Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - August
Mostly wordless Wednesday.
Two begonias, red and white.
The new 'Easy Wave TM' variety of petunia. Everblooming and prolific.
Callibrachoa, million bells*. A South American annual. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it but this turned out to be an outstanding buy. The tiny plant was in a 4x4 pot and has spread into a mass of small trumpet flowers about 1 1/2' x 1 1/2' and still growing. *Thanks to Annie in Austin for the name of this flower.
Salvia splendens*. I should know the name of this one but I don't. It was another exceptional buy. It was in the $1.00 past bloom sale section of annuals at Lowes. We bought a bunch and they are reblooming and growing vigorously. Too bad they are annuals because I like the yellow pink/purple color combination. *Thanks again to Annie for the name of this flower.
The last of the annuals - Ageratum, probably Ageratum houstonianum. Again a $1.00 Lowes sale plant.
The annuals are doing a yeoman's job of shoring up the display of flowers.
But, a few perennials are also blooming too. And some re-blooming.
Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora with many pollinators. See how many pollinators you can find. I count 8.
Lavender Mist Meadow Rue (Thalictrum rochebrunianum).
Three photos of the Anemone tomentosa 'Robustissima'.
And the Penstemon 'Navigator mix' dwarf Pentstemon re-blooming after we deadheaded them in late spring.
Two begonias, red and white.
The new 'Easy Wave TM' variety of petunia. Everblooming and prolific.
Callibrachoa, million bells*. A South American annual. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it but this turned out to be an outstanding buy. The tiny plant was in a 4x4 pot and has spread into a mass of small trumpet flowers about 1 1/2' x 1 1/2' and still growing. *Thanks to Annie in Austin for the name of this flower.
Salvia splendens*. I should know the name of this one but I don't. It was another exceptional buy. It was in the $1.00 past bloom sale section of annuals at Lowes. We bought a bunch and they are reblooming and growing vigorously. Too bad they are annuals because I like the yellow pink/purple color combination. *Thanks again to Annie for the name of this flower.
The last of the annuals - Ageratum, probably Ageratum houstonianum. Again a $1.00 Lowes sale plant.
The annuals are doing a yeoman's job of shoring up the display of flowers.
But, a few perennials are also blooming too. And some re-blooming.
Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora with many pollinators. See how many pollinators you can find. I count 8.
Lavender Mist Meadow Rue (Thalictrum rochebrunianum).
Three photos of the Anemone tomentosa 'Robustissima'.
And the Penstemon 'Navigator mix' dwarf Pentstemon re-blooming after we deadheaded them in late spring.
posted by Ki at
4:00 AM
22 Comments:
Your garden looks so cool and fresh for August. I wish you would identify the flowers. I don't recognize many of them.
Hi MSS, I was being lazy and because I didn't know the names of a couple of the plants, I thought I would lump them in categories of annuals or perennials. ;) Most of the annuals are common ones. I forgot that plants growing in the NE are not necessarily known to people in other climes. I will add the names of the ones I know. I'm sure when I add the names you'll recognize most of them. Thanks for stopping by.
Absolutely breathtaking.
KI, the blue flower is that not Mist Flower?
Seventh one from the bottom?
Thank you Marie. I was lucky that the sunlight lit parts of flowers in some of the photos. I'll have to remember that they look exceptionally nice with the highlighting. Thanks for the comment.
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Hi Deemom,
You're absolutely right I do believe they are sometimes called Mist flower but more commonly Floss flower. I always knew them by the Latin name Ageratum and only found some of the common names now. Thanks for stopping by.
Oh, Ki - not only do you put us to shame with such beautiful dramatic photos - you'll make us nuts!! We want to know the names!
Could the South American trumpets be Callibrachoa? Also known as Millionbells?
The beautiful $1 bargain looks like some kind of salvia or clary sage or something like that.
The annual ageratum looks an awful lot like the perennial mistflowers - found mostly in Eupatorium, but maybe in Ageratina, too.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Hey Annie, I knew I could rely on you for some of the names. The small yellow trumpet flowers are Callibrachoa! I remember reading that on the tag.
I believe you're also right about the $1 bargain plant. It could be a Salvia splendens. The Salvia divinorum Research and
Information Center
I'm pretty sure it is an Ageratum though. See Lewis Gardens As always, thanks for the IDs.
