What’s in Bloom Late July
By: Anne Corke
Tags: coneflowers, daylily, gardening
Category: Gardening
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| Camera: | DMC-ZS3 |
Of course, you’ve probably read that my precious daylilies are blooming like mad. (If not, check out my previous post.) But there are also other plants in bloom in the garden this third week in July. The coneflowers (echinacea) are out and looking fabulous. We have quite a number of varieties in different colours now and love them all. Favourites include Coral Reef, a beautiful dark coral double, Coconut Lime, white double blooms with a hint of lime, and Summer Sky, single bicolour blooms of rose and peach. The hostas are also in bloom. Most people grow hostas solely for their foliage, but the flowers, usually pale mauve or white, are deliciously fragrant and the hummingbirds love them. Another favourite of mine is butterfly weed (asclepias tuberosa). When well established, it looks more like a small shrub with it’s shiny green leaves and glowing orange flowers. It has a natural informal beauty and attracts butterflies like a magnet. It also comes in shades of yellow and red, and there are even pink and white hybrids, but I still prefer the orange. The liatris are also in bloom. Their common name, gayfeather, describes their spikes of mauve and white flowers perfectly. These plants also attract butterflies and moths, and are a food source for the larvae of several species. The flowers on the lavendar in the train garden are starting to fade now but that wonderful nostalgic scent lingers on. Balloon flowers are bursting out all over. The buds form small “balloons” which pop open to lovely simple purple flowers, quite enchanting! And in the south bed, my old friend Rosa New Dawn is once more sprawling all over the garden. I can forgive her rather loose habit though since her silky, pale pink blooms are quintessential rose! With so many daylilies, the garden is a riot of colour in July. And there’s nothing better than sitting on the deck with a big cup of tea in the early morning admiring the view!
Copyright 2011 Anne Corke
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