Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - Summer 2015

I was slacking the last couple of months on posting blooms for Carol's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens (even though I was diligent about taking pictures), and since I have minimal August blooms, I figured I play a bit of catch-up with my summer-time bloom pictures.

WARNING:  an excessive amount of flower pictures follow.

JUNE

Since we had a mild start to our summer temperatures and a lot of early summer rainfall, the June blooms were fabulous.

One of my favorites for the month were the sunflowers.

I love how bright and cheerful they are.

The bees certainly loved their pollen.

Some of the sunflowers were planted on purpose, like these along the fenceline.

Some were volunteers from fallen birdseed...like these ones.  I love how their faces follow the sun.

The echinacea or purple corn flowers were out in full force.

Daylilies were finishing up with their late spring-time blossoms.

The antique roses went through a bloom cycle, including the Heritage (David Austin) and 

Mrs. B. R. Cant (Cant & Sons).

The butterflies were loving the Black Knight butterfly bush,

as well as the Texas lilac vitex, which is a Texas Superstar.

My orange canna lilies had a great mid-summer season, after I divided them and spaced them out last fall.

The nectar of the zinnias spread around the garden are a favorite treat of the hummingbirds, whether they are purple,

red,

or pink.

The shasta daisy seeds that I spread around last fall finally blossomed and made great cut flowers.

And to finish up the June 2015 blooms, here is a petite little blossom of my ice plant, which I had gotten several cuttings from my neighbor last fall - gotta love free pass-along plants!

JULY

My favorite blossom of July had to have been my deep purple morning glories.  Such a vibrant color greets me every morning!

The roses continued their summertime showcase, including Abraham Darby (David Austin),

Heritage (David Austin),

Mrs. B. R. Cant (Cant & Sons),

Madame Joseph Schwartz (Earthkind),

and Graham Thomas (David Austin).

The orange canna lilies continued going strong, with a nice magenta backdrop of my neighbor's crepe myrtles.

July finally got hot enough for the blue plumbago to come out to play,

as well as the shade-loving Turk's cap in pink,

and normal red varieties.

While hanging out in the shade, I saw that the giant liriope grasses were also blooming with their delicate spires of purple flowers.

Other July blooms included the garden phlox,

more coneflowers,

Black-eyed Susans,

marigolds,

and trailing lantana.

The veggie garden was even putting on a show, with beautiful okra blooms,

as well as cucumbers.

 AUGUST

Finally onto my few August blooms...there are the reliable, heat-loving annual zinnias - here in a giant purple variety.

The bougainvillea has started to bloom, but I just clipped back the branches today to encourage even more blooms in a couple weeks.

The bright orange of the cosmos help lighten the drab appearance of the sun-scorched garden.

 And to cool off with some shades of purple, we have the lavender finally blooming,

As well as the pass-along Mexican petunias, which are keeping cool in the shade.

If you've made it this far, thanks for checking out all my summertime blooms in my Central Texas zone 8b garden.  I can't wait to show you next month's blooms, when we really start getting into the most colorful time of the year for our area!

September 2014 Blooms

I'm late to the party, but I didn't want to miss out on sharing my September blooms as part of Carol's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens.

Veggie Beds

I have one full veggie bed full of zinnias that reseeded themselves from transplants that I planted earlier this spring.  The new veggie seeds that I planted in this bed before I left for my South Africa trip didn't sprout while I was gone (a little too hot and not enough water), but the zinnias sprouted.  They are so pretty, that I don't really want to tear up the bed to plant veggies.  I'm now planning for this to be my latest fall veggie bed, so I can enjoy the zinnias for a couple more months.

Backyard Beds

There are a lot of plants blooming in the backyard, but I feel like I'm partially cheating, since they are mainly on plants that I just added to my garden in the last week.  Oh well, they still count in my book.

One plant that isn't new that is finally blooming this year is my bougainvillea.  I thought I lost the plant during our hard freeze last winter, but it came back.  It just needed a little extra time to work up the strength to produce its beautiful flowers.

In the shade garden, of the new plants, there are a few that are currently blooming:

Turk's Cap is a reliable late summer/early fall bloomer that adds plenty of color to the garden when not much else will.

The Big Blue Lithrope is also adding a touch of color to the shade garden with its light purple spires.

Along the neighbor fence line, the butterflies are loving the blooms on this Sapphire Showers Duranta.

And I'm loving the glorious smell of the gardenia flowers.

The fall aster is doing its part to attract the bees.

I love the color this purple coneflower brings to the peach tree beds.

The dainty flowers on the Blackfoot Daisy are so sweet.

Front Yard and Courtyard

The blue plumbago has been going strong since the spring and has been one of the fastest growers in my garden this year, with little to no watering.  No wonder why it is considered a Texas Superstar plant!  It has outgrown the space that I put it though, so that means I either need to move it to a new location, or do some heavy pruning.

The Mexican Sage is making its fall showing.

And finally, the Autumn Sage is living up to its name, adding a splash of magenta to the garden as we head into fall here in Texas.