Ki - sorry about being too rushed and unclear - I know you are right about having an Ageratum - that was sort of for your commenter Deemom, because the mistflowers I grew _ Eupatorium coelestinium [in IL] and Eupatorium greggii [in TX] are frequently called Perennial Ageratum.
Oh that Penstemon 'Navigator' - what a beauty.
Annie
just found your blog, I have enjoyed your flowers. I have that fall anemone, too, I have really enjoyed it. Mine is not blooming yet, though.
Ki... you have some outstanding flowers here and the photography is very well done. And you are are quite the bargain shopper.
Thanks for participating in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
The buzzing around your hydrangea must be deafening ;-) I think I found all 8 pollinators.
That salvia is very pretty - the S. splendens comes in so many interesting colors now. I should give them a chance again. My parents' neighbors have a nice burgundy one with bronze leaves.
You fooled me with the anemones. I thought "Wow, he has Japanese anemones blooming already?!?"
Rats, I almost finished replying to all four comments when I clicked away to check another site and lost all of them.
Thanks Annie for the explanation about the mistflowers. There is a Ageratum called butterfly mist which just adds to the confusion.
The Penstemon was last year's $1 plant! We must have bought about 30 plants even as we wondered about the colors. The plants also remain short so the flower stalks don't fall over like 'Huskers red' and some of the taller growing varieties.
Thanks again for IDing the two plants.
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Hello Muum,
Thanks for your comment. I could swear the A. Robustissima was one of the last to bloom. But the other Anemones like, 'Whirlwind' and 'Honorine Jobert' are already setting flower buds so this may be an early year for anemones in NJ.
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Hi Carol,
On the contrary, thank you for thinking up Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! and for hosting the event. It is a nice way to showcase some interesting flowers.
We have a wonderful Lowes that gets rid of past bloom plants very cheaply. We have access to two stores but the one closer to us never has any sales. I wonder what the difference is?
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Now that you mention it, it is strange but I wasn't aware of any buzzing. The Hydrangea is planted on a foot high berm and the flower heads must be between 6-7 feet tall, certainly not at my ear height and it was windy so that may account for the lack of noise.
S. splendens was a great buy. I wonder why they sold it so cheaply? Maybe they were smoking or chewing the leaves? I should try some leaves to see if they are psycho active...well maybe not.
I do have a A. hupehensis somewhere but I know it's not ready to bloom yet. I did buy several other Anemones this spring from Bluestone Perennials and I'm anxious to see them bloom. A. Andrea Atkinson, A. Victor Jones, A. japonica MARGARETTE, A. Max Vogel, A. hybrida Party Dress, and A. Prince Henry.
Oh that is a lovely colour of Penstemon ... I have some dark and light purple, but no blue ones. Lucky you! Your meadowrue looks beautiful - I love the shot. Gorgeous!
You have an eye for scouting out good plant bargains ...
Hi Kate,
The Penstemon was a lucky buy as we had no idea what colors they would turn out to be but for a buck apiece we couldn't resist.
The meadowrue had only a few flowers this year. Not anything like the one you have. The plant was very small so it may take time to get established. Hopefully next year will be better. I also planted it in a fairly shaded location because the tag indicated that it should be planted in shade. But I may have planted it in too much shade as it doesn't get any direct sun. I do love the dainty flowers held aloft by the tall stems.
Starting in August, we frequent the particular Lowes that heavily marks down their plants. There was a whole table full of Euphorbia which was starting to like tired. I thought they would definitely put those on the 1/2 off trays but they didn't. So I guess they do discard plants which in their opinion are too far gone. Too bad. I would have loved to have them at $3 apiece.
Beautiful, as always, Ki! What am I missing here and am I showing my ignorance (won't be the first time)? Aren't those Japanese Anemones blooming?? And, I would think they're early as mine haven't started here yet? (Please don't make me feel too dumb!)
Love all your bargains! I have resisted this year as I have too many things still waiting in the pot ghetto. It brings a smile to think of your rescuing these sad plants and bringing them back to glory!
My Star Magnolia has been hit with something terribly disgusting and speaking of buzzing...omg!...I finally got brave enough to look closer and saw these wicked looking bumps on branches. It looks like there is some sort of residue, too. I took pictures to send to our extension agent (note to self...try to actually remember to send them...), but haven't done so yet. I fear the verdict. I am a put-my-head-in-the-sand person. And, I don't take bad news well! But, from a creepy perspective, I suppose it is interesting. Never have I seen such an assortment of winged creatures. I tell you this because I think you appreciate the...unusual...at times, yes? Ha!
