Bloom Day - Global Survivors

     This month's Bloom Day will include photos with a narrow focus only, the garden is just too unkempt to show more right now. Until mid-August we had a fairly good summer, garden and weather-wise. The regular rains and the not-as-bad-as-it-could-have-been temperatures enabled many of my plants to put on lots of new foliage and to continue blooming, well past their normal stop time. However, we are now in the middle of a dust bowl, although one with mild temperatures, and we have not had significant rain in nearly a month. The dryness has not been kind to all that lush new growth or those flowers. So for September, I have put together a gallery of global survivors.

    Here are a couple of natives, Callicarpa americana (Beautyberry) and Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Goblin'. The Callicarpa is a water lover and is very good at letting me know when it is thirsty, but despite this it seems to be doing well. Gaillardia grows in the sand dunes, so its toughness is built in.

     The couple below seem well suited for each other. Zinnia marylandica 'Zahara Double Fire' has Mexican genes and the Portulaca is native to a broad swath of the globe from the Mediterranean, through the Middle East and into India.

     Though the common name for Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides is Mexican flame vine, it is actually native to Columbia. Listed as a zone 9 plant, Pseudogynoxys is treated as an annual, but in our area it has proven root hardy in the past few winters. I can see a thick layer of mulch in its future.

     I'll continue with the Latin American entries. Here is Salvia guaranitica ' Black and Blue' followed by the annual Stachytarpheta mutabilis (porterweed). Both of these plants are humming bird attractors, but despite what you read about red flowers, they go to 'Black and Blue' first.

     I am happy to show you Leonotis leonorus, lion's ear or lion's tail. I have coveted this since I first saw it bloom and just assumed it would be an annual, but was thrilled to find it is perennial here. Leonotis has a long list of medicinal uses, as well as being considered a substitute for marijuana. I do not need to smoke it, looking at it makes me happy enough. I just hope the neighborhood stoners don't find out, and if they do I wish them the plants other affects of dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

     Abelmoschus manihot is member of the okra family