Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - August 2016

This has been a month of ups and downs. The temperatures have been up and the rain has finally come down bringing the temperatures with it. It is a sweet relief

A lot that has been blooming have been the annuals in the garden. Zinnias, 

daturas and the colorful gladiolas that I just love but they reach for the sun here and do a lot of flopping. 

I can tell when the days are shortening. The orchids begin their blooming session. 

Wendy's Wish Salvia has been fearless in the heat. I keep it watered and the humming birds thank me by keeping the blooms well tended. 

The honeysuckles are happy with all this rain. They are putting out some blooms. Not as many as during their spring/early summer bloom but enough to appreciate. 

Another late summer bloomer is the clump of turtle heads.  

Everything is a bit heavy with all the rain.  

Even the stalwart Limelight hydrangea is bowing with all the rain. I don't mind this. We needed the rain. 

The Weigelia out front decided to bloom up a storm in thanks for all the rain.

The larger hostas are putting on a show. 

The hummers are also keeping these blooms tended. These old fashioned white blooms scent the air as you walk by reminding me of why I like them so much.

The greening of the garden is proceeding. It is that time of year when the blooming plants are more sporadic and green comes to the fore. So if you are wanting to see more blooms head over to 

Carol's, she is hosting her Garden Bloggers Bloom Day today and every month on the 15th. Be sure to head over here to see what is blooming in everyone's gardens.

Other plants blooming:

Crepe Myrtle

Rudbekia tribola

Periscaria 'Dragon's Tongue'

Annuals

Garden Surprises

 There has been a very interesting surprise in our garden. No, I am not talking about the Naked Ladies popping up here and there around the garden.

When we came home the other evening. As soon as I stepped into the kitchen I looked out the back door and saw a bit of brown in the hole of a bird house that hangs straight out from that door. I couldn't tell what sort of creature was in the hole. I figured it was a house sparrow that got it's head stuck in the hole because the hole is so small that only Chickadees have ever used this box. I went and got my binoculars to have a closer look.

When I looked I almost shouted to my DB ' A flying squirrel...no a big mouse...no A FLYING SQUIRREL!!!'

DB quickly got his bins to confirm. I couldn't hardly believe it. I had only seen a flying squirrel one other time in my life. That one was in Ferdinand State Forest one spring when I was helping a friend clean out bluebird boxes. We found a nest with young flying squirrels.

This little critter is in my garden. Just look at that cute little face.  I took these photos through dirty glass and the house was back lit, but I didn't want to miss the photo opportunity. I didn't think anyone would believe me. I couldn't hardly believe me. I didn't know they were in the neighborhood let alone in our garden. After watching the little rodent peeking out of the hole and disappearing inside I started thinking about a few clues that should have warned me there might be a different critter in the garden.

Last October I cleaned out the nest boxes. In this yellow box I found a layer of acorns below a downy soft nest.  

I knew that the Chickadee didn't nest in that box last year. Is this the nest of a Flying Squirrel? I bet it is. Why? Because of the acorns in the box, and the thick densely packed nest. Does anyone have any experience with this creature and it's ways?  

I have read that their preferred food is acorn. After finding this cache in the nest box I thought maybe some of the grey squirrels that frequent our feeders had stuffed acorns into this box and then chewed the hole trying to get to them again.

 Yes, that little turd I found on the shelving that holds several different types of bird houses.Should have been a clue. I think it might belong to the flying squirrel. When I first saw it this past week I thought rat...I rest my case. (S)he might have been checking out the other houses.

 I now think this little nocturnal flying squirrel has been the one bringing acorns into the garden and planting them everywhere. All this time I have been blaming the grey squirrels. I bet he is also the one who took away one of my air plants. I wonder if (s)he thought it would be a good padding in it's nest or it was just a tasty treat?

August Greeting 2016

August has come in like a lamb.  I know that here August is a real dry heat monger and isn't really like this first day, a fantasy of mild 80°F with a much needed dousing of 3/4" of rain. August is just giving this little respite before coming into it's own.  I am gladly accepting this gift of mild weather and taking advantage by getting out and doing some weedin. I even got to pull-up the hose onto the path for a day. Maybe even longer if we get more rain. It is trying it's best to rain more. Here is hope.

As you can see there is a whole lot of green going on in the garden now. July was so hot and dry I kept thinking it was August. My garden helper and I decided to walk around on the now softened grass to see how the garden was after this gift of moisture.

On these short forays through the garden my mind just can't help but start ticking off all the garden chores that need to be done. Like cutting back the iris foliage.

The laybrinth is holding it's own this summer. That is one thing I can say for Zoysia grass, it is very forgiving of drought times.

There is a lot of green in the garden now. If you look around a bit you can find shots of color.

