August 2025 Bloom Day

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on Buddleia

 

Now in mid-August, the heat of July is subsiding, the mornings are cooler. Today is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden Blog. Welcome to my Virginia USDA zone 6B garden! 

Yesterday afternoon we had a huge storm that dropped almost an inch of very welcome rain--we'd had no rain since the first of the month. We'll start with the best photos-- a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth nectaring on my pink Buddleia.

 

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris thysbe)

 

It's not the first time he's visited, last week he (or a buddy) was thrumming about my Agastaches when I was watering Herb's bed, but I didn't have my phone with me, so I missed the opportunity to get photos.

Stepping back a bit, the pink Buddleia at the back of the Little Indians bed is surrounded by blooms of Queen Anne's lace. You may wonder why I call it the Little Indians bed--when I first moved here, there were ten little Arbor Vitae planted in a row which brought to mind the "Ten Little Indians" rhyme. I planted an eleventh one to take the curse off the even numbers, but the nickname of Ten Little Indians has stuck. 

 

Pink Buddleia with Queen Anne's lace.

Long view of the Little Indians bed.

Fennel tops the plantings in the Little Indians bed.

Over the years I've expanded the Ten Little Indians Bed to be a long deep bed, with lots of herbaceous plants, mostly natives, against a backdrop of evergreens--Korean boxwood, variegated boxwood, Amsonia Hubrichtii and Itea virginica in front of the now huge arborvitae. The bed is weedy, but it works for me: the riotous feel of it, rampant with a variety of blooms over the entire season despite all the deer browsing. 

Herb's bed is still a work in progress: started as a sunflower bed, I've expanded it over the years. By August, the peonies and spring flowers have gone, the Agapanthus is fading, and now the Agastaches and red Salvia are the main attractions--hummingbirds and butterflies love them! I couldn't identify the butterfly on the Agastache, perhaps a Silver Spotted Skipper?

 

Herb's bed with red Salvia in front.

 

Towards the back of Herb's bed, blue Ageratum and Agastaches.

A butterfly on Agastache 'Licorice Candy'

Butterfly on 'Pink Licorice'

 

Native sunflowers bloom profusely inside the protected veggie pagoda--I have plenty elsewhere in my yard, but the deer eat them so I rarely see the flowers!

 

Native sunflowers (Helianthus annuus)

 Moving along to the other side of the veggie pagoda, one lavender plant is still blooming there with some thyme. 

 

Lavender with Thyme.

 

In the long island bed, a few Rudbeckias bloom among the Bouteloua 'Blonde Ambition' and a small unidentified annual weed that grows in my yard--it has a pleasant minty smell that I like--and the deer won't eat it, so I leave it to grow and re-seed itself. My bush Clematis 'True Love' was eaten back so much it hasn't flowered at all.

 'Baby Joe' Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum) blooms nearby, and the wild Petunias are indestructible despite much deer-browsing.

 

Rudbeckias with Bouteloua 'Blonde Ambition'

 

 

A wild mint?

Joe-Pye weed "Baby Joe'

Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

 

This odd unidentified Hydrangea is loved by the deer, to see some blooms I have to protect it within a mesh enclosure.

 

No ID Hydrangea

 

On the west side of the house, the Russian Sage (Salvia yangii) is blooming. Abelia "Panoramic Color Radiance' in the front bed is presenting some blooms--the deer have been eating them, or there'd be more.

  

Russian sage (Salvia yangii)

 

Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance'

In the front west garden my 'Natchez' Crepe Myrtle is developing into a respectable-sized tree. The peeling bark of its multi-trunked form is one of its best features. I've still to come up with some decent under-plantings for this spot. I've been trying to grow a variegated Fetterbush (Lyonia lucida) under it, but the deer won't allow it to grow well, and the soil is obviously too alkaline for this plant's liking.I'll probably dig it up this fall and grow it in a pot. I  need to find more suitable deer-resistant plants for this bed.

 

Crepe Myrtle 'Natchez'

 

My front porch and deck offer protection for the more often-devoured plants, but my hanging baskets are looking a bit bedraggled after July's heat. I wish my porch was a lot wider and bigger, so I could have some furniture there where one could hang out--but this being a developer's house, with the usual lack of sensitivity to architectural design, they left only room for my potted plants.

 

Sunpatiens, purple basil,black cotton and Celosia on the front porch.

Hanging basket on porch.

