GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY JULY 2014

I am pleased to be able to add my garden photographs to the July Garden Bloggers' Bloom day. We usually find ourselves on the road at this point in the summer but this year the future naming ceremony of our 6th grandchild is keeping us home.
Although the heat of summer is upon us and we have not been blessed with any rain for weeks, a few plants struggle to keep up with the conditions while others make their debut.
The Echinopsis is blooming for the third time this year and there are still more blooms appearing on the plant. They have been coming in two by two. They open during the night and are gone by lunch time but this one opened this week and deserved to be on bloom day.

I am lucky that these three blooms opened yesterday. They are a little tougher than the echinopsis and remain open for three days. I am not sure of the name so if anyone knows please share.

For the hardy water lilies, Nymphaea 'Colorado' heat means nothing as they bathe all day long. They are morning bloomers.

The skullcaps have been blooming all summer. Some have already been cut back to bring them back into bloom for the fall. Others will get a trim at the end of the month.

I cut back the chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata,  a few weeks ago and it is back in bloom. Another morning bloomer.

I have no idea why this has been such a good year for the Texas clematis. The blooms may be tinier but they keep on coming.

Zinnias are popping up everywhere. One of my favorites is the spider zinnia, Zinnia tenuifolia 'Red Spider' It's seeds survive in the ground through the winter but they don't germinate until the ground has really warmed up.

The pale blue Plumbago auriculata, just now beginning to bloom. It will bloom until frost.

Of course Morning Glory always finds a place to grow. This one round by the water barrels.

And Blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum with its faintly almond fragrance.

Gaura still struggling to put out tiny blooms.

Finally the ever returning Ruellia pop up wherever a spot of color is needed.

I hope you are having a wonderful bloom day and if you are stop by Maydreams to share your blooms.

WHAT A GOOD RAIN BRINGS

Although I am still thinking about all those glorious gardens we saw in England, I am spending plenty of time in my own garden, making reparation for all the weeks away. The rain last week really helped put new life back into the garden.

One of the first plants to respond to the rain is the rain lily.

And this spider zinnia, Zinnia tenuifolia, suddenly has bright red blooms again. It isn't in quite the right place alongside the vegetable beds but thats where it seeded. Already seeds had formed and I am hoping they will sprout in a better place.

The little native cosmos can be relied upon to bloom now through the late fall. It will just keep on coming wherever the seeds fall.


Of course, the morning glories are popping up everywhere. This one is threatening to strangle the life out of a native persimmon tree, which is itself a seed sown by a bird alongside the potting shed.

The other morning a hummingbird came to these flowers even though I was standing but a few feet away.

I am now becoming concerned that the little snapdragon vine, Maurandya antirrhiniflora, will take over the garden.
One day lily is still in flower. This one grew from seed. The flowers are much smaller than the parent plants around it. Perfect for the front of the bed.

There is no substitute for a good rain.

MAKING USE OF NATURE'S TRELLIS

While Central Texas is being hammered by the effects of tropical storm Hermine there is no chance to get out in the garden. The rain is welcome to our dry parched gardens, but I'd rather be out there working. In the meantime here's an idea for an easy grow it yourself trellis.

Morning glories show up every year in my garden and so does the amaranth, which can easily attain a height of 6'. This year the accidental happy marriage of these plants.

I might just use this combination in other places next year. In fact I can see they might make a good arbor. These two have joined together at the top. Where will they go now?

I COULDN'T DO IT BETTER

I couldn't do it by myself. Mother nature had a helping hand in the profusion of color in my garden. Now, well into July the flowers are still coming.

Alyssum, skullcaps, blanket flowers and black eyed Susans manage to find the perfect spot to grow making a tapestry of color. Gomphrenas are moved from unsuitable spots in the gravel to fill in any spaces.

Of course some of them can be a bit pesky, like this amaranth. Several are growing in a not so perfect spot at the foot of the steps to the herb garden, but who can resist their gorgeous pink, bristly plumes in the fall. The birds love them too. That's a Russian sage, Perovskia, which is growing at the foot of the amaranth.

This morning two rain lilies opened. Sometimes they are hard to spot, buried among the other flowers, but these ones are growing out of a clump of creeping thyme.

I certainly love the cleome which seeded right at the front of the bed behind the pool. The long, snaking stems with deep pink flowers. I even like the seed heads. I'll be saving some of those for next year.

As long as this morning glory stays on the fence then it can stay, but I know it's not going to do that.