Bloom Day - August Survivors and Thrivers

In order to have any color in August, beyond green, I usually plant annuals that will carry the garden through the hottest part of the season. This summer in particular has been a trial with long stretches of high heat, and no to little rain (until recently). Over the years I have found some things that give lots of color with minimal effort on my part. One annual I try to plant every year are Zinnias, in particular the Profusion Series, but this year they were not available for some reason. After reassurance from a co-worker, I ended up trying a new one, Zahara Fire (Zinnia marylandica 'Zaraha Fire'). Like the Profusions, I have had no mildew problems, they have bloomed non-stop, put up with the heat, humidity and drought, but the flowers are larger and a bit showier.

Another annual I plant regularly is Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia), and I usually pair a dark purple variety with a chartreuse Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas 'Margarita').

For the past few years I have been planting a tropical Butterfly Weed (Asclepias curassavica). This summer I was late getting them in and they are just now beginning to bloom, and I have also noticed that last year's plants must have set seeds which should be blooming soon as well.

One of my favorite summer plants is not grown for its flowers. The old-fashioned, shade loving Coleus (Solenostemon scutellariodes) never had much appeal to me, but I very much like the newer Sun Coleus, whose cultivar numbers seem to increase exponentially every year. I am currently having a summer fling with 'Big Red Judy'.

The Kong Series of Coleus came out several years ago and like the older varieties, prefers shade, but has much larger leaves (and a few blue flowers).

Most Lantanas (Lantana camara) are annuals for us, but until this winter I had several varieties that managed to come back. We lost all but the hardy 'Miss Huff', so I replanted with the less sprawly, more compact 'Ann Marie'.

Here is the unflappable 'Miss Huff'.

Another perennial that has proven able to withstand the heat and humidity, without any foliage issues has been Phlox paniculata 'Coral Creme Drop'.

Dahlias are more or less hardy here. The first one came from an assorted pack, and the second is one of the Bishops, but I'm sorry I don't know which one.

Blooming since June is Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'.

The recent rains have given the already long-blooming Crape Myrtles a second wind. They are so generous with their blossoms, they even give a few to plants that wouldn't normally have any, like this fern.

The last photo is of Golden Brocade Asiatic Jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum 'Ogon Nishiki'). While it has no flowers, it is hard to miss that color.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day occurs on the 15th of each month. Gardeners from all over the world post what is blooming in their gardens and send them into GBBD Central, deep within the green hills of Indiana, where CEO Carol @ May Dreams Gardens keeps everything in order. Please pay her a visit and be sure to thank her for the effort.