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| Unknown species of Rudbeckia |
Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for August 2013.
Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, I am astounded by the difference between this year’s blooms and last year’s blooms.
Last year, we had no rain all summer. This year, we’ve had rain mostly when we’ve needed it and as a result, there is far more blooming now than compared to last year.
I will take this year, hands down, over last year.
Let’s start in the flower border I call August Dreams Gardens. It is planted with prairie type plants that will mostly bloom in August or later.
At one end, I planted some tall black-eyed Susan type flowers, pictured above. I am becoming quite lax of late in regards to plant labels and tags and so I no longer knew which species this is. But it is four to five feet tall.
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| August Dreams Garden Border |
At the other end of this garden border, another variety of black-eyed susans, (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’? ) are in full bloom along with Joe-Pie weed, Eupatorium ‘Little Joe’. What you cannot see in the picture is that Boltonia asteroides ‘Snowbank’ is showing its first tiny blooms and the rare goldenrod, Solidago shortii, is not far behind.
Across the path from August Dreams Garden, I have a clematis climbing up and throw a bayberry shrub, making it appear that the bayberry is blooming.
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| Unknown clematis blooming in bayberry |
I do like the pure white flowers of this clematis, but sadly, I do not remember which cultivar this is. Um… one of the white ones.
Across the way, a dwarf butterfly bush is blooming and attracting butterflies.
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| Butterfly on a butterfly bush |
This is not the ‘Lo & Behold Blue Chip’ butterfly bush. I have loads of them blooming in the front garden. This is a different variety that gets a little larger than those. Which variety? See above how lax I’m becoming about variety names.
A volunteer Verbena bonariensis nearby is attracting bees to the garden.
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| Bees are an affirmation of a garden’s health. |
I’d like to thank both the bee and the butterfly for not flying away while I took their pictures.
Another bloom that is attracting many pollinators to the garden is calamint, Calamintha nepeta supsp. nepeta.
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| A mostly well-behaved member of the mint family |
This plant is fairly well behaved for a member of the mint family. It grows along the edge of the border called Ploppers’ Field. I like to mow right up next to it so I can smell its minty goodness when I walk by.
There are other blooms in the garden in mid-August. Many of them including coneflowers, shasta daisies, the Knock-out roses, and hydrangeas are carry overs from July. Others, include the old-fashioned hosta that I call August Lilies are just beginning to bloom.
All of them are a delight to me, and make me love my garden this year, especially.
What’s blooming in your garden in mid-August? I’d love to see and read about whatever it is that brightens your garden on the 15th of every month.
Please join in with your own Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day post. Just post on your blog about what is blooming this month in your garden and then come back here and leave a link to your blog post in the Mr. Linky widget below along with a brief comment to entice us to virtually visit your garden.
The rules for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day are simple… no rules! You can include pictures, lists, no lists, common names, botanical names, whatever you’d like to do to showcase your blooms. You can post early, you can post late. We are grateful for whatever you share with us. Thank you, and all are welcome!
Now, say it together with me…
“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence
Your garden is looking beautiful. That is exciting that you got a picture of the butterfly on the butterfly bush. I love my butterfly bushes but I rarely see any butterflies on them :)Thanks for hosting 🙂
I love your prairie type plants! I would like to have a prairie field in my garden too, but my tiny London garden is not exacty suited to that! Instead I have a few of these plants dotted around.
Thanks for hosting the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again!
Pretty blooms and I love how the bee and butterfly posed for your pictures! Happy GBBD and thanks again for hosting!
I think the tables have been turned , you are having rain and I am just getting a wee bit. Your Rudbeckia are lovely. Looks like they might grow in my part of the world. Happy Blooms day!
I do like the Rudbeckia. Yellow colored flowers suit summer! Your prairie type plants area looks gorgeous!! Love those natural taste garden:) My clematises are flowering, too. Thank you for hosting!
Lovely shots of your garden, it's looking great in late summer.
Thanks for hosting the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again!
