Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - August 2012

OMG...another Bloom Day! Here in Portland, we're paying for our mild Summer last year...as we're having a run of HOT weather...too hot for me! We broke a a record a week or so ago when we hit 102°...ouch! It looks like this week (tomorrow or Friday) we may hit triple-digit temps again. I know our weather is still comparatively mild compared to what most of the country has been suffering...but it's still pretty awful.

In any case, in spite of the scorching heat, the garden actually looks pretty good. I find that August is that odd time of year when I really don't have to do much except water occasionally and stake a few plants that have been blown over by the wind (which also seems to be a by-product of the heat). August is that odd tipping-point in my garden where things start to almost get out of control. It's not totally unfair to admit it's a bit of a hot mess. Still, that's what I love about the late-summer, early-autumn garden...that feeling that the garden is on it's own course, regardless of what my own intentions might be!


Agastache 'Blue Blazes'
This gorgeous plant is actually in the front parking strip (which I really will do a full post on someday). It's so small and cute right now...but having seen how big they can get here in Portland (2' taller AND broader than what they are listed as reaching). I anticipate having to move at least one of the plants (right now there are 3 in this bed)...otherwise, they will swallow up the entire bed! Hopefully I can find another Portland gardener next spring who is willing to take it. Even then, I really will have to be better about cutting them back in mid-spring to keep them more compact.


Lilium 'Black Beauty'
The bloom time of Lilies is always longer than I think it is (a good month or so), but still seems far too short. I was sure they would crisp up during our heatwave, but actually seemed no worse for wear.


Monarda bradburiana
This is a smaller and more demure Monarda than most...very lovely.

Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'		Dicentra macrocarpanos

What would summer be without some Echinacea...tough, dependable and beautiful. The little climbing Dicentra on the right was hidden beneath a few other plants earlier, but has really shot up in the past month or so. I should put some sort of support in for it...but right now it seems happy scrambling around and through its taller neighbors.


Agastache 'Black Adder'
Another tough plant, the Agastaches absolutely love this weather...they show absolutely no sign of heat stress, and if anything, are reveling in the heat.


Knautia macedonica
One of my favorite plants, I love how vibrantly-colored its flowers are...and how airy the plant is. Even though these are a good 4' or so tall, they are not bulky, so they thread their long, wiry stems through any plant nearby, creating wonderful effects. I should probably dead-head them, but I really like the spent seedheads.

Teucrium hircanicum		Persicaria 'Inverleith & Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'

The first flush of blooms on the Teucrium are still finishing up, and it's already started re-blooming! This is another plant that I find the spent blooms almost as pretty as the new blossoms, so I leave them on. Plus, they add so much texture to the garden. While Persicaria 'Inverleith' is a tough plant, it's one of the few that really seemed to struggle during our heat wave. The plants, which had grown too tall due to our lack of winter (and long spring) flopped open in the heat and scorched badly. Still, it seems to have recovered a fair bit. It's a good lesson to learn, if it looks like it's getting this tall again next year, I'll cut it back.


Lilium lancifolium (Tiger Lily)
Another Lily that has only a few blooms left, it seems like it would be more fitting as an Autumn flower...still, I love it, all the same.


Sedum 'Vera Jameson'
One of my new Sedums this year, I'm loving it's wonderful foliage and flowers.


Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus', Agastache 'Blue Blazes', Sedum 'Matrona'
This is another peek at the plants in the front parking strip...which have amazed me with their rapid growth this yeaer.

Rudbeckia triloba		Sedum 'Matrona, Agastache 'Black Adder' & Agastache 'Blue Boa'

My favorite Rudbeckia, Rudbeckia triloba is a short-lived perennial (more often, a biennial) that gets much larger than typical Rudbeckia...but its flowers are much smaller, although borne in such profusion as to completely blanket the plant! Sedum 'Matrona' has become my new "go-to" Sedum, as I love it's pewtery foliage throughout the year.


Salvia 'Purple Rain'
This Salvia has been extra vigorous this year...and I've been loving those rich purple spikes for months.


