Posted on by Donna

Summer Blooms Heat Up

“Nothing is more memorable than a smell.  One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains…” ~Diane Ackerman

 

These lazy days in the summer heat allowed me time to put together some collections of blooms for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day.  As we garden bloggers join in from around the world, I am linking in with Carol@May Dreams Gardens and Gesine@Seepferds Garden.  I am surprised that flowers continue to bloom even with only .5 inches of rain for the past month.  I only water the veggie garden, new trees, bushes and a few containers.  But as the lack of rain continues, I am starting to see the stress in the garden.

 

 

First let’s look at the Glad To See You Blooms….

 

This oak leaf hydrangea is the only hydrangea that has bloomed in my garden.  I should say that all the oak leaf hydrangeas bloomed beautifully.  They appeared to love the cold freezing April that even Endless Summer could not abide.  I am thankful to see these beauties.

 

 

I swear my plants listen to me.  Only when properly threatened and know I mean business, then they finally perform.  This weird spring was perfect for all my climbing roses and the fairy roses, but not my tried and true knockouts.  I expect with some pruning and fertilizing they will bounce back in the fall as they had limited blooms this spring.  The top left is a rose I ripped out 2 years ago.  Apparently I only thought I got rid of it because it grew a bit last year and took over the pergola this spring.  It is called “Night Owl”.  The one in the center is another one that has been a non-performer with a bloom or two the last few years.  Now look at it.  I need to find the name of this rose because it is a gorgeous.  Good thing I have lots of receipts from years ago.  Right now the Japanese beetles have been out of control and just decimating the roses as well as many other plants.  We finally resorted to traps which have worked.  There are new ones now that do not contain any chemicals.  Thanks to Tina@In The Garden for turning me on to these.  Her post was wonderful with lots of good ideas to naturally deter these beasts.

 

 

In March, the clematis started to grow.  I quickly cut them back and watched them grow at least 2 feet in the warm March weather.  Then cold April arrived and they stopped dead.  When the weather finally warmed again in May, some were slow to grow and did not get tall before they started to bloom.  And oh how they bloomed well into late June with some just finishing.  I have never seen these vines so covered to the point you couldn’t see the leaves.  Starting clockwise top left is Belle of Woking then’Nelly Moser’ (I think), but maybe ‘Dr. Ruppel’.  Not sure about the name of the blue bell-shaped clematis.  The red one top right and bottom left is one of my favorites, ‘Avant Garde’.  Bottom left is supposed to be , ‘Roguchi’, but it seems too lilac in color.  Below the mailbox is ‘Crystal Fountain’ a real stand out.  The purple one that is around the mailbox with a close up to the right is supposed to be ‘Tie Dye’.  Seems more like ‘Jumanji’ which is the purple clematis top right growing through the red twig dogwood bush (middle right).

 

 

Alliums were a ‘came and went’ plant with the crazy weather.  But I love looking forward to the later blooming drumstick allium, or Allium sphaerocephalum.  It is blooming right alongside my cultivar heliopsis pictured at the top of the post, Heliopsis helianthoides ‘Summer Nights’.

 

 

Now on to, Blooming Now In Abundance.….

 

There are shasta daisies galore blooming throughout the garden, if I can keep the Japanese beetles away.  I love so many of the varieties and thought I would show you a few.  I am going by memory but I believe the top left is ‘Alaska’.  Top right and center is a common variety.  Next is  ‘Becky’ followed by the interesting ‘Crazy Daisy’ which looks like shredded coconut.  I love ‘Fluffy’ bottom left.  Lastly is a double variety.

 

 

This year the echinacea cultivars have been superb especially the orange/red ones.  Again we will see how good my memory is here.  Starting top left is ‘Hot Papaya’ and ‘Summer Sky’.  Not sure of the pink one, but may be echinacea purpurea.  Top right  and second from bottom left is one of my favorites, ‘Sundown’.  The white echinacea are just starting.  This one is ‘Kim’s Mophead’.  Not sure of the unusual pink one, but the orange one bottom right is another favorite and stunner once it opens, ‘Flame Thrower’.  Bottom left is ‘Tomato Soup’.  The double pink one which is actually, ‘Pink Poodle’ which when fully opened looks like a dahlia.  Lastly in the center is , ‘Ruby Giant’.  I have lost track of many of the pink ones because they have seeded themselves all over.  The echinacea have just begun this month and will continue for another month now that we have controlled the Japanese beetles.  They were destroying so many.

 

 

 

Native gaillardia seeds itself all over the garden beds where it is planted and blooms from now until later fall.   Love those bright cheery faces.  Hope its blooms continue in this drought.

