I think I'm in denial about this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Because if it's REALLY July 15th, then it's really less than 3 weeks until my wedding day... and I feel like there's so much to be done between now and then!
But I like to keep the GBBD records each month for my own knowledge, so here's a quickie post to show what's in bloom in my yard:
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| A new celosia. It's too hard to resist a full, lush, 6 inch annual like this, especially when it's on clearance for $2! |
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| One of the dahlias I hope to use in the girls' bouquets... if it's still in bloom in a few weeks! (Note: that's my wrist on the left. Just to give you an idea of how huge this beauty is.) |
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| Not a great photo, but I'm really excited about the first blooms on my passalong plumeria! |
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| Red snapdragons... which are one of the flowers I used on my wedding invitation design. |
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| This lantana has been growing strangely. Instead of branching up and out, it's spreading and staying low--almost as low as the silver dichondra! At least it's blooming... |
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| I believe that when I was bragging about my accidentally overwintered bay laurel this spring, I mentioned being surprised that 'Black and Blue' salvia had disappeared. Well... sort of. Really, it was just hiding under the ever-encroaching oakleaf hydrangea. I cut the hydrangea back a little bit, and B&B has responded accordingly! |
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| THREE emerging bloom stalks this year on my pineapple lily!!! I also have three bridesmaids bouquets to make. Coincidence? Hmm... |
Other things that are in bloom - July 2012
Annuals: 'Bonfire' begonia, 'Vista Burgundy' salvia, unnamed coral/orange portulaca, 2 different red New Guinea impatiens, red begonias, 'Hopi Red Dye' amaranth, ruby orach, red pennisetum, orange snapdragons, verbena bonariensis, stephanotis, 'Black and Blue' salvia gauranitica
(Holy RED, Batman! I didn't realize I had planted so much hot-colored stuff this year!)
Perennials & Shrubs: Blue globe thistle, 'Caradonna' salvia, the deep wine yarrow whose name I can never remember, the red sedums, blue shrub clematis, Russian sage, 'Purple Dragon' lamium, catmint, 'Albury Purple' St John's wort, bronze fennel, 'Grosso' lavender
Herbs and Veggies: All of the tomatoes, 'African Blue' basil, Thai basil, lemon verbena, all of the peppers. Noticeably absent: No flowers yet at all on my tomatillo!
As always... For more of what's in bloom around the world, check out Carol's July Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post over at May Dreams Gardens. :-)
14 comments:
You certainly have a lot going on...in the garden and otherwise! Best wishes for a wonderful wedding and hope that dahlia cooperates!
Hello again Kim :-) Nice, I especially love to see the colour mixes and textures in your plantings. Happy GBBD and a VERY HAPPY WEDDING DAY too :-D
Lovely flowers!
Congratulations and best wishes for your wedding!
Have a wonderful week!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie
I am proud of you for even thinking about bloom day with your wedding impending. Love all the hot colors you have going during this hot hot summer.
You are good! I was a major mess of nerves by that point with the wedding stuff. But I do have to wonder at your choice of wedding dates. Getting married in summer really must cut into your gardening time. ;^)
Seeing your photo of the Celosia made me think that this plant would be a great substitute for Astilbe for those with too much sun with dry soil. You know I love that glow-in-the-dark magenta.
What incredible bridesmaids bouquets you'll be able to make from your garden. Trust that whatever is really important will get done. Warmest congrats to you!
Thanks, Leslie! I hope the dahlia cooperates, too... it (and its friends in the same urn) have quite a few buds, so as long as they don't peak too soon I should be fine. :-)
Shirl and Lea, thank you both so much for the good wishes!!! :-D
Greenbow Lisa, I've never been shy about color, but all of this hot stuff going on in my garden has surprised me a little bit. Maybe this whole wedding thing has affected my brain? ;-)
MMGD, I wish I had thought of that this past fall! (Poor planning on my part... ;-) As far as the celosia goes, I think it could handle the sun but I wonder if the dry soil would be okay? Maybe they're just a little fussier in pots, but this one seems to dry out pretty quickly, and wilts accordingly. I'm actually thinking in putting it in a half day max of sun, just because of the wilting. It would definitely bloom later than the astilbe, at least, though--so you could have the look later in the season!
Denise, thank you! By the way, that's what I keep telling myself: Whatever gets done, gets done... and at the end of the day, we'll be married in spite of whatever doesn't get done! (But... yeah, there are still some days of panic... :-)
Congratulations and happy gardening to you both :)
Splendid blooms. Dahlias are vying for becoming top in my favorite flower list
I'm SO JEALOUS of your Salvia...mine comes back every year...but never really bulks up...I am lucky to get 1 or 2 stems of flowers :-(
Two of my Lantanas are also acting funny - growing into really dense, small bushes, as opposed to up and out. Weird.
But I hope you get everything done you want to for your wedding! So many of these flowers would make wonderful additions to your wedding. Congratulations!
Stratoz, me too. I used to poo-poo them as being too fussy and flashy. But the dark reds and apricots have really won me over... along with some of the just plain cool heirloom varieties. :-)
Thanks so much, Tammy!!!
Uh, oh, Scott... now you have me worried: I've only seen 1 flower stem yet! It is pretty bulky, though, so maybe this heat we're suffering through will encourage it to bloom a little bit better than that? (I hope!)
Renee, EXACTLY! Small and dense is right. They're still givine lots of flowers--just not growing up and out like they usually do, so it doesn't seem quite as showy somehow. Ah well...
Thanks so much for the good wedding wishes, too. I hope that I get everything--well, at least half of all of it?--done, too! :-)
It sounds as if you'll be reaching the finish line while the Olympics are in full swing, Blackswamp Kim - if the right flowers are in bloom you may be going for the gold & silver & bronze in the bouquets.
For sentimental reasons I hope there are some Dahlias still blooming for you- they were the main flower at my daughter's wedding and they look terrific in not only the full color wedding photos but their structure pops in B/W photos, too.
Everything is going to be fine! Now just don't forget to breathe!!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Austin Annie, thank you for the encouragement. :-) Unfortunately, the dahlias did not cooperate--and I was a little sad, because I agree with you that they look amazing in wedding photos. I did sneak in some of my amaranth into the tabletop arrangements, though!
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