Xavi in Barcelona
I think half the time I spend compiling my Bloom Day post is expended looking up the plant names I can't remeber. Maybe when I cement a few more names in my brain, I'll loosen up a little too. Thanks, as always, for hosting Bloom Day – it adds wonderful discipline to my gardening efforts.
Lovely butterfly. Don't think it's one we have here in the UK, but my lepidoptery leaves a bit to be desired! Your white clematis is beautiful – they always work so well when twined in another plant. Thank you for hosting and happy GBBD!
Love your butterfly pics. Think I have the same unknown Rudbeckia as you
Is that the really tall Rudbeckia – R. maxima?
Happy Blooms Day everyone 🙂
Hello!
Thanks for hosting the GBBD again.
Your August garden is really fantastic! And I love the sculpture next to the Rudebeckia. Who made it?
In Austria we had nearly no rain for the last three weeks, it was the hottest summer for 130 years! Therefore I don´t have that much flowers in comparison to last year. But enough to join the GBBD 🙂
Best wishes
Elis
Your August border is stunning Carol. I love the clematis growing through the bayberry too.
Last year I started saving the labels with a view to creating a database. This year I have a huge heap of dirty labels on the study floor. No database. And the new challenge of matching up label to plant, should I ever get round to putting them all back..
Carol the August Dreams garden is perfect and what a delight in the August sun….and all those butterflies and bees…my butterflies have been few this year but the garden keeps blooming on. Thanks for hosting and Happy Bloom Day.
Carol, August Dreams Border is well named, very dreamy and romantic. Glad to see bees, since we hear of the decrease in their numbers. Thanks for the hosting.
We have been enjoying a nice summer as well, with the rain we need, not too much, not too little. I hope your good weather continues and happy Bloom Day to you.
This morning, it's only 47 degrees here in upstate NY. Brrr!I'm happy your drought is over. You have such a beautiful garden! I love black eyed susans and Joe Pye weed – I just don't have any. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only gardener who forgets what she has planted. Happy GBBD and thank you once again for hosting this. Ramblin' with AM
Thanks for hosting.
I'm so glad someone else loses their labels, some names stick but others are lost for ever! Love your butterfly, so pretty, the garden comes to life when they arrive. So glad you have had enough rain, we are suffering a bit but it rained yesterday, which has made the garden look happier.
How nice of the bee and butterfly to cooperate for a photo! I've seen one or two swallowtails fluttering about, but that is all. The lack of butterflies is about the only thing negative I can say about this August; I agree, definitely much better than last year. Your August Dreams garden is looking beautiful!
Your August garden border is dreamy, Carol. I'm terrible with cultivar names, too! My garden is not looking too bad for August in Texas. Happy GBBD!
Glad to hear you have had ample rain this summer, May! Your garden looks lovely and has many interesting plants that I have read about but never grown. Thx for hosting GBBD!
Glad to hear you have had ample rain this summer, May! Your garden looks lovely and has many interesting plants that I have read about but never grown. Thx for hosting GBBD!
Beautiful! I have Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Moonbeam coreopsis,Butterfly bush,Cannas, and Verbena Bonariensis blooming right now. I have some volunteer Goldenrod just about ready to bloom.
Thanks for hosting!
As always we appreicate the opportunity to have our growing world of Garden Bloggers all in one spot. Thanks you May Dreams for hosting.
Sincerely,
Cydney
I tried to grow Verbena bon. this spring from seed, but it is not flowering yet! I will enjoy yours instead 🙂
Happy GBBD Carol!
~Julie
Loved the walk this morning. You caught a great picture of the butterfly. I finally got one by shear luck walking into a wine tasting over at Niagara on the lake… I've yet to capture one on my own butterfly bushes.
Carol, I'm in agreement that this year is WAY better than last year! It's amazing how good the gardens look for August.
