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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.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day July 2014

July is such a floriferous month that there are too many things in bloom to post pictures of them all.  Here are a few of this months blooms in my garden.
 
Fremontodendron

Mitraria coccinea

The summer blooming clematis are putting on a nice show!

I've tried killing this one many times as thee blooms are a little pale and subtle for me but since it keeps coming back stronger and more covered with bloom, I'll let it stay.
 
 Begonias are in full swing!


 
As are the pelargoniums.
 
 
Calothamnus villosus AKA Silky Net Bush, another of those beautiful Australians that I love.

The once-blooming roses are finished for the year but the continual bloomers are in their glory.  Don Juan has lived in my garden for years and has excellent disease resistance!

Lily time is here again.  The flower form is delightful, colors to go with any scheme, and the fragrance of the Oriental group wafts over the warm garden mingling, in the evening with that of brugmansia and honeysuckle. The memory of these warm fragrant evenings in July is what carries me through the gray days of winter when I will  inevitably bring home a few more lily bulbs.  Somehow the sweet promise packed inside each bulb brightens my winter weary soul.  Sorry I don't remember the name of this beautiful Asiatic lily.

Or this gorgeous golden siren.


Hemerocallis 'Hyperion' is extremely fragrant and the largest of my daylilies with blooms eight inches across!

Another NOID Oriental that has formed quite an impressive clump for me.  Unfortunately, I never stake them until some have collapsed.  Bad Gardener!

Mystery daylily inherited with the house.

Looking pretty in red!
 
Grevillia 'Ned Kelly' makes my heart sing!

Anagallis monellii is a nice true blue. This one blooms beneath an orange and yellow Abutilon megapotamicum 'Sunset'

Here she is - Abutilon megapotamicum.  We had a bit of a freeze this winter so these were slow to recover but have now come back nicely, loving the warm weather we're experiencing!

A surprise survivor of the wither is this abutilon, a Dan Hinkley introduction.

Alstromeria.  Really, I want strong orange and red ones but these pale pink ones want to grow instead.  They must be in cahoots with that  pastel purple clematis!

One time many years ago, I planted a silybum marianum (Milk Thistle) for it's gorgeous foliage.  Each year since then, a single plant has emerged in a different part of my garden.  Usually they show up in places where they get stomped by accident and I think that game is sadly over.  This year one has come up in a perfectly safe place in a bed.  I'm hoping that perhaps there'll be more next year!

Poppies

Romneya coulteri AKA Matilija Poppy loves the heat in the hellstrip and has thrown runners under the sidewalk to emerge in the lawn.  They don't like to be mowed so they don't live there long.  Say, that lawn is mostly moss all winter & these would be much nicer than grass that has to be mowed all summer...Anyone know how to organically kill lots of grass but keep the moss, violets, clover and Romneya coulteri in place?

The hummingbirds are fighting over the bee balm as usual.

Fortunately the Agastache 'Acapulco' is another nearby favorite of the little winged jewels.

The Clerodendrum trichotomum is more full of bloom this year than in any past summer. Hope this bodes well for a large crop of those beautiful metallic turquoise berries this fall!   Forgot to get a picture but it'll still be blooming next month. 
 
Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting GBBD on the 15th of each month!  To see what's blooming in gardens all over the world, click on over to her site and enjoy!
 


25 comments:

  1. My gosh, those oriental lillies are stunning!

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  2. I love lilies too, and if there is one thing I could use more of, it's them. Mine are all standing tall and straight so far. It's so easy if you have a spot of bare earth to just pop a bulb in during the winter. Happy GBBD! Hard to believe that July is half over.

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    1. Lilies are pretty wonderful! It is hard to believe that there are only a few short weeks left of my summer break!

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  3. Isn't July grand! All this lushness and blooms. With the recent heat wave the only place I want to be is in the shade, under the big pine tree sipping something. Since you mentioned Alstromeria: I have the orange variety. Just say the word and I'll send some your way, live plants or seeds. I manage to contain it but am very aware of it's thuggish nature.

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    1. July is indeed grand! If it could only last longer...I would love to take you up on your offer of either a plant or seeds! Just let me know when and where and I'll be there!