The deck is my outdoor living room during the summer, but the afternoon sun makes it too hot to hang out there during the summer until very late in the day, more like evening. This summer the deck got a complicated re-build, as the wood structure was starting to rot. It's not quite finished yet, but at least I can move back some of my plants there. Maybe an awning for it would be a good addition?

 

Cuphea 'Honey Bells'

 

Salvia 'Bodacious Hummingbird Falls'

 That's it for this month's flowers. Happy Bloom Day, gardening friends!

July Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

Clary sage (Salvia sclarea)

Clary sage

 

This summer the deer have been incredibly voracious--they haven't left me very many flowers to show! One they haven't touched is the biennial Clary sage I planted last year. The flower spikes are big and bold, I'm sure their musky smell is the reason they've been left alone.

 

Centaurea cyanus 'Emperor William'

The nearby Centaurea 'Emperor William' which I grew from seed a couple of years ago, has been reseeding itself ever since, but this year, the seedlings all got chomped back and only this one plant somehow managed to avoid being eaten. I love their bright blue color!

 

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

 

Butterfly weed is another plant deer don't eat much, although they managed to eat the flower buds of all the 'Hello Yellow' ones--these plants are just finishing their cycle of bloom. The Buddleias are starting their show--with the extreme drought in our area and barely enough rain to bring relief, nothing is looking too great, only a few flower spikes where normally bloom would be profuse.

 

Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)

 Buddleia Pugster 'Miss Molly'

Buddleia lindleyiana

The Buddleia lindleyiana is a native of Japan and is doing well in my Virginia garden, but I'm discovering that it likes to sucker, and needs more room. I  love the graceful arching flower spikes, and the pollinators really like this variety: butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

 

Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)

Speaking of plants beloved by pollinators, my Bottlebrush buckeye is about to bloom--it's a bit late this year, it's usually in full bloom by now. My tree is now about 6 foot tall and wide, it will probably reach its mature height of about 10 feet in a few years.

 

Seven Son Flower Tree (Heptacodium miconiodes)

The Seven Son Flower Tree, which normally doesn't bloom until August, budded out very early and has started to open its small clusters of seven flowers each. This shrub is a native of China, but still attracts lots of native pollinators such as dark swallowtails, and the hummers too.

 

Coneflowers under the Seven Son Flower Tree

Close-up of Coneflowers.

The back bed with a variety of Coneflowers and other blooming plants lies under the Seven Son Flower Tree, but this year, the coneflowers have been decimated--very few are left. I really need to be more proactive in spreading deer repellent or there'll be nothing left to show for all my labors.

 

Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

Clematis 'True Love'

 

Again, these Crocosmia and clematis flowers above are the only ones left from the deer's depredations. The heather below grows under a wire cloche, or there would be nothing left of either foliage or flowers. 

Heather.

On the east side of the house, the hydrangea 'Incrediball' is lovely, the other hydrangeas have been chewed up a lot--only one flower left on the lace-cap  hydrangea, the one on the other side of Incrediball (behind) has not a single flower left! 'Little Quick Fire' hydrangea sustained very little damage, but the Oakleaf hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers' is standing only because of the tomato cage protecting it.

Hydrangea 'Incrediball'

Hydrangea 'Little Quick Fire'

Oakleaf hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers'

 

Lavenders are among few flowers that deer don't go for, and the mint family is also generally spared.

 

Lavender 'Grosso'

Hoary mountain mint with Ninebark tree 'Coppertina'

 

Salvias are not appetizing to deer either, and generally spared--I bought the one below at Green Springs Gardens, where our botanical artist group had a show this spring, and deadheaded it--it's starting to re-bloom. I thought that zinnias were immune to deer too, but this year my seedlings have been decapitated.

 

Salvia

Vitex agnus castus

The Vitex above is usually in full bloom at this time, but with the current drought, growth has slowed down so much! 

The plants on the deck and hanging baskets are out of the deer's reach, of course, so I may still enjoy those flowers.

 

Cuphea 'Hummingbird's Lunch' on the back deck.

Hanging basket on the porch.

Calibrachoas on the deck.

 

The Cuphea 'Hummingbird's Lunch' hasn't attracted many hummers, but well I remember how one evening last year, in late September, a lone female hummingbird, apparently starved, came and gratefully buzzed every flower.

To sum it up, this July I'm short of flowers to show. Let's pray for some good rains in our area soon, so that I may have something in bloom to show you next month!