And I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is getting lax about plant labeling. I used to be such a stickler about it and now I have several plants that I can't tell you which cultivar it is anymore because I either forgot to put a label on it in the last couple of years or the ones I have are faded and no longer legible. *sigh*
Don't you just love the abundance of August blooms? I love this time of the year. Your gardens are looking lush and lovely. As always, thanks for hosting Bloom Day.
I commend you on having such willing model bees and butterflies. Lucky one! Our weather is better this year, but . . No rain in July at all which slowed things down. Now it is cold. ish. 50's temperatures at night.
Nice to have enough rain for once! And I've missed doing this for several months, so glad to be back.
Your garden is so full of beautiful blooms! Isn't August grand? Thanks so much for coming up with and hosting GBBD! It's a treat to see everyone's flowers!
Happy GBBD….August is beautiful but my gardens are never prettier than in the fall…I can't wait for the relief from the heat as well.
Your summer garden looks lovely, Carol. Happy Bloom Day!
Hi Carol,
Thank you for sponsoring GBBD! It's really fun to connect with other gardeners.
Your flowers are stunning and your whimsical imagination is magical!
Mr. Linky and I are not exactly friends. We had a bit of a wrestling match. In the end, I was the victor!
Hi Carol, it has indeed been a great summer for flowers with all that rainfall. I too have seen a lot of butterflies, but stop on by MacGardens to see how butterflies are linked to — what else, caterpillars… 🙂
Glad somebodies got the rain because it certainly isn't us out here in Oregon (not that I'm complaining). Can't believe it's August already…
Summer's winding down. So great to see the late bloomers!
Thanks for hosting another Bloom Day. Newly hatched Butterflies are arriving daily, so those who are waiting should be rewarded soon if they're not spraying plants and picking off caterpillars, lol.
Great capture of the Tiger Swallowtail. Your Blooms are terrific.
Hi Carol,
Lovely photo of the August Dreams Border and the Butterfly and Bee! I love Verbena bonariensis as it is such an easy plant to grow in my area. Thank you for sharing your lovely garden with all of us!
Hi Carol,
Lovely photo of the August Dreams Border and the Butterfly and Bee! I love Verbena bonariensis as it is such an easy plant to grow in my area. Thank you for sharing your lovely garden with all of us!
Beautiful blooms, especially the August Dreams border.
Thanks for hosting again this month, Carol!
I feel like my garden is 'August Dreams Gardens' too. This year certainly did turn out to be a great gardening year, weather wise!
Thanks for hosting and for showing us all your lovely blooms. I have recently bought a Eupatorium 'Little Joe' so i was interested to see yours – I am hoping mine can cope with some shade.
I'm giggling at Rusty Duck up there. I have buckets full of dirty labels and lots of good intentions myself! And my memory definitely isn't what it used to be, unfortunately. Who knows what the heck I'm growing out there! Anyway, yay for this year's weather…your garden looks wonderful.
Hmm, I'm going to make a list of the plant names, too, maybe… if the writing on the labels doesn't fade before I start.
Happy GBBD!
It's great that you are having your usual summer rain. Here in the PNW we are in our summer-long dry season as usual so I have to irrigate or grow things that don't need much water, actually a lot of flowers in my photos do get almost no water all summer.
You have lots of lovely things blooming in your August garden!
Your garden is looking great Carol! Love those unknowns – the rudbeckia and clematis.
I've become lax on plant tags lately, too, but I always blamed it on my un-organization! Good to hear you've had rain just when you needed it. Rain is usually too much or too little, nice to have it just right every now and then!
I see you grow verbena b. too. Love the way it just pops up here and there:)~ lynne@Sensible Gardenng
Gorgeous photos! I am utterly enamoured of your border…the drift of rudbeckia is particularly stunning.
Sheryl @ Flowery Prose
I'm glad you got good weather for your garden this summer – the flowers look lovely! We had an unusually rainy July in NC so a number of my perennials are blooming late. That makes for a happy August.
Thank you for hosting!
Bringin up the rear here !
Beautiful gardens Carol and still looking so fresh! Must be that rain!
