This month's Bloom Day sees the garden and the gardener very tired. Watering has been a non-stop task for the gardens and it is getting old. About mid July had me watering mainly hydrangeas and newly planted shrubs, now I have had to resort to watering so much more due to the fact we haven't had any significant rainfall in my garden for about one month. That is a pretty long time to go without water even for well adapted native shrubs and I am frustrated to see so many wilted plants. Now that I've gotten my complaints out of the way let's look at a few blooms that are relatively hardy. The first is the surprise lilies. They have definitely been a surprise to me because they are popping up in areas I had no idea they were planted in; whereas the area where I had big stand of them last year is a no show this year. Geez, surprise! These bulbs are drought tolerant and shine no matter the heat. Site them where they can be seen and not disturbed.
Next up are a few blooms from the Sunny Perennial Border. The giant coneflowerRudebeckia maxima) is reblooming and putting on another show. Wonderful! The 'Fireball' hibiscus is still showing plenty of color. This particular hibiscus has been a real trooper in my garden. You can also just see the sneezeweed (aka Helenium autumnale) just beginning to bloom. There is also a lot of verbena (Verbena bonariensis) in this photo. The verbena has self sown just about everywhere and that is fine with me. It is a very nice and airy plant with lots of color that attracts butterflies AND it is drought tolerant. That is a mighty big bonus to me.
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Night blooming jimsonweed is another drought tolerant plant. My good friend Geri gave me a few starts of this self seeder and I've been smitten ever since. This plant is fragrant, night blooming, and no maintenance. The downfall is that it is an annual and the seedlings are apt to turn up just about anywhere but around the mother plant. The good thing is that it does not self seed overmuch and the seedlings are easily transplanted. This jimsonweed is closely related to brugmansias (Angel Trumpets).
Here we have some ligularia. It's taken me a few years to get conditions right for the ligularia but now that they are this has been a reliable bloomer despite its need for plentiful water. The conditions are full shade and under the downspout! Conditions stay shady here and the plant gets what little moisture is available if it rains.
Lastly we have nicotiana, aka Flowering tobacco. This is a progeny of seeds I started in 2004. The plant itself is a tender perennial but self seeds handily in my garden. My vegetable garden and the surrounding beds have a bunch of seedlings that I let go. I love this plant. This plant rarely shows drought stress despite its very full leaves but occasionally might need a drink (it has been more than a month since we've had measurable rainfall in my garden). Its charms are that it is fragrant at night and produces a million seeds (so I can share) and requires no care.
Other bloomers here in Tiger Gardens are: paniculata hydrangeas, some mopheads are reblooming, lantana, impatiens, Rocky Mountain penstemon, zinnias, phlox, agastache, sedum, melampodium, veronica, Rose of Sharon, buddleia, hostas, cleome, coneflowers, patrina, rudbeckia, bouncing bets, crepe myrtles and that's about all I can think of....
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,
In the Garden
