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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

August Blogger Bloom Day

One of the good things about blogger bloom day is that it is helping me to remember the common names of my plants and I'm also trying to learn the botanical names as well. I am terrible with names, and were it not for this blog I'd probably be content just to stick the plant in the ground and enjoy the flowers without much concern for the name.


The zinnias are the star of the show right now. I was late planting the seeds due to the weather and they are just now beginning to bloom. I planted several varieties and don't remember what I planted where and I wish I did because some of them are doing well and some were a complete flop.

A few of my grasses are beginning to bloom, this is the fountain grass that I enjoyed so much last winter.
The purple cone flower is still blooming but I think it's just about done. I don't dead head these since the finches eat the seeds.

The Swizzle Zinnia is still going strong and is definitely a winner.

I planted lavender this year and it's just now beginning to bloom.

This petunia was growing in the Liriope at the mailbox. The purple wave petunias are struggling with the heat and with my sporadic watering, but they are still blooming. The purple lily turf blooms are an added bonus since I'd forgotten that they bloom.
Every once in a while I still get a lone clematis bloom.
This flower was a surprise for me today, I almost missed it because it was nearly hidden by larger plants. It is a delicate lovely flower and I'm not sure what it is. I think it might be one of the miniature hollyhocks that I grew from seed this past winter. They didn't do well and I vaguely remember sticking the remains in the front flower bed.


The miniature roses are still blooming, but they are being eaten by the Japanese beetles.

In the front bed the impatiens are blooming as are the coleus. Until the heat set in, I had been pinching off the blooms of the coleus so they would become more full, but they are all blooming now.
Here is the list of my blooms:
Moonflower Giant White Calonyction
Mums
Coleus
Purple Wave Petunia
Miniature Hollyhock (?)
Dianthus
Impatiens
Spirea
Zinnia
Coreopsis
New Guinea Impatiens
Hosta
Purple Cone Flower
Salvia 'Purple Rain' and Red
East Freeland Sage
Superbells
Portulaca
Verbena (pink and purple)
Lantana (four assorted varieties)
African Daisy
Roses
Balloon Flower (White)
Gerbera Daisies
Russian Sage
Veronica Speedwell
Anise Hyssop 'Golden Jubilee'
Purple Fountain Grass





14 comments:

  1. Robin... August in Indiana, don't you just love it. It can be a struggle to keep flowers going through August some years (like this one), but you still have a lot of pretty flowers going strong. The zinnias especially look like they are having a good month.

    Thanks for participating in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again.

    Carol at May Dreams Gardens

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  2. Robin: Your border garden is a delight! Love the closeup of that zinnia with the 'stars' in the center. Beautiful blooms!

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  3. Your front bed is very pretty. I've given up on having coleus here. I started my zinnias late too and they are just starting to put on their show. I saved seeds from last year and tried some new varieties this year. I see you have mums blooming too. What's up with that?

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  4. You've got a long list going, Robin - quite a feat in a year with such dry weather. Like Layanee I just love the zinnia with the star - blow up the photo and you've got a gardening poster!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  5. Wish we had some of your dry weather! We are absolutely soaked here in Ireland! Feels like walking on a huge wet squishy sponge in my garden.
    Loving those zinnias, and the impatiens and coleus bed is wonderfully colorful!

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  6. Robin, your flowers are beautiful! I'm with you...until I started my blog I wasn't very good at remembering the botanical names and also where I planted what. Now I have trouble identifying some of my plants. My goal is to keep better track, and blogging sure helps that.

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  7. Hi, Robin

    Great post and fantastic photos! For a change I have posted a video from my Scottish garden – no plant names this time just some music. I’ve linked to your post this time I love the colours in your garden. I liked your coleus too it is grown as a house plant as well over here.

    Happy Gardening!

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  8. Very pretty! I love zinnias too. And coleus. And I never deadhead the echinaceas either, i love to watch the goldfinches hanging on them and enjoying breakfast. So they make this "I am rather dead" statement int he middle of my front garden.

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  9. Annie is right--that top zinnia photo is a real crowd-pleaser. I'm glad you included the bloom of your ornamental grass too. Those definitely count!

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  10. The photos of your zinnias are absolutely delightful. For someone who was struggling to find something to post you've certainly illustrated some fantastic blooms.

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  11. Dear Robin, your garden border with Petunias interspersed between Coleus looks very pretty. The closeup photo of Zinia with stars in the centre is simply fabulous!!
    Best wishes!

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  12. Robin - I love your photos, they're so vibrant. And Zinnias are officially going on my list of annuals that don't suck, along with Cosmos. It's a short list so far. ;)

    Oh and the flower you almost missed? It looks tiny bloom that came from the bareroot mini hollyhocks I planted in May. But your photo is 10 times better than mine. Sigh.

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  13. Hi Robin,

    Thanks for sharing your beautiful garden with us. Your photos are outstanding. I'm a big fan of zinnias myself and used to grow them from seed.

    I see you like coleus as much as I do.

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  14. Carol, August in Indiana still beats August in Alabama, especially this year.

    Thank you, Layanee.

    Apple, I'm not sure if my mums are supposed to bloom now or if they are early. I just planted them last fall. I haven't pinched them back at all so that is probably why they are in full bloom now.

    I've never blown up a picture for a poster before Annie, thanks for the idea.

    Salix tree, I wish we could swap some of our dry heat for your rain. We did get a little bit today thankfully.

    Bev, I'm trying to keep better track too. I do O.K. until I plant too many new things at once.

    Thank you, Shirl, for the compliment and for the link. I was touched and honored that you would do that. I updated my blog links today and added you to my list too.

    Healingmagichands, my coneflowers are looking pretty awful too, but the beautiful gold finches are so worth it.

    Pam, thank you. I love zinnias and they are fun to photograph.

    Stuart, thank you. It's been so dry I was wondering if anything would live through August.

    Greenthumb, thank you for the kind compliments and best wishes to you too.

    Karkki, thank you for helping me to identify my little pink flower. I thought that is what it was but wasn't sure. I love zinnias and cosmos they are easy to grow and usually do well for me.

    Carolyn Gail, I grew so many coleus from seed this past winter, I think every seed thrived. I didn't want coleus in that bed originally, I only wanted impatiens, but that was the best place for them and they've done well through the heat. I left a comment on your blog last night but it wasn't there when I checked this morning. Hopefully you got it.

    Thank you all for your kind comments and for taking the time to respond to my blog. I always appreciate the encouraging feedback.

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