Let us walk around back to see if there is more color.

Annie tried to convince me that there was a rabbit rustling around over in the side lot. We aren't going there. We will walk around a path or two to try to find some color.

 It is a good thing I like green.

You have to look fairly close. To find shots of color.

Of course there is color here and there. I just need to be watchful I guess.

 I will have to close for now.

The next time I will be zooming in for some colorful treats. That is if I can convince the plants to cooperate. 

Do  you still have a lot of color in your garden?

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - July

Good day and welcome to Greenbow's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day brought to you with the urging of Carol at May Dreams Garden who started this meme years ago. It has been a nice way to keep a pictorial record of what is in bloom at the 15th of each month. However if you follow me you know I am not all that good at keeping up with scheduled projects. I guess that is what happens to you when you retire. 

The above Swamp Milkweed I planted this spring is doing quite well. After the initial shock of being planted in a not so swampy area two out of the three plants I planted are blooming up a storm. of course the milkweed bugs came out in force to partake of them. They don't seem to do damage and they are a lively color in the garden so I don't worry about them. 

I have a couple of pots blooming up a storm. Do they count as bloom day plantings? Somehow a planter to me shouldn't really count because they are set up for the perfect conditions to grow and bloom. 

I like them anyway. My  planters have had a difficult time this year. I didn't think we were going on vacation and just as I got them planted my DB decided we needed to go. So who am I to argue? Off we went and a dear friend watered for me. I will have to do a post just about pots. I did a bang up job of filling about every pot I own. 

The last of the daylilies are blooming. I mean this is the last one on this clump. 

Here (above) we have a few more buds. 

The last of the red ones out front are blooming here in the background and the Rudebeckia tribola is begining to bloom. 

A few of the tall lilies are blooming. 

I just love these tiger lilies. 

The above lily looks a lot like stargazer but it has no scent. It makes me wonder.

The hardy hibiscus is starting to bloom. It looks like the dreaded Japanese Beetles have been after some of the blooms. 

The last of the hydrangeas are blooming too.

The ever beautiful Strawberry Vanilla Hydrangea that always reminds me of the dear friends that gave it to me has yet to hit it's peak. I can't wait to see the strawberry pink tinge. 

The crocosmia is blooming profusely. As you can see Lucifer is trying to dominate the path along with the hosta blooms. 

This more orangey colored crocosmia has to be kept under control due to it's wish to take over this end of the flower bed.  To me it is worth it because I love to cut blooms for bouquets. They do a dash of drama. 

Last but not least a flower that I can never remember the name of but it blooms up a storm even though it doesn't get enough sun to keep it upright. 

So that is about it for this month. There are more things blooming but I figure I have swamped you with a few too many pictures as it is. I will list below that which I haven't shown you. 

Please join me by posting about your blooming plants.  If you don't have any right now you can go to Carol's here and get a lot of inspiration.

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Other Blooms:

Spiderwort

Russian Sage

Lamium

Hostas

Weigelia

Pink and White Tall Garden Phlox

Black and Blue Salvia

Wendy's Wish Salvia

Cat mint

Pink Monarda

Tomatoes

Cleome

Beauty Berry Shrub

Joe Pie Weed

Dicentra formosa

Heuchera

July Daylily Parade

I can't believe that July is here. June simply evaporated. Part of the reason why I feel this way is because we were away for almost 2 weeks during June. When we returned I nearly fainted at how the weeds tried to take over. It is amazing how my daily putzing in the garden keep the weeds from becoming a major factor. I can now appreciate my own efforts. I had to call in my Dearly Beloved to help tame the beast.

Sophie asked if my daylilies were still blooming. Most of them are blooming now. The very first ones and the ones in the most shade are not but I have a fair amount of them blooming. The following is the daylily parade with the names below the picture of the ones I know or think I know the name.

Paper Butterfly 

Father-in-law 

May May

Mallard 

Baltimore Oriole 

This peachy one and the one below might be part of the Chicago series. 

This is a small one. Nameless at this time. 

This is is supposed to be fragrant. I can't remember what it smells like since my smeller doesn't work so good any more. 

??

Golden Hibiscus 

Wilson's Spider 

George C. Bingham

Now don't go and get all apoplectic on me since I don't know the names for all my daylilies. I have had most of them since the late 90's.  My newest ones are Golden Hibiscus and the Wilson's Spider and I believe they are a 2004 vintage. When I see all the beautiful colors and ruffly petals of the newer varities it makes me want to purchase more. I am trying to not have so much of that strappy foliage in the garden, however if I run into a purple variety someplace I will probably succumb.

My tall lilies are about gone. I have a few with buds. We need rain to make them pop open. Maybe this weekend. 

Speaking of the weekend, I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July Weekend.  Enjoy and be safe.