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!

June Bloom Day

Island bed.

 

I'm quite a few days late with this post--my computer was in the shop being upgraded and on top of that I came down with a summer virus (another nasty Covid variant?) and was feeling very poorly. Now that I have my Photoshop back, I'll try to catch up with the flowers in my summer garden--most of these shots were taken last week before I got sick. "Bloom Day" is hosted by Carol Michel's blog, May Dreams Gardens, on the 15th of every month.

We've had an extraordinarily wet spring this year in my northwest corner of Virginia (zone 6b). May topped out at a record ten inches of rain, and this month so far I've recorded about 4.6 inches. Some of the storms have been spectacular, with high winds. After three years of drought conditions it's a welcome change. The deer continue to eat so many of my flowers, but there are still enough left to enjoy.

The long island bed next to the veggie pagoda has been filled to red-hot pokers in two colors, Yucca, Tansy and both blue and white lavender. The Sedum ground cover is full of tiny yellow flowers.The English thyme is lush with flowers, and makes a delicious seasoning for chicken and other dishes.

 

White lavender with red-hot pokers and tansy flowers.

English thyme in bloom.

 This year I finally have butterfly weed in both orange and yellow. That makes up for the deer eating all of my Asian lilies and so many of the Stella de Oro daylilies too. I used to have masses of these in a long row, but this year, only a few buds have been spared.

 

Butterfly weed in the Little Indians bed.

 

Regular and 'Hello Yellow' butterfly weed.

 

Lavender is blooming in several beds--'Hidcote', 'Grosso' and 'Munstead' varieties as well as the white. 

 

'Munstead' lavender.

'Hidcote' lavender.

Lavender 'Grosso' in the front.

 

There's a bit of Veronica 'Skywalker' and a pink variety in the front bed by the garage, but not a whole lot of bloom on them this year--I wonder if it's getting too shady there for them? Some of the Clary sage I seeded into this bed is blooming behind the bush roses. The original patch of Clary sage in Herb's bed is also blooming.

 

Veronica 'Skywalker'

Clary sage with Blue Fescue

Clary sage in Herb's bed with Prairie Blazing Star.

The pink Bee Balm under the cherry tree is blooming nicely, but the red 'Jacob Cline' in the back yard has been eaten back by the deer, so I don't know if I'll get much from it this year. The deer have also been attacking the Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) I grew from seed last year, so again, I may not get much bloom this year. I'd read that this plant wasn't particularly liked by them, but apparently they will eat it.

 

Pink Bee Balm (Monarda)

 

This summer the deer have even gone after my 'Incrediball' hydrangea--one they hadn't attacked before--so now I've put them behind a mesh barrier. They spared the Oak Leaf hydrangea for a while, but devoured the flowers right after I took this photo.

 

Oak Leaf Hydrangea with 'Incrediball' Hydrangea behind.

 

Oak Leaf Hydrangea

 

Hydrangea 'Incrediball'

 The Tradescantia in this part of the garden also needs protection, or there'd soon be nothing left of it. I'm seriously considering fencing off the entire back yard, these deer are becoming such pests!

 

Tradescantia '

 

The Japanese maples in the east woodland garden are loving the rain, I've never seen them looking so good! The pagoda dogwood has shot up at least two feet, and the Carolina Silverbell behind it is growing well, though since the little bells were all burnt in the early April frost, there are no seedpods this year. 

 

East garden trees.

 

A new Cuphea called 'Torpedo' bought this year has a very unusual combination of colors. Unforutnately, the deer came by right after I took the photo and ate all the flowers--it's now on the porch regrowing, hopefully will have new flowers soon.

 

Cuphea 'Torpedo'

Cuphea 'Torpedo'

 

That's the highlights for June Bloom Day in my garden, thanks for visiting!

 

November 2024 Bloom Day

 

French marigolds.

French marigolds

We'd had a few nights with temperatures below freezing, but until this past Wednesday Nov. 13, we hadn't experienced a hard frost here in my Zone 6B garden in Virginia. The temperature dipped to around 20 that night. Before that, some of my annuals were still displaying blooms: French marigolds in the veggie pagoda, some potted Nasturtiums, Irish moss, a Calendula that sprouted as a volunteer, and a few beat-up Chrysanthemums (I took these photos a few days ago, before the hard frost).

There are still a few flowers left for November's Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog. It being mid-fall, colorful leaves and berries can sometimes take the place of flowers. Let's take a stroll and see what is blooming in my garden.

 

Caleandula 'Neon' volunteer still blooming in the veggie pagoda.

Pink mum

Nasturtiums on the porch

Irish moss still blooming.

The deciduous trees in the east garden have dropped most of their leaves, but there are still a few hanging on. I discovered a small bird's nest on the upper branches of one of the Japanese maples there, and wondered which bird had built it--a chickadee, or perhaps a titmouse? I see them flitting about the back yard at this time of the year a lot more than at other times. I guess they're more noticeable because most of the migratory birds have already left.

The east garden mid-November.

Bird's nest on Japanese maple branch.

The holly 'Nellie Stevens' has set more berries than ever this year for a wonderful display. 

Holly 'Nellie Stevens'

Dried flower heads of hydrangea 'Incrediball'

 

I like to leave the dried flower heads of the Hydrangea 'Incrediball' through the winter season and cut them back in the spring--they present a lovely point of interest during the winter season.

Our unseasonable warm weather prompted the white lilac to produce a few blooms once again and the lavender was sporting a few of its spikes. But the big chill is coming, and I'm trying to prepare for it.

 

White lilac blooms

 

Lavender 'Hidcote'

As the weather turns colder, the great annual migration of tropical plants into the house is now complete. Winter interest will necessarily focus more on those. My Thanksgiving cactus is starting to show buds; I hope it may still have some flowers left for December's Bloom Day. A friend gave me this beautiful dark-leaved Capsicum with bright orange fruit.

After an entire month with no rain whatsoever, we finally got about a quarter of an inch from the past weekend's storm. It wasn't enough to eliminate the danger of fire--there have been a few forest fires near us, but mercifully, not a whole of of acreage has burned. We can only hope for more rain soon.

 

Decorative Capsicum indoors.

I leave you with a photo of what will likely be the last rose of the season...

Shrub Rose 'Petal Pushers'

Happy November Bloom Day!