Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for July 2014.
Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana I am happy, happy, happy with how my garden looks in mid-summer this year.
As I look around at all the blooms, I think back to just two years ago when we were in the midst of one of the hottest and driest summers we’ve ever experienced. In 2012, by mid July we were dry and hot and there weren’t many blooms to show.
I really do like it better when we get rain and it isn’t so hot!
The only heat I want in my garden now are from hot colors like this pink phlox. It’s a passalong plant that I’ve brought with me to each of the three gardens I’ve planted.
Across the way, another phlox, ‘David’ is starting to bloom as white as the passalong phlox is pink.
It’s one of the first flowers to bloom in the border I call August Dreams.
Would you like to see some of my daylilies, growing in Plopper’s Field and elsewhere in the garden?
I live near a daylily and hosta nursery so I have easy, too easy, access to a wide variety of daylilies. Early on, I had a talk with myself and decided I really needed to figure out what I like my daylilies to look like, and stick to just those, or I would end up with way too many. (As if it is possible to have too many of something in the garden.)
From the pictures,you can see, I hope, that I like spider or unusual forms, green centers, and old varieties like ‘Hyperion’ which is the yellow one in the middle of the top row.
If only I could remember the names of the other daylilies, we could play Hemerocallis Squares. ‘Moonlight Orchid’ (bottom row, far left) for the win!
Elsewhere in the garden, the members of the Asteraceae family are also making a good showing.
Clockwise from the upper left, there are dark pink coneflowers (Echinacea sp.) in bloom, along with Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum), false sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) and just plain old regular coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea).
For some reason, I didn’t take a picture of the black-eyed Susan’s (Rudbeckia), which are also in the Asteraceae family and also blooming.
And there is more!
Out in the vegetable garden, Alyssum is blooming at the ends of some of the raised beds.
I like how it brings in pollinators, has a nice scent, and adds color to the veg garden.
I also like the lilies now blooming.
This is Lilium lancifolium ‘Flore-Pleno’, a wonderful double tiger lily. It will be blooming for weeks.
I am ready to declare that this has been one of the best summers we’ve had for blooms in the garden. May all our summers be like this one, and may you someday also experience your version of the perfect summer wherever you garden.
But enough about me and my lovely summer. Is it a good summer for you? What’s blooming in your garden as we celebrate mid-summer? We’d love to see your July blooms.
Just post on your blog about the blooms in your garden, then come back here and leave a comment, then add a link to your bloom day post on the Mr. Linky widget below. Just like last month, you should also be able to choose a picture from your post to include with your link. (If you have any troubles with the linking, just shoot me an email and I will happily help you out.)
“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence
Thanks for hosting the GBBD again, and I loved your many hemerocallis, wish I lived near a hemerocallis nursery! On second thought, perhaps it’s just as well I don’t live close to a hemerocallis nursery, there is really possible to have too many of something in a garden! I have 16 hemerocallis varieties so far, and I think I can find space for a good few more 🙂
Thank you for hosting Bloom Day! Your many varieties of Hemerocallis and Echinecea are wonderful and I enjoyed how you presented them in a collage of color…just lovely! Your gardens are looking wonderful!
So much color in your garden! And the foliage is so green and fresh. Just beautiful!
Hi there Carol – loved the hemerocallis, but glad I don't live near a specialist nursery! Enjoy the perfect summer!
That tiger lily is a real beauty Carol. I think if I lived anywhere near any nursery it would be next step bankruptcy. I am a total plant addict. I have recounted in my post the story of trying to get to one just this last weekend, it's probably for the best this way.
I'm glad summer has come up trumps for you after your dreadful winter. Enjoy!
Thanks for throwing such a beautiful party every month, Carol! Your daylilies are gorgeous and I love how tough they are! Happy GBBD!
I agree with you about the weather so far this summer, Carol; on the whole, it's been really nice here in southeastern PA too. It looks like we're just about caught up to you bloom-wise: maybe just a week or 10 days behind you now. I love how you presented to galleries of your daylilies and daisies. Happy Bloom Day!
Thank you for hosting Bloom Day, it is new for me. Your garden is so beautiful. Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day! Greetings from Indonesia.
