Debby's Gift

 

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) in miy front yard.

Tropical storm Debby arrived in our area last Wednesday evening and stayed through Friday. During that time Debby brought us a generous 6.75 inches of rain--a real gift! After such a severe drought during June and July, my garden is now reviving after these rains. Unfortunately, the deer have eaten so much, there aren't a lot of flowers left, but here are some of what is left for August's Bloom Day.

The cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) under the cherry tree in front has come back--the one I'd planted in a back bed last year died in July--too dry a site for it, I expect. The location of this other seems to suit it, I hope I can get more plants to grow here.

 

Wild Ageratum on the east bed.

The wild Ageratum (Conoclinium coelestinum) which continues to reseed itself in the east bed and Herb's bed was looking very droopy, but it perked up a lot with the rains. Unfortunately the deer have eaten all of my Blue Lobelias (Lobelia siphyllitica) in the same bed, and their usual masses of flowers are gone.

 

Red Salvia

The red Salvia in Herb's bed is offering its blooms for the hummingbirds--we finally spotted a few recently, after seeing none in June and July. The deer ate the blue Agapanthus earlier, but another flowering spike has appeared; they didn't get this one after I sprayed it with repellent!

Agapanthus 'Blue Nile'

 

Deer generally avoid Agastaches, so my 'Blue Boa' were not touched, but the drought set it back somewhat. I need a few more plants to make this patch show up--another project for the fall or next spring!

Agastache 'Blue Boa'

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm')

A few black-eyed Susans bloomed after the rains despite the deer eating back most of the buds, ditto for the Coneflowers in the back bed. The Seven Son Flower tree is starting to bloom too.

Purple Coneflowers reblooming.

Seven Son Flower tree (Heptacodium miconoides)

A few other blooms typical for this time of the year: white 'Natchez' crapemyrtle, and Russian sage (Perovskia).

Crape myrtle 'Natchez' with Abelia 'Panoramic' and Japanese maple.

Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)

 

Most of my potted plants had to be moved to the porch or the back deck to be safe from the deer--they were bold enough to nibble the black cotton plants I had in pots on the front steps of the house! They ate back the 'Black and Blue' Brazilian Salvia too, which is only now starting to put out a few budding spikes.

 

Irish moss (Sagina subulata)

 

This Irish moss plant has survived for several years in a pot that used to hold a blueberry plant, 'Top Hat'. The blueberry died out this summer, but the Irish moss has persisted. My hanging baskets on the porch haven't filled out as I hoped, but they are colorful. The problem with these Pamela Crawford side planters is they use up so much water! They dry out quickly too, and a few plants never make it, leaving large areas of the coir baskets exposed--not very attractive.

 

Porch baskets.

Front porch basket

Potted plants on the deck.

Tuberous begonia on deck.

 

 

We'll finish up with my two recent watercolors: Ice Mountain Suite #1 has been accepted into Art at the Mill's fall 2024 show. I'm working on completing Ice Mountain suite #2

Ice Mountain Suite #1, watercolor.

 

Ice Mountain Suite #2.

 

Bloom Day on the 15 on every month is brought to you by to Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog, Happy August Bloom Day!

July 2024 Bloom Day

Hanging basket on porch.

  

It's hot and very dry here in my corner of Virginia--USDA Zone 6B--on this July Bloom Day. We haven't seen a drop of rain in going on three weeks, and June's rains weren't exactly plentiful. Despite my attempts to keep it watered, my garden is really suffering, and the local deer are more voracious than ever. So, this Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden, is going to be skimpier than usual.

 

Hanging baskets.

Fuchsia on porch.

 

Thanks to their daily watering in the scorching temperatures, the hanging baskets on the porch have about the most flowers: petunias, calibrachoas,blue and white  lobelias, coleus and a Fuchsia in one basket. There are a few flowers the deer have mostly left alone, so let's take a look.

Starting on the east side of the house, the hydrangeas 'Little Quick fire'  and 'Incrediball' have flowers that haven't been mauled--while another hydrangea, 'Endless Summer' next to Incrediball has been completely consumed.

 

Hydrangea 'Little Quick Fire'

Hydrangea 'Incrediball'

 

My Vitex usually blooms profusely at this time of the year, but despite lots of watering, the shrub (now about 10' tall) isn't nearly as showy as in other years.

 

Vitex in bloom.

Coming around to the back yard the 'Blue Nile' Agapanthus I planted last year has produced a couple of stalks, and the red Salvia next to it is also flowering.

 

Agapanthus 'Blue Nile' with red Salvia.

The deer left me only a few blossoms of Liatris, and black-eyed Susans in my flower beds, probably because they couldn't reach them easily. The Chinese iris, formerly known as Blackberry lily or Belamcanda, don't appear very appetizing to them either.