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    2. I've just now subscribed to your blog by providing my email address. Does it allow you to email me? Just let me know on your next visit to Swanson's nursery in north seattle. We should meet up then and I'll give you the orange Alstromeria (and show you my garden...just down the street from Swanson's)

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  4. I have a mystery daylily exactly like yours that I received 2 years ago from my GrandAunt up in Michigan. It finally bloomed this year and was strikingly different from the regular roadside daylilies I normally see.

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  5. Glorious blooms! I loved my visit to your July garden.

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    1. Thank you! You're welcome to come back as often as you wish!

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  6. What a diverse - and beautiful - collection of flowers, Peter! Your post is another kick in the behind to remind me that I really need to plant more Asiatic lilies. Happy GBBD!

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    1. Thanks Kris! Lilies fit in nicely just about anywhere and it seems that I can never get enough of them.

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  7. You are reinforcing one of my take-aways from the Fling: More Lilies! You have plenty of other stuff worth copying too. I got a great shot of you at Scott's...watch for it.

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    1. Lilies are such grand flowers aren't they? I'll be watching - Hope I didn't break your camera!

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  8. Oops! I forgot to take pictures for GBBD yesterday! And my camera battery needs recharging. Oh well, I'll get it taken care of tomorrow.

    Those lilies are gorgeous! Lots of other great flowers, too, especially the Grevillea. I love milk thistle leaves, but I haven't tried growing it yet for fear of it reseeding too enthusiastically. I know I can't trust my parents to nip off extra seed heads before they mature, but maybe once I have my own garden and can keep an eye on things I'll have to try it.

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    1. If you do it tomorrow, it'll extend the fun of bloom day even longer!

      I've only ever had one milk thistle and wish that it would be more prolific!

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  9. Wow lots of great blooms there Peter and I'm just so relieved you didn't boot that Clematis, it is so pretty, might be Ice Blue or Blue Ice (I can never remember which) -- anyway one of may favorites!

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    1. That clematis is nice and cool looking during the heat of summer and happily grows with no help from me. What's not to love.

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  10. What a fantastic collection of blooms! love all of them. You are so lucky you don't have to deal with the dreaded lily beetle. I just love lilies of all kinds but they have become a maintenance nightmare. I still grow a few because there is just nothing like their fragrance on a summer evening.

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    1. I am lucky that I don't have lily beetle but I have to get rid of botrytis or they'll dwindle to nothing over time.

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  11. Your lilies are really beautiful, I don't grow many as we are plagued by the dreaded Lily Beetle, but can't do without any! Love your Abutilon megapotamicum, such a lovely flower!
    July is such a wonderful month in the garden, flowers everywhere.

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    1. This month, it seems that something more is blooming just about every day! I was away from the garden for a week recently and when I returned, was shocked at how much had happened without me!

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  12. Your tropical and Australian blooms look great! The Grevillia is so charming with the little curled up buds. I have had Trumpet lilies do well, and others lived a number of years then disappeared. But yours look lovely. I'm impressed by the Romneya coulteri double blooms that spread by runners, I'll have to look them up. Now I have sad news, I was growing Milk Thistle for health benefits and found out it is on the WA state class A weed list, actual penalties for growing it. I had to get rid of any I could find. And such a beautiful plant.
    http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/searchResults.asp?class=A

    I'm looking forward to seeing posts about the Fling since I couldn't attend. Sounds like everyone had a great time.

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  13. Your daylilies are exquisite! So many lovely blooms in your garden--I'm convinced Portland is a gardener's paradise.

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  14. Hey Outlaw,

    What a beautiful bevy of glorious garden imagery, but I would expect no less of a gardener who was the 8th to sign up for GBBD.

    As a transplanted Australia who can't grow nearly all the Aussie natives in zone 6A here in KC (scaveola and adiatum are the few exemptions), it warms my heart to see them in a formidable garden like your own.

    Got a big kick out of the Outlaw Gardener posting Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', as Ned was the most infamous bushranger which were basically runaway convicts evading the coppas while becoming part of Aussie folk law.

    And your lilies are just smashing.

    Please visit me to see my first GBBD presentation which has one heck of a back story to it.

    Best, Patrick

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