 

 

Native bee balm is blooming nicely in what are usually the wet areas of the garden that are dry now.  All that spring rain certainly gave this water lover lots of moisture up until a month ago.  They are beginning to fade already.

 

 

As this bloom day comes to a close I leave you with a picture of the next big performer in the garden.  It has been blooming throughout the summer.  Some have opened early and others will be blooming soon.  Still others are only blooming throughout summer for one day.  Of course I am talking about the lilies and daylilies.  I hope to feature these next time.  Of course only those the pesky deer left for me.  This is Asiatic lily,  ‘Eyeliner’ below.

 

“I like not lady-slippers, Not yet the sweet-pea blossoms, Not yet the flaky roses, Red or white as snow; I like the chaliced lilies, The heavy Eastern lilies, The gorgeous tiger-lilies, That in our garden grow.”  ~Thomas Bailey Aldrich

 

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Next up on the blog:  Wednesday I will be highlighting Perfection in the garden with foliage.   Then on Monday it will be time to highlight another native plant in my Simply The Best series.  This time it will be liatris.

I will be linking in with Michelle@Rambling Woods for her Nature Notes meme.  It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Wednesday.

As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.

I hope you will join me for my posts, every other Tuesday, at Beautiful Wildlife Garden.

Please remember, to comment click on the title of the post and the page will reload with the comments section.

All content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.

46 Replies to “Summer Blooms Heat Up”

  1. What a great selection of flowers… *sigh*

    I’m deeply jealous, and yet I know that eventually I will have a flower-filled garden, too. At present, though, it seems I have planted for an early summer show and a late summer show, but very little for the middle of summer. Lesson learned for next year; get plants that blooms in July!

    1. Oh you do have some gorgeous flowers…this year nothing bloomed when it was supposed to it seems…nature had her own idea!

  2. I like your quote about smells evoking memory. Sometimes smells are the most powerful at evoking memories. There’s a lot of beautiful color in your garden. I like the bee balm–such a rich color and interesting petals.
    I hope you get some rain soon. We got rain both Saturday & Sunday and it’s amazing how some things perked up.

    1. No rain yet and it was 101 today…15 days at 90 or above is just too much for us…I love my bee balm as much as the hummingbirds!

  3. Your blooms are looking beautiful despite the lack of rain. My knock out roses never like the summer heat nor the Japanese beetles but they always bounce back to put on a good show for fall. I love all the varieties of cone flowers you have. The photo in the center of the collage has a great twisty steam. Here’s hoping you get some rain soon!

    1. Thx Karin…My Knockouts are actually putting out a few roses which just floors me…very hot and dry here right now.

  5. You’re right Donna, we do have many of the same blooms! I need to replace my Oakleaf. I moved it one too many times. I am still mourning. This time I will be sure to put it in the perfect spot and let it be! Beautiful gardens!

    1. The same thing happened to one of my Oakleafs too…it is sad to lose a beautiful plant. My other hydrangeas are stressed and I may lose them.

  6. Whatever you’re saying to the roses, it’s working! Just beautiful! I have been enamored of the daylilies and lilies this year, too. You have a lot of blooms with it being so dry and for you to not have watered in the past month! I’m impressed!

    1. Thanks Holley…I think my roses know my threats are not empty. Of course I do it with love 🙂 I have some lilies that smell heavenly right now but with the heat they will fade fast.

  7. Your ‘Avante Garde’ is TOO DIE FOR!! I’m very, very jealous! Never mind that I’ve got well over 20 clemmies and no room for even one more. I want Avante Garde. What am I going to do? 🙂

    I love all of your roses and perennials too. Considering how hot and dry it’s been, your garden looks wonderful.

    1. Oh Grace the garden is quickly fading more and more as we get no rain and heat now in triple digits continues…I adore Avant Garde. It is so cool as it blooms and fades and it just grows like a weed right up the rain chain…if I figure out how to make baby plants from it, I could send you one…

  8. Donna, I’m impressed by how many beautiful flowers you have blooming in this hot dry weather. The roses are gorgeous.
    I was disappointed that the new Clematis I added last year didn’t perform this year, but I hadn’t thought about the effect of the weird spring weather. Let’s hope we have a more normal spring next year and that normal weather makes this plant happier.

    1. Many of my clematis took a while to grow in and bloom but definitely the crazy weather didn’t help…I would like a bit more normal weather too.

  9. Wow, what a great show you have this month! I wish I could grow clematis, but I don’t think they do well here. You make me want to venture out and try different cultivars of echinacea. Thanks for the post 4th of July fireworks!

