Garden Bloggers Bloom Day August 2017

Welcome to Garden Bloggers Boom Day.  It's August in North Texas and like always, it's hot and pretty dry this time of year.  It isn't the best looking time of year for our garden.  Most gardeners in these parts are keeping things alive and the weeds at bay waiting for fall and the cooler weather.  We are no different (only we are not battling very hard against the weeds and they are starting to win a few places).

Right now our Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes) are blooming like crazy.  A bonus of a wet summer, well besides the bonus of water.  All of our Rain Lilies are in the Agave Garden in one of our "Hell Strips".  This is a particularly narrow one that only took two swipes of a mower to mow when we first moved it.  Now it's planted with Agaves, Sedums, and Rain Lilies.  All of the rain comes out of the backyard, down the driveway and into this bed.  We've capped off the irrigation, so it isn't regularly watered.



We have a few different kinds planted and since they self sow, they should increase in numbers each year.  This is their second summer being planted in this garden.


Ignore the purslane.  I know it's a weed, but it's also great tortoise food.  So it's slowly getting removed and fed to Petunia our male marginated tortoise.  Mediterranean tortoises eat a lot of weeds and grasses.  His favorites include dandelions and hibiscus flowers.  Purslane is not a favorite, but it is healthy, so it gets served regularly.




These orange ones are a favorite of mine.  I love the saturated color and the stripiness on the petals.  It's one of my favorite patterns flowers can have in my opinion.  I love unusual patterning and spotting.


An old topiary Hibiscus recently bloomed for the first time.  We overwintered it and then didn't have a good place for it, so it's actually in Petunia's enclosure.  He didn't get to eat this bloom, instead he got purslane for his evening snack (kidding, he got a pink hibiscus bloom).



We still have some plants around the pool blooming, though this is one of the locations where the mites did their dirty work. The hardy Hibiscus are still going strong.  I'm enjoying them so much during the heat of August, that I'm thinking of adding a few tall varieties to the barrier garden as a sort of backdrop when we re-do it this fall.


The Plumbago is enjoying it's new found freedom away from it's sweet potato vine oppressor and is blooming like crazy. 


We are also still getting to enjoy a bunch of re-blooming daylilies. Such a treat!  Since basically our entire daylily garden was transplanted from our old house to this garden, last summer's bloom season wasn't very spectacular.  It makes this year seem even better.

'Webster's Pink Wonder'

'Sweet Seneca Butterflies'
'Barbara Mitchel'
'Painted Trillium'

'Cobbs Hill Jester'

Finally we stop at the Butterfly/Pollinator garden.  It is still blooming, though it is starting to show some stress from the heat.  Both milkweeds are looking good.

  





 As are the random Rudbeckia we got on our Oklahoma Daylily trip and the lantanas that were added for summer color.  The Rudbeckia had been mislabeled so the nursery didn't know what it was exactly, only that it wasn't what they ordered.  We liked so we added it to one of our daylily purchases and brought it home.


Thanks for taking the time to see what we having going on in the garden!  If you are interested in seeing more gardens visit May Dreams Garden to see other's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day posts.


Comments

  1. Gorgeous blooms! My daylilies have finished blooming already so it's refreshing to see that yours continue. Your hardy hibiscus are stunning. We can grow them here but they prefer to be a bit drier in the winter and wet in the summer and our conditions are the opposite so they don't last long here without a lot of coddling.

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    1. They are great, but probably not worth coddling. There is some much stuff you can grow up in the PNW that just cant handle our weather. It's always a trade off.

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  2. You have so many beautiful blooms in your garden and I especially love all the varieties of daylilies! The Hibiscus and Lantana are gorgeous as well. Happy Bloom Day!

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  3. Your daylilies are reblooming??? I don't have any late blooming daylilies. Seeing these make me want some. No, I need them. ;) I love those rain lilies. I didn't know they came in so many colors. We can't grow them here. Maybe if they were dug up every fall. I have never seen them around here. I can't wait to see pictures of your tortoise. Sounds like he is a lucky boy to get to eat hibiscus blooms. Happy GBBD.

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    1. Some daylilies are genetically programmed to rebloom. Longer growing season and consistent water increase the odds. We had our first daylily bloom in mid-April this year, so our season is very long. We do our best to water well and we get re-blooming. You can look in the AHS daylily database for rebloomers.

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  4. Lots happening in your garden. Love the Tortoise info.

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  5. A male tortoise named "Petunia"? There must be a story there. Do share on the next GBBD in the meantime, I will go in search of an answer in past posts on your blog.

    I have never heard of the phrase "Hell Strip", but immediately realized to what you were referring. The moniker fits.

    Everything was wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

    Jeannie @ GetMeToTheCountry.Blogspot.com

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    1. Petunia is a new addition to our family. We got him this spring. He was madly in love with a petunia plant we had in his enclosure. Between the heat and his eating it, the poor plant is no longer with us, but it became his name.

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  6. There are some plants that grow favorably in both our climes as they are not much different, although yours is colder than ours. You have 4 seasons while we only have 2, dry and wet. But your rainlilies are growing well here too, i hope i can get some colors too in the next few years.

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  7. Your rainlilies are so pretty! I don't think they are hardy in my zone, but I will have to check them out. Your hellstrip is so attractive, and what a great addition, not to mention the advantage of not having to mow this area. I would love to see Petunia some time!

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  8. Love all your day lilies and hibiscus. I can't wait to get milkweed for next summer. I also love your lantana - it's one of my favorites - oh heck, I love 'em all! :)

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