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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day July 2013


On the fifteenth of each month, our gracious host, Carol, at May Dreams Gardens hosts one of the longest lasting garden bloggers' memes, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  Bloggers are invited to share pictures of what is blooming in their gardens each month of the year.  To learn more about Carol, Bloom Day, and to see a list of garden bloggers around the world who are participating this month, click on her link above! 

Here are a few of the blooms in my garden today.

Hydrangeas


 

 

Do you see the similarity in the flowers of the above hydrangea and those of it's cousin, Dichroa febrifuga?


Brugmansias

 
Aconitum napellus (Monk's Hood)

Tuberous begonias


 
This one still is still thrilling me.  Relatively new in the trade, it's a Begonia boliviensis variety, hybrid, or selection that's this rose pink color.  Love it!

 
Rose 'Fragrant Cloud' is sure earning the name!  I love the scent of roses wafting on the air!



The fragrant oriental lilies are starting to bloom.  Such a fragrant time of year!

 
 
Dahlias



 
Alstromeria

Eryngium 'Big Blue'

Crocosmia 'Lucifer'
 
 Clematis

Grevillea 'Ned Kelly'


Abutilon megapotamicum (of course)

Hemerocallis 'Hyperion' one of my faves, has huge flowers and a beautiful fragrance!  It was too early for them to be open for the day.  Hey bud, smile for the camera!
 
 Too pretty to eat, right?


 Artichokes get to bloom  this year.  It's surprising how many people have asked what these were even before they opened.


"The Calla Lilies are in bloom again."
 
 
Hope you all have a great Bloom Day!

43 comments:

  1. A definite summer selection of lovely blooms you have there Peter!

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    1. I really garden for mostly foliage but somehow, those pesky flowers keep popping up.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks Linda. Things seemed to do pretty well this year despite my neglect. Alison and I will be meeting Scott at Joy Creek at noon on Sunday (I'll be hitting Cistus and Means before) to shop & then we'll go to Jane's open garden. If you'd like, you're welcome to join us.

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  3. Wow! So many beautiful flowers & great photography, too!

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    1. Thanks Jennifer! It's a floriferous time of the year!

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  4. What great performances -- in your garden and on the stage.

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    1. They're both enjoyable & I wish I could take credit for the blooms but they just seem to carry on in spite of my neglect.

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  5. Ned Kelly, *sigh*

    (btw I think there's a "peaches and cream" coming my way soon...)

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    1. Ain't he handsome? What fun to see so many of them at the fling! Where's your 'Peaches and Cream' coming from, you lucky dog?

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  6. Happy GBBD! I loved seeing your Dahlias. They are such rich flowers. And your Brugs, be still my heart! Abutilon megapotamicum is on my wish list for next year.

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    1. They're really box store dahlias that I plunk in for a little color. They usually make it for a few years right in their pots! You'll love having A. megapotamicum!

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  7. Quite a show you put on there, Peter. Gotta get me a Brugmansia next year (I say that every year about this time).

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    1. Thanks Ricki! Many years, Means has nice big flowering brugmansias in large pots for $20.00. Maybe you could have one this year. Alison and I will be meeting Scott at Joy Creek at noon on Sunday (I'll be hitting Cistus and Means before) to shop & then we'll go to Jane's open garden. If you'd like, you're welcome to join us.

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  8. My heart just skipped several beats! WONDERFUL! I am in love with your grevillea. I am more than in love. I am obsessed! I hope you have the most happy and wonderful of garden blogger blooms days yet! ITS SUMMER!!!!!!!!

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    1. Happy Summer Louis and happy GBBD! That grevillea is pretty wonderful and came from Sally Priest at WeHop! At the garden bloggers fling in California, we saw all kinds of them growing in the ground. I kept thinking of how much you would have loved seeing the amazing gardens there and the huge palms...

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  9. Beautiful July garden, Peter. (And if I already commented, pick the one you like best to post!)

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    1. Thanks Denise! Only saw one comment. Happy Monday!

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  10. Whoa, Peter! Your blooms day post is significantly bloomy. Impressive collection of hydrangeas.

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    1. I'm always surprised on bloomday to see so many things blooming in my garden. It's mostly a lot of green out there.

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  11. Love the Aconitum...every time someone posts one, I wonder why I don't have some!

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    1. You need one or ten. That one is quite a trooper and handles the deep dry shade and being stepped on reallywell!