I love your tall rudbeckia! I'm still waiting for my Rudbeckia triloba to bloom this year – it's almost there. Happy Bloom Day, and thank you for hosting!
I just got my post finished. I started it yesterday, but couldn't get back to it until this evening.
I enjoyed seeing your blooms and critters. I clicked on the August Dreams garden to see it larger. I love your sculpture!
I have had trouble keeping track of plant tags over the years, too. I'm wondering, though, if your Rudbeckia is Sweet Black-eyed Susan. I planted some this year, and think they sure are pretty!
Hi Carol,
Happy GBBD! I'm cat-calling your garden! It looks lovely. As always, so nice to see what you're up to. Thanks for being a source of garden inspiration.
I'm crushing on your verbena. The IGCs always seem to be sold out when I remember I want to plant it 😉
Garden on!
sj
Hi Carol! Thanks for hosting, as always. It's great to get some ideas for what else to plant, since I have a whole flowerbed with nothing blooming right now.
I like your clematis peeking through the shrub. Those are the types of pairings I sigh over in the garden books, but have yet to implement in my garden.
Take care!
After a day of almost midwestern mugginess, we had a few sprinkles this evening. Not enough to really make a difference in our dry summer, but a bit of a novelty, nonetheless. Your garden looks lovely and alive with all the critters! I covet your photo of the swallowtail! So beautiful!
Although I'm in the midwest right now, I can't find any trees in flower locally at the moment. I'm "cheating" by posting shots I took over a week ago back home.
Happy Bloom Day, and thank you for hosting!
http://portlandtreetour.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/bloom-day-august-2013-chitalpa/
Love that prairie garden. And calamint too. August is looking good.
A lovely time of year for flowers, the rudbeckia are great. Fab butterfly photo too.
So much going on in my small kitchen garden! I've just started harvesting summer veggies and the plants are putting out more and more flowers with promise of more produce to come.
Your garden is a 'dream,' Carol. P. x
Thanks for hosting this day! I love coming here and seeing so many beautiful gardens. It inspires me for next year.
Lovely butterfly shot. Thank you again for hosting. Best, Danielle
Isn't this year so much better than last? I just can't say how much. Thanks for hosting bloom day month after month. I'm so glad I got to join the party this month, and that I have something to share.~~Dee
Your August Dreams border is divine!
Carol – Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful garden shots and insights! You've definitely thrown out the welcome mat for pollinators! I wrote about fragrance for human noses, but don't mind sharing my scented flowers with winged visitors.
I'll have to look up the calamint plant. Looks so pretty and I bet would work well mixed with salvias.
Hi Carol,
It's been great for us here in SOuth Caolina too for rain. The flowers this year have been beautiful.
Love your gardens and all the great pictures.
You might be interested in my Bluebird House Give-Away!!
Michael
Bluebird House Give-Away
Beautiful blooms, Carol. Your garden certainly seems to have enjoyed all the rain.
It's hard to beat Rudbeckia in the August garden; my garden is currently featuring the tall Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne.' I'm a bit late getting here this month because we've been having perfect weather for working in the garden — which makes it harder to find time to write about the garden. In Maine, we had a very early spring and summer last year, which means that this year's blooms are considerably behind last year's. In August, this means that there is much more still in bloom. Like you, I'll take this year over last year. Thanks again for hosting this great community event. -Jean
It's hard to beat Rudbeckia in the August garden; my garden is currently featuring the tall Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne.' I'm a bit late getting here this month because we've been having perfect weather for working in the garden — which makes it harder to find time to write about the garden. In Maine, we had a very early spring and summer last year, which means that this year's blooms are considerably behind last year's. In August, this means that there is much more still in bloom. Like you, I'll take this year over last year. Thanks again for hosting this great community event. -Jean
I love your pollinators, and of course your blooms!
Thanks for being such an inspiration and a wonderful resource. I can't thank you enough. I adore you and your blog.
Lovely post! go to my Aug. 11 post to see what's blooming in my Seattle garden.