Late Summer Flowers

Salvia 'Black and Blue'

 

It's hard to believe it's already August! On Monday the current hot and dry spell broke with a storm that brought a decent amount of rain--what a difference it made! With this drought, the deer and rabbits have so little to eat that they've devoured most of my flowers this summer. Repellents and sprays don't seem to be doing much to dissuade them this year, and they've attacked plants that had been overlooked before.

So, I've been doing all I can to keep my plants out of their reach. The most sought out of potted plants have moved up onto the porch or the back deck. But of the other perennials in my yard, impossible to move, very few have escaped. 

Fortunately Salvias are not to the critters' taste and the hummingbirds love them. I saw one hummer early this morning feasting on the 'Black and Blue' and the magenta Salvia along my front walk.

 

Stella d'Oro daylilies.

I hardly saw any daylilies during their first flush of bloom in June--the deer devoured all of the buds--but now, one late bud of the Stella d'Oro lilies seems to have escaped their notice. A few others, like the pink-flowered Queen Anne's Lace (Ammi majus 'Dara') that I'd planted last year, have apparently also escaped their notice. I have plenty of the white-flowered wild variety in this part of the garden, but this is the first pink-flowered one I've seen.

 

Ammi majus in pink.

Queen Anne's Lace and deep pink phlox.

There isn't much in the way of flowers at a time when my garden should have at least a few, but here's a some.

 

Ageratum.

It's been too dry for the Ageratum, but some plants are blooming in the more sheltered beds. The Anise Hyssop I grew from seed has finally grown enough to present some blooms, although this morning I saw that rabbits had eaten some of my recently planted specimens.

 

Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)

The deer or rabbits also nipped most of the buds of my blue Lobelias, which usually bloom profusely at this time of the year. I'm hoping some will regrow enough to make a decent display, particularly if we get some more rain.

 

Blue Lobelias starting to bloom.

The Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance' has hung on only because of my watering, and is offering a few blooms now. Some of the leaf stems seem to be reverting to the ordinary leaf color rather than the variegated, but that can happen sometimes with these new hybrids or cultivars.

 

Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance'

The mint family does seem to be immune to browsing and the slender-leaved mountain mint is no exception. But the rabbits have been munching on the bee balm next to it, which they haven't done before.

 

Mountain mint (Pycnantheum tenuifolium)

With so little bloom what shall I photograph for the August Bloom Day coming up?