lily 

(Hymenocallis 'Tropical Giant') 

started blooming on July 4th.  

This plant is also called the 

"4th of July Lily"

Even if this plant never bloomed, 

I'd still grow it because the foliage is so striking

I transplanted the 'Tropical Giant' into my new shade bed this spring, so I was not sure if it would bloom this summer.   I was excited to see these blooms this July!

Salvia guaranitica (Black & Blue Salvia) starts us off on the blues.  I grow this plant in the part sun areas of my backyard.  It can handle full sun or some shade.

The hummingbirds love these tubular blue flowers :-)

Pickerel Rush blooms at the pond's edge all spring and summer.  It's a great landing spot for dragonflies and other insects.

'May Night' Salvia (Salvia nemerosa) blooms are most vibrant in the spring, but it continues to bloom through the summer if it is deadheaded often.

And here is 'Henry Duelberg' Salvia.   

This is one of the longest blooming perennials in my garden.  It starts blooming in March and doesn't stop blooming till it freezes in November.   Sometimes it can get leggy, so I just cut it down to about one or two inches above the ground, and in just a few weeks it has regrown and is in full bloom again.

'Katie's' Ruellia (Dwarf Mexican Petunia) is my go-to plant whenever I need a low-growing filler plant in my perennial beds.    The hotter it is, the more it blooms!  It does reseed readily but is easy to pull out where I don't want it.

I used Blue Daze (Evolvulus) as the "spiller" in combination with Pink Pentas in some of my containers this summer. 

I hope you had a happy, safe, and colorful 4th!

Toni :-)