A Very Late July Bloom Day

Front garden bed with monarda, Shasta daises, coneflowers
and mealcup sage (Salvia farinacea)

 

It's been a week, so while I took photos in time for July Bloom Day hosted by May Dreams Gardens, I'm just now posting them. I didn't want to miss the occasion altogether though since my garden is currently in peak bloom.

Coneflower with an unknown variety of monarda

The monarda in the front garden bed has thrived this year. Usually the heat and lack of rain means a shorter bloom time and powdery mildew by now, but it's loving the wetter than normal summer we're having.

unknown variety of gladioli

Last year the deer ate all my gladioli before they had the chance to bloom, but this year I've been vigilant about spraying them with deterrent and have gotten to enjoy quite a few of these stunning blooms.

White swan coneflower

I just love the mix of pinks in this Firefly Fuschia yarrow, planted last year.

My Sweet Love dahlias have been blooming since July 5, but I'm still waiting on my dinnerplate dahlias to bloom. Despite being in zone 6b, I don't even bother digging these up anymore. They like where they are and have returned two years in a row. 

I love the dainty delphium butterfly blend (delphinium grandiflorum), which I grew from seed from Botanical Interests. I just wish I could manage to grow more than one plant a year.

I've planted so many rudbeckia seedlings, but the critters have been relentlessly eating them. I'm really enjoying this one that managed to bloom (as is this ant). 

There are also several other native plants blooming now in my garden, but you can see some of those in my last post if you're interested. And visit May Dreams Gardens to enjoy other fantastic gardens in bloom.

Six on Saturday: Natives in bloom

We had a little break from the extreme heat last week and it was "only" in the high 80s rather than the mid 90s and above. The humidity also dropped, so while still hot it wasn't completely miserable.

But it's back in the 90s for the weekend, of course, so the only gardening I'm doing is early or late. Currently, I have the most native flowers in bloom at once in my garden, led by the coneflowers.

 
For years I avoided white coneflowers, like the White Swan coneflower (echinacea purpurea alba) above, because I thought they'd be lost in front of my white house. But after growing them once, I can't imagine being without them.

The tall larkspur (delphnium exaltatum) is starting to bloom. This is another favorite native in my garden because not only is it pretty, but it also reliably attracts hummingbirds. It's so tall that's it's hard to show the blooms and foliage in one photo though.

The mountain mint (pycnanthemum virginianum) attract lots of pollinators, is deer resistant, plus it does well in my dry native bed that is near a silver maple that hogs the moisture.

Next to the mountain mint, the swamp milkweed (asclepias incarnata) is also in bloom. Strangely, it does better in this dried bed that in the medium to moist back bed. Unfortunately, though, I haven't seen any signs of monarchs so far.

This spiderwort, newly purchased this year, has been reliably blooming since I planted it in May. I just love the vibrant blue color.

That's it from my garden this week. Visit Garden Ruminations to see what else is in bloom from gardens around the globe.