Sunday, August 14, 2011

Bloom Day Surprises


It's Garden Blogger Bloom Day again and while I am happy to share a few photos of some of this month's more or less new bloomers I wish someone would tell me how it got to be the 15th? Didn't I just flip the calendar page to August?  And if it is indeed mid-August why is everything looking relatively happy? Last things first...the garden is pretty happy right now because, unlike friends Cindy in Texas and Dee in Oklahoma who are suffering through a horrendously hot and dry summer, we are having the mildest summer in decades. I am not complaining...it is just so weird though. I think being gone on vacation through the first week of this month has totally confused my sense of time. I do feel a bit more focused today but the garden is trying to keep me off balance. For instance, while the wisteria always has some continued summer bloom this year it is really putting on a good show. Almost enough to make me think it is June. And then there is this iris...
 it just doesn't say August to me. Yet there it is.

But this hollyhock begins to let me know it is not as early in the summer as it feels. I love this...I just wish I knew where it came from! I have no memory of planting it, from seed or start.


Glossy abelia Edward Goucher blooms enough of the year that it doesn't help me orient myself.


And if it is not August, but June, I would not have already been to Seattle Fling where I heard David Perry speak and I would not have shot this, my first coreopsis, into the light.

Due to the moderate summer we are enjoying there are many blooms this month...pelargoniums, roses, salvias, lavenders, portulaca, wax begonias, rex begonias, allysum, solanum jasminoides, agapanthus, alstroemeria, society garlic, passion flower, scabiosa, and more. And then there is the vegetable garden with tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, summer squash all blooming and producing.
I'll end with this succulent bloom that is just beginning. But if you'd like to see more blooms head over to May Dreams Gardens where Carol or one of the garden fairies will once again have things set up so you can travel the world of blooms by visiting blogs linked there.




10 comments:

Unknown said...

Irises definitely say "June" to me, too! But that one is so pretty, I would take it any time of the year. :) I love that "into the light" coreopsis, too, by the way. Happy GBBD!

BernieH said...

Your garden is certainly enjoying the milder summer conditions. That Wisteria looks fabulous and I love the Abelia flowers.

Fairegarden said...

Wow! It seems crazy for the Wisteria to be in such full bloom, or to see an Iris, although some are known to rebloom, even here. Your David P. shot is breathtaking, as they all are, actually.
Frances

Christine @ the Gardening Blog said...

Oh that Iris makes me long for our Summer. The Wisteria is stunning!
Happy GBBD :)

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I love the Iris! That shade of blue is just incredible. I can see that David Perry's lesson was taken to heart, your photos look awesome.

Gail said...

Leslie, Wisteria stops blooming so quickly here that I didn't realize it could bloom on and off~Yours is beautiful! We had a summer like yours two years ago~Mild sounds delicious right now. Love the iris and the backlit coreopsis. gail

Carol Michel said...

Seems like many of us are having difficulty believing it is mid-August. Thanks for joining in for bloom day again!

Paul From Alabama said...

I'm like your other guests, Irises say May/June to me too but it's nice to have Irises anytime and if it's August, hey that's nice too.....

The Sage Butterfly said...

I also don't know where the time went. It does seem as if August just arrived. I am fascinated by your lovely wisteria. It is so perfect, so beautiful, and so amazing! Happy GBBD!

Kathy said...

I have sometimes seen garden plants tricked into a second spring. Then they bloom with the fall plants and it really does seem weird!