 

Liatris 'Kobold'

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm')

Chinese iris (formerly called Belamcanda)

Towards the west side of the back yard, the bed with the Anise hyssop and bee balm 'Jacob Cline' are doing well, they seem to be fairly deer-proof. But my Coneflowers and Phlox have been decimated, very few flowers have survived. Just about every Daylily bud was eaten before it could open, among  dozens on plants: Stella de Oro, Purple de Oro, yellow and peach colored varieties, so sad!

 

Anise hyssop and bee balm 'Jacob Cline'

Back toward the front walk, the Agastache 'Firebird' is among the few plants that deer don't find appetizing--I must plant more Agastache in my garden, so I can have a few more summer blooms. Unfortunately, they prefer well-drained soil, which with all the clay here is just about impossible to provide, so they do better for me in pots. But the pots have to be watered on a daily basis.

 

Agastache 'Firebird' along the front walk.

Back deck potted plant  collection

 That's about it for bloom day in my garden, pray for rain in this area, plentiful rain! Then maybe I'll have more to show next month.

The Dog Days that Weren't

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia syphillitica) in white.

 

August began with a couple of severe thunderstorms which brought a lot of rain to our region. After the second storm, the weather cooled down, as the jet stream dipped way down into the south. As a result, the usual Dog Days of summer have been considerably cooler than normal, almost autumn-like. My garden is loving it!

 

East bed with great blue Lobelias

Great blue Lobelias in the east bed.

The Great Blue Lobelia planted many years ago has multiplied amazingly in the intervening years, seeding itself throughout the entire bed to the east of the house. This year I noticed there are a couple of plants with white flowers among the throng--I presume they are either sports or albinos of the parent plant--in any case, they are lovely!

 

Hybrid lobelia 'Starship Rose'

 

The hummingbirds like the lobelias so much that this spring I ordered a new one, a hybrid called 'Starship Rose' which has turned out to be a winner. Now that I know it will do well here, I'll probably buy a few more plants next year. I want a huge clump of this one!

 

The back yard viewed from Herb's bed

The Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is getting ready for its September show--soon the Muhly grass nearby will put forth its airy plumes, and the swamp sunflowers blossoms for a gorgeous display. This year the deer haven't eaten the flowers of my wild sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) growing around my veggie patch and in the badlands, for some unfathomable reason.

 

Wild sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) in the Badlands

 

I've been spraying the black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckias) and the Clematis 'True Love' with garlic spray so the deer wouldn't eat them. But they took their revenge by devouring some pink Portulaca I'd planted in front. In the photo below the Portulaca was starting to cover the bed, a week later it looked gorgeous, and then the deer ate it down to nothing! Such is the heartbreak of gardening...

Pink Portulaca with Clematis 'True Love'

The long bed from the back with a Beautyberry shrub in front.

The long island bed.

Black-eyed Susans and Boutelouia 'Blonde Ambition' grass.

The long island bed is more colorful this year with the black-eyed Susans protected. The Lambs' ears is spreading nicely. This year I planted some balsam seeds  (Impatiens balsamina) in the bare spots. It took a while for them to sprout and get established, but they're finally starting to bloom. Hopefully they will re-seed themselves for next year. I used to have this plant in my garden in Columbia before we moved here, and it made a wonderful display.

Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)

One cool morning walking in the back near the woods, I spotted a tiny bunny under my witchhazel tree. He was so cute, I ran back to the house to call Herb to come see it, but by the time we got back to the spot, he was gone! Mama rabbit had probably parked him there while she fed, and she came back shortly to fetch her baby. Good thing I got a couple of photos of him before he vanished!

Micro-bunny.

Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar.

Another interesting sighting were some green and black caterpillars on my fennel plants--these are the larva of the black swallowtail butterflies. I was hoping to see some of the pupae, but I think the birds may have eaten the caterpillars before they had a chance to pupate. There doesn't seem to be a lack of black swallowtails in my yard, so a few must have made it. I see more and more butterflies here every year--my garden is definitely attracting more pollinators.

 

The front walk

Yellow Hibiscus

This summer my hanging baskets on the porch haven't been as successful as I hoped for, but the front walk, lined with potted plants, is as colorful as ever. Those scented white Petunias are a great new addition!

My potted plant collection on the back deck continues to increase, as you can see.

 

Plants on the back deck.

Back deck on the other side of the door.

I can't complain about this growing season, the weather has been very kind to my garden thus far. Yet oddly enough, the southern slender ladies tresses orchids that bloomed so profusely last summer, haven't made an appearance at all. Who knows why, these native orchids are so quirky!