    1. So glad you enjoyed the blooms. Not sure about clematis but I bet it might do fine. There are some lovely echinacea out there in some spectacular colors…especially the orange ones.

  10. The color in your garden is certainly bright and bold and beautiful! The daisies are very striking. It has been such an interesting season. We finally got some rain…oh…does the garden love it.

    1. Michelle I do so want a couple of inches of rain but it is what it is right now. So glad you enjoyed my colorful garden blooms….Happy GBBD!

  11. Spectacular blooms and photos, Donna! Really, that first photo is incredible–it would be a showstopper framed as wall art! Your Roses, and your Clematis, and everything else….they all look great. Enjoy!

    1. Wow Beth how nice of you to say so…you know when you see something in the garden and you just want to capture its beauty…that was the first picture. Wishing lots of good rain for both of us soon.

  12. Wow! So many lovelies! Such a good variety too! Thanks for the link-very nice of you. I’m glad the trap is working for you it worked great in my garden. It is neat to see oakleafs blooming with coneflowers. That never happens down here. Your clematis have to be my faves though!

    1. My pleasure to give you a link back…the traps are outstanding and worked so quickly…I think I love my coneflowers the best right now…clematis made their show a couple of weeks ago.

    1. I think the longer we have gone without rain the more the garden is suffering so August will be an interesting GBBD. I am surprised at the coneflowers too. They adore this hot, dry weather and are just seeding merrily. Many of the blooms in this post are fading or have faded except the coneflowers unless those darn Japanese beetles get to them again.

  14. You have a beautiful garden and I had to laugh about your plants performing when they know you mean business. I’ve had those conversations with plants too.

  15. Wow, gorgeous flowers and images. I could not pick a favorite I loved them all. You must have a beautiful garden. Thanks for sharing.

  16. wow..I could only hope to have so much color and cheer..I didn’t know that coneflower came in that many colors, I will have to try some. I loved all the collages and I know..I am very concerned about the lack of rain..the pond is low and I haven’t lived her long enough to know the consequences of that… Love the info on the japanese beetles..good for me to know…Michelle

    1. Michelle the cultivars of echinacea are lovely but some of the pollinators do not like them….birds eat the seeds, monarchs and other butterflies as well as hummers will drink the nectar of some… But I think the closer they are to the pink or white then they will partake…other wise they do not always benefit wildlife. So they are very pretty and the cultivars thrive on dry conditions.

  17. That is an amazing array of blooms!!! You have so many different kinds of Echinacea…more than most nurseries I’ve been to! I adore the little Drumstick Allium…love that it’s so much later than the others…and is so reliable.

    1. Thanks Scott for dropping by..so glad you enjoyed the blooms especially my obsession with echinaceas of all kinds.

  18. Gorgeous blooms this month! It seems the heat hasn’t affected the flowers yet. Thise clematis and your echinacea are just fabulous. Lovely photos too!

    1. Seems I caught my blooms before the drought did…they are struggling but I am still hopeful…glad you liked them Cathy.

  19. Such beautiful blooms. I love your variety. The different echinaceas are stunning. I would like to have more colors than I do. I also love your clematises. I do have an ever growing variety. Hoing that you have a good weekend.

    Yael from Home Garden Diggers

    1. Thank you so much for your visit…I do love my echinacea especially some of the newer colors. They really pop in the summer. I think my clematis would bloom even more often if we had a bit more water.

  20. Love how you separated these. What beautiful blooms. I’m always happy to see ‘glad you actually lived’, and love ‘look at cha go’ plants!

    1. Carla those are even better categories…I have so many of both categories but right now it is, ‘wow you are blooming in this drought…you go girl!’

    1. Autumn Belle they really are so beautiful…the foliage is just as stunning when it emerges in spring and when it turns a gorgeous red in fall. Glad you enjoyed it!

  22. Your garden is a blast of lots of wonderful colors!! Seems like the Japanese beetle traps worked for you…or are working for you. For some reason the J. beetles have been light this year in our area. Am counting my blessings on that. have had enough other chewing munching insects without them!

    1. They did indeed but now the drought is claiming the blooms except for the daylilies which are hanging on. I do hope we have a good rain soon.

  23. Love all of your photos here Donna and thank you of for providing the names. I love to see how they are blooming in your garden vs. catalogs, etc… I am interested in ‘Crystal Fountain’ clematis, ‘Fluffy’ daisy and ‘Tomato Soup’ echinacea. I must say your ‘Pink Poodle’ is amazing compared to mine. I think I must move it…

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