P.S. No blooms on the gardenias this year...sigh. Although, they have recovered extremely well from the odd/hard winter and one would never know to look at them now. Still, I think one is going to move to the backyard where it will get more sun and a warmer spot to reside in. Maybe then I will see blooms like I want!
Hi Gotta,
I believe the Chinese/Japanese anemones are A. hupehensis. The one I photographed is A. tomentosa 'Robustissima' the grape-leaf anemone. Apparently it blooms in summer but I thought it bloomed in fall like most of the other anemones.
I do like the idea of rescuing plants rather than having the store throwing them in the dumpster but one of the HDs had a few orchid plants in a trash bin in the store. When we asked if we could take them the answer was absolutely not. We were even willing to pay for them but no sale. Boo on them.
Uh, oh I think your star magnolias may be infested with the giant magnolia scale. The bumps, actually the scale insect are about 5/16" in diameter and stand out quite a bit maybe a quarter inch or so. If you see a lot of ants on the branches that's almost a sure bet you have the scales. I had some blogger photos in 2005 but I don't see them anymore but click on this
href="http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/images/2003_1.jpg ">site to see what they look like. I tried for three years to get rid of them on my 'Jane' magnolia but they always came back. U used insecticidal soap and Volck oil spray without success. Although I hate using pesticides,I also used Diazinon to get rid of the ants w/o success. I finally gave up and trashed the tree. We also had it on two of the star mags. but I got rid of the light infestation by diligently inspecting the branches and rubbing off the scale. Try to treat the tree as soon as you can or eventually the tree will weaken and may die. The flying insects may be the eggs that have hatched. After pupating they go into a fly like stage and mate then lay next years eggs which will turn into more scale insects. Good luck.
I did finally buy a miniature gardenia which has bloomed several times but seems to be dying. About 2/3 of the branches are dead despite constant watering in these dry times. Don't know if it will recover.
Good to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by. I hope the magnolia turns out ok. Would be a shame to lose the tree.
Nice stuff! I like that salvia....splendens, indeed!
Hey Lisa, I guess if you smoke or ingest enough of the leaves it will be splendens time indeed!! The flower stalk is quite gorgeous with the calyx turning from rich pink to light yellow as it ages. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the updates with plant names. I think I can say safely that I've never grown any of those plants, although I'm most attracted to the Callibrachoa.
I'll have to check with Annie in Austin and see if she has any--or whether she just knew what it was because she knows that kind of stuff.
MSS, you are most welcome though I had a lot of help with the names. I believe Callibrachoa is a native of South America so I would think you should have no trouble growing it in Austin, it may even overwinter there with some protection.
Annie's amazing knowledge of plants is vast, she must have a photographic memory for plants. She probably knows where to get some if she doesn't already have some in her garden.
I just did a search and found that the flowers come in a variety of colors, pinks, oranges, yellows, purples and even peach. Apparently it is hardy to zone 8 and some people have had success in potting the plant and overwintering it indoors in harsher climes. Good luck.
Thanks, Ki, for the information. I think you are spot on (as the British or someone says). Sadly. Big giant sigh. I went out and bravely got closer and it is plain awful. It bloomed so beautifully this spring, too. Oh well. I have to have a tree taken out anyway and I guess I should just have this one, too. I can't see me winning a scale battle. You don't see them, star magnolias, so commonly around here and I wonder if that is why. I ordered mine from Forest Farm some years back and until now, it's been great.
I guess the only thing to do is think about what I will plant in its place...!! That sounds rather cold, I suppose, but you gotta move on...lots of things to grow and try.
Thanks again for your expert diagnosis and all. What a great resource you are!
Gotta Garden,
I only knew about the scales because our magnolia was infested with them. Another tell tale is a sooty black deposit on the usually gray brown branches.
Check your other magnolias if you have more than just this one, to make sure they don't have the scales too. The scale apparently has a fly like stage so they can land on another magnolia and lay their eggs on that tree. Some magnolias seem to be more resistant than others. I haven't seen them on the Dr. Merrill, Butterflies or Sweet bay.
If the tree is heavily infested it is probably best to get rid of it as it is difficult to nurture the tree back to health provided you kill all the scale insects. I know exactly what you mean. As soon as the golden rain tree was ailing, I was thinking of a replacement.
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