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!

Turning of the Season

 

Miniature rose.

As the mornings grow cooler with the approach of the equinox, summer is drawing to an end. It's a lovely time to admire the season's growth in all its fullness before fall begins to show its effects. My potted plants outdoors have reached their peak: the miniature rose, coleus and impatiens seem to be at the maximum of beauty. Many of my tropical begonias haven't been as floriferous as in other years, I can't explain it, except that plants have their cycles, and perhaps the extraordinary heat this year had something to do with it. Or, perhaps they need re-potting in fresh soil. There's always next year.

 

Red impatiens with begonias and coleus.

Hanging baskets on porch.

Plants in the porch

The hanging baskets on the porch are spilling over with multi-colored Calibrachoas and red Begonias, while the porch protects the other summering houseplants. The hibiscus is lush with yellow blossoms and the Cuban Rain tree (Brunfelsia nitida) is about to produce another round of its tubular flowers. I set out my Cattleya orchids on the porch this year, in hopes of some flower buds, but with the overnight temperatures now in the 40's, it's time to bring them into the house--I'll have to try again next year to see if some flowers can be coaxed.

Salvia 'Black and Blue' with mums and impatiens behind.

Salvia 'Wendy's Wish'

 

My 'Black and Blue' salvia didn't start to bloom until August this year, while the re-potted magenta salvia that Lili gave me (I think it may be a variety called  'Wendy's Wish') caught up with it and surpassed it in terms of flowers--interesting contrast in the color of the foliage and the flowers of the salvias. My Chrysanthemums are starting to bloom too, orange and dusty pink in the front, and the yellow ones I transplanted to the back beds.

 

Herb's bed and the Little Indians.

The deer really decimated my sedums this year, particularly the 'Neon' variety, but some of the 'Autumn Joy' have managed to produce some flowers; I must protect them better next spring so they can make progress. The blue Ageratum in Herb's bed was a hit with the butterflies--it's starting to fade now--the aster flowers will soon predominate, along with the pink Muhly grass.

 

New tree & shrubs on the west side.

 

I've been taking advantage of the cooler weather to start planting the trees and shrubs I'd bought  earlier in the year and had been holding in large pots, waiting for a propitious time to plant. The beautiful Korean fir 'Horstmann's Silberlocke' was planted on the west side of the house; it may reach  up to 20 feet, though I doubt it will get that tall, but will remain slim at the base. The new Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles'--barely visible in the bed behind the Zelkova tree's trunk--will eventually become a shrub some eight feet tall and six feet around, and hopefully filled with lavender flowers to delight butterflies and other pollinators.

Hardy begonias bloom under the cherry tree.

 

The hardy begonias are blooming under the cherry tree, while the dogwood's leaves are starting to turn bronzy, announcing the change of season. My Angel Trumpet still has some flowers, and perhaps a few more are in store before it's time to bring it in for the winter.

The front walk this week

Angel Trumpets (Brugmansia hybrid)

The other evening we had an unusual visitor--a hawk perched on one of the oaks in back. He stayed there for a good amount of time, long enough for me to grab my camera and take some photos. We later  identified it as a juvenile Cooper's hawk. The beautiful creature lingered for a while, then swooped low as he flew between our house and the neighbor's before disappearing.

 

An unusual visitor.