Glad to hear you're having a good summer this year. Your garden is certainly loving it!
I just saw your tag line…why I missed it I never will know. Love the daylilies…I have some but you can't see them for all the weeds
I had a similar conversation with myself about daylilies, only my outcome was different. If I only had the ones I like, they would all look the same, so I have made an effort to create some diversity. The simple fact is that I just need a bigger garden. Happy GBBD to you, and thank you for hosting.
Carol I have the same issue with daylilies…too many and all different but i do love them. My blooming times are off this year so I have lavender and roses blooming with early lilies…I hope you enjoy them.
I love that you plant flowers at the end of your beds. I plant borage, nasturtiums and marigolds to bring in pollinators and keep out critters.
It has been an exceptional summer so far… thanks for hosting GBBD!
Thanks for hosting again. The garden is looking good. Like you I keep getting tempted by day lilies but it's the same old problem of too many varieties, too little space.
I agree about the weather; it's been perfect in southern Wisconsin as well. I've been considering add that double lily and now that I've seen it growing in a garden rather than a catalog, I am going to order it. Thanks as always for hosting such a fun meme.
Thank you for hosting GBBD, your flowers are gorgeous. Love the coneflowers and daisies.
Thanks for hosting bloom day.
I'm glad the weather has been kind to your garden. You have some wonderful blooms. We once went to a garden of a daylily collector. It was not the kind of garden I would ever have wanted so you are wise to be selective. Happy Bloom day. Not sure if my link pposted but I did try.
Everything looks so pretty! I especially love the pink phlox, and am busily working on getting more phlox into my garden. Thanks for hosting!
Love everything in your garden, Carol. My phlox, 'David" is blooming, also. Last year the pink appeared next to it. Nice surprise!
Thanks for hosting once again. I have tried and tried so many times to leave a link but no success so far unfortunately!
I can see why you would declare this a "best summer" for blooming–wow! I love that tiger lily–alas, something I can't grow in Texas. The phlox are lovely as are all the other daylilies. Thanks for the show!
Lilies, Daylilies, Daisy forms — you have an abundance. Thank you for this wonderful meme. I took a new tack — a single cultivar this time.
Thanks again for providing the motivation to get out and document my garden and look around the blogosphere at all the pretty flowers!
Your garden is indeed looking terrific! I envy you the rain you've had – I can only hope our drought will pass next year, allowing my own garden to shine as yours has. Thanks for hosting GBBD, Carol!
Carol, Thank you for hosting GBBD. I always look forward to seeing what's in bloom. Your garden is looking very lovely. So green and healthy! We are continuing under drought conditions but trying to conserve water and make the best of it!
Thanks for hosting again, Carol. I love the double tiger lily. I'm hoping to get some next season – tiger babies I think. The garden looks wonderful as always!
Thank you! My family's Michigan garden is definitely benefiting from the same wetter weather!
Those clumps of phlox are looking good – and your hemerocallis certainly have that wow factor! Thanks for hosting
This has been the most comfortable July 15th I can remember. Cool, the garden was watered by nature yesterday. AAAhhhhh and all the blooms of course. Your daylily collection is gorgeous. Happy GBBD.
Glad your garden is having such a wonderful summer! The phlox has amazing color, and I love the elegant double tiger lily.
Rain – no wonder we gardeners are so pleased when it arrives (usually). Looking lovely, Carol.
Thanks so much for hosting! I tried to link but I'm not sure it worked? I'll check back later!
I'm having a heck of a time to get the Mister Linky widget to load my link – keep getting error after error – hadnot had this issue in previous months, and am hoping I'm not loaded up 50 times now!
In any case, summer is here and the blooms are bursting! Thank you for hosting this, Carol, and to all for sharing their flowers.
Hey Carol, glad to hear Indiana is having a grand summer. It's not bad here either. Happy Bloom Day!~~Dee
Thanks for hosting! I very much agree with your daylily choices. 🙂
Beautiful flowers! Thanks for hosting.
Lovely that you are having good weather so that you can enjoy your beautiful garden. It all looks wonderful. Thank you for hosting this great meme. It is clearly very popular.
Beautiful, as always. I loved your blocks of flower pictures. I wish I knew how to do that! I've never grown tall phlox; I suspect I would have mildew problems with it. But I love them so much!