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  12. What a beautifull garden you must have!! It´s the first year for my crocosmias to flower, but the buds are still developing; I guess my summer is coming later than yours.

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    1. Thank you Lisa. My garden is kind of a mess but there are still beautiful flowers around. We've had some fairly warm days for the last few weeks so my crocosmias are a little earlier than usual.

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  13. Hello! Just jumping over from Linda Reeder's blog. Wow! Your flowers are so unusual and gorgeous! Such fun to see your beautiful photos.

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    1. Thanks Kay! I'm glad you joined the GBBD party! It was such a treat to see Linda's gorgeous garden and get to talk with her and her husband. They both seem like stellar people and it was doubly nice to learn about her blog!

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  14. The artichoke - wow! I had no idea! (Can you still eat it with melted butter?)

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    1. I personally can eat just about anything with melted butter but sources say that after flowering, artichokes are virtually inedible (stringy & tough.) Perhaps the answer is simply eating a bowl of melted butter.

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  15. Well Peter, I love your blooms , but Kates' Calla Lily speech from Stage Door (a top 25 all time film for me ) is classic !

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    1. Thanks KS! I love that movie, too! All About Eve is right up there, too!

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  16. Wow, lovely photos of gorgeous flowers! We seem to have many plants in common, but you do have one plant I am a bit jealous of, your brugmansia. It is too cold in the winter here in London for it, and I have nowhere to overwinter it so sadly I can’t grow it, enjoyed your photos though :-)

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    1. Our climates are fairly similar thus our plants in common. I love brugmansias and must bring them in during the winter. You can allow them to drop their leaves and do dormant in the winter so if you have a small space beneath your house or in a garage, they don't need any light or a whole lot of protection.

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    2. I wish! Victorian terraced houses in London have neither garages nor any space beneath the house, and don't have basements either. Just a basic 2-up-2-down house, 2 bedrooms upstairs, living room and kitchen downstairs, and a bathroom buildt as an extention in the 1960s - there was obviously no bathrooms in these houses when they were built originally. Shame they didn't cater for tender plants we would need to care for during the winter!

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  17. The Hydrangeas are my all time favorite. But all of your flowers are so pretty. I love all the different colors!

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    1. Hydrangeas are incredible, require so little care and come in lots of gorgeous colors! Hope you are enjoying July!

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  18. We had Fragrant Cloud a long time ago, the first time we tried growing hybrid T's here in too much shade. But we can do hydrangeas!
    Love your flower photos.
    We're still catching up around here after our busy weekend.

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    1. Thanks Linda! Roses do like sun and someone keeps planting trees in my garden so there's less and less sun all the time. I hope you are able to sit back and relax soon after the flurry of activity in your garden.

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  19. There you were waxing poetic about the Brugmansias on Shirley Watts' street and you actually had some up your sleeve yourself! I love your hydrangeas in all those colors, especially the blue one with the white edges.

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    1. I was excited to see such huge brugmansias growing in the ground. Sigh... That white edged hydrangea is one of my new faves. I got one last year called 'Harlequin' but it's not blooming yet. The one in the picture is called 'Bavaria' and came from (don't tell anyone) Lowe's just before the fling.

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  20. Sincere apologies to The creative flux for unintentionally deleting her comment! It was a total accident! She commented about my 'Fragrant Cloud' rose, that she had tried to find one for her rose obsessed father.

    Jackson and Perkins usually has Fragrant Cloud although they've sold out this year. I have a couple and they keep the garden filled with fragrance on warm days! Happy GBBD! See above comment response to Linda and Ricki if you're interested in a Joy Creek field trip on Sunday.

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  21. We saw that pink Begonia boliviensis at one of the Long Island nurseries. Deanne bought it (of course). Love that Hydrangea with the blue and white bi-color flowers...beeuuuteeful!

    Happy GBBD Peter!

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    1. Thanks Sue! I saw that begonia last year when sneaking into a trial plant area of a favorite nursery. I begged to buy one but since it was still in trial stages, could not. However, if I promised not to tell anyone and report back on the plants progress and hardiness, the owner would give me one. Walking on cloud nine, I brought it home. Now that it's in wide distribution and I bought several more, I still pass that first plant and smile. The bi-color hydrangea is called 'Bavaria' and I found it in a gallon pot for a ridiculously low price at Lowe's.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.