Knautia 'Melton Pastels'
Another Knautia...the seed-raised strain 'Melton Pastels', which shows a really nice variety of colors in the blooms. I have 6 or 7 of these in the front parking strip, and it's been interesting seeing the variation.

Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'		Eutrochium 'Little Joe' & Persicaria polymorpha

Eryngium yuccifolium
Technically, these flowers are spent...but I still think they can squeak in as blooms.


Persicaria 'Golden Arrow' & Panicum 'Shenandoah'
This wonderful Persicaria has exceeded all my expectations. The foliage is amazing all spring and summer...so when the blooms arrive, they really are icing on the cake. I wish the foliage didn't scorch quite so easily...I have to be very careful where I site this one.

Cosmos astrosanguineus		Crocosmis 'Oreangeade'

This little Cosmos was a surprise...I thought they had died over the winter, and so planted something else in their place. A few weeks ago, while planting my new Iris from Schreiners...I smelled chocolate...and noticed these little guys going crazy! I got this Crocosmia (my only one) at Joy Creek a few years ago...intrigued by it's unusual color. It has spread slowly to from a nice little patch...but I do think I need to divide it this fall.


Geranium 'Ann Folkard' & Rhus typhina 'Tiger Eyes'
This wonderful Geranium really doesn't like heat, and starts to slow down its flowering a bit, but still grows like a weed. I'm always finding it in odd places. This week, I noticed it had started climbing up into my Sumac. Still, I can't complain about the combination.


Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
Another trademark summer bloom, the Black-Eyed Susan. I know they are common as dirt, but I love them...and love how easy they are to grow. They are so cheerful and honest...and since so much of my garden is cool in tone...they are a nice counterpoint.

Clematis tibetana		Anemone 'September Charm'

Our weather this year has been odd (isn't that an understatement)! Case in point, these two blooms are at least a month or two earlier than usual.


Eutrochium 'Gateway'
My Eutrochium (Joe Pye Weed) have been blooming for a few weeks now, and the bees could not be more ecstatic. They sleep on the blooms, wake up, feed, and go back to sleep.


Eutrochium 'Gateway', Geranium 'Rozanne' & Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
This shot pretty much sums up the wonderful bounty of the late-summer garden. I love how everything is so big, full and vibrant. At any time during the day, I can wander out and be surrounded by the thrum of thousands of bees.

Agastache 'Ava'		Lilium 'Black Beauty'

Selinum wallichianum
I've been so pleased with this plant. I wasn't sure how it would fare in the parking strip, and to be honest, it's one of the few plants in the parking strip that I regularly water. As lovely as the blooms are, I love those wonderful purple stems even more. Not only is the color awesome...but the bizarre branching structure is fascinating.


Lilium 'Silver Scheherezade'
The last of my Lilies this year...sort of buried in the backyard. I'll have to do some serious editing/pruning next year to keep things under control!

Sedum 'Red Cauli'		Agastache 'Desert Sunrise'

'Red Cauli' is another new Sedum (to me) this year. I actually find myself loving it more and more. THe leaves are a wonderful purplish-red and the flowers are ELECTRIC! I love how it paris with the Teucrium. 'Desert Sunrise' is one of my favorite Agastaches...it's so delicate-looking. I've found that this one, in the parking strip, is much happier than those on the sloped borders. I think it gets more sun and has better drainage.


Echinops bannaticus
This Globe Thistle is a fabulous plant...and bees adore it. I have a little patch of them that is gradually increasing.


Persicaria 'Firetail'
Although I sort of resent the big, coarse foliage of this plant early in the year (it really does look a bit weedy), I absolutely adore it once it starts blooming. Those scarlet tapers will go from June until frost...and are the perfect compliment to the blue-purple of Geranium 'Rozanne'.


Agastache 'Purple Haze'
This Agastache is a great plant...very upright and compact...and with lovely, subtle coloring.

Ok, so now it's time for the wide shots!


North (Side) Border from the East


East (Front) Border from the North


East (Front) Border from the South


Backyard Garden


North (Side) Border from the West

I hope you enjoyed your little tour of my garden right now, for more Bloom Day posts, visit Carol at May Dreams Garden!