Lovely collection of day lilies. Thanks for hosting bloggers bloom day. 🙂
Love your collection of hemerocallis. So beautiful!
I love your daylilies! We have similar taste, it seems, gravitating towards the spiders and unusual forms.
I am so glad to hear you're having wonderful blooms this summer. Goodness knows you deserve it after your loooong hard winter. Thank you so much for hosting Bloom Day, Carol!
I mostly have photos of my daylilies, and also some vegetables, this month. Your daylilies look a lot like some of mine, I'm still waiting on Phlox paniculata and Echinaceas to bloom, yours look great!
Wow – your phlox are amazing! I wonder how they would do in Central Texas – zone 8b? I love the hydrangea-look of them. Unfortunately, hydrangeas don't do well in the heat, sun and drought of Central Texas. Maybe the phlox is up for the challenge?
Your garden is looking so lush – love those tiger lilies! I wish I lived close to a daylily nursery! I want some pink ones for my front yard, but I'm having a tough time finding some I love. You have some gorgeous ones!
I just love phlox and daylily time! thanks for hosting this great Bloom Day!
Happy Bloom Day! I think my favorite daylily is the yellow one with the green throat. I hear there is a green one out there somewhere too. Your neighborhood specialty nursery wouldn't have it, by chance? So cool… http://flutterandhum.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/bloom-day-july-2014/
Thanks for hosting GBBD! I'm so glad you're having a wonderful summer after such a hard winter.
Thanks so much for allowing us to share our garden blog pages on yours. It's wonderful to view other pages, get ideas, and share.
Loved all your daylilies, and I have quite a few myself, and like you said I think you have to be selective on your varieties of them because there are so many out there.
Love that double tiger lily! It has indeed been a wonderful summer for the garden. My husband was in charge of watering while I was in Portland, and he did an excellent job–thanks to more than 5 inches of rain:)
I haven't had time yet to take many photos at home, but didn't want to miss out on Bloom Day, so I'm featuring just one plant, the star of my garden in July.
So many beautiful blooms! Hope you enjoy mine from my time at the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland. Happy Gardening all ya'll.
Hi Carol, I'm all for a wet July too. So refreshing in every sense of the word. We've had rainfall every week and it makes such a difference to the garden. We've added more daylilies this year as well. It's hard not to like a plant that is so persistent about flowering.
Thanks for all the Blooms, love the Tiger Lilies. And so much more… but those I have been growing the single form for years from the bulbils, amazing propagation strategy they have.
Oooh, that daylily, middle of the second row. Good to hear summer is treating you right.
Oh, I love your coneflowers! Happy bloom day!
I have my first tiger lily this year 🙂 I love your double.
Thanks for hosting!!
Your day lillies look wonderful. I love those flowers.
Thanks for hosting. I don't think my site added correctly this time? http://myaberdeengarden.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-july/
Your day lillies look wonderful. I love those flowers.
Thanks for hosting. I don't think my site added correctly this time? http://myaberdeengarden.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-july/
It's been a great summer for blooms here, too. We've had a few hot and muggy days, but not endless strings of them.
I'm pleased with my mid-July garden, too. Happy Bloom Day!
Your garden is more lovely than ever with your day lilies and phlox. Thanks for hosting. Sorry I couldn't get Mr. Linky to accept my thumbnail. P. x
Wow – Carol! What a hunk of Hemerocallis! It's amazing how many forms and colors you have in your garden. Great photos, and as always, great post. Thanks for hosting.
Your blooms are looking beautiful. I always look to your garden to see what will be happening in about a month in mine. In my Maine garden, the daylilies are just beginning to bloom, and the phlox have not yet begun to make flowers. We are having a classic "Goldilocks" summer — not too hot, not too cold, not too wet, not too dry; just right! -Jean
I'm enjoying (still) all the GBBD postings. This is my 2nd month and I did not realize we linked in every month. Better late than never!
Yes, yes, it is the perfect summer! The amazing part to me is that having sufficient rain is even improving the blooms of flowers that don't even need much rain. What is this all about? Could it be that all flowers need rain? I think my new theory has already been proven, at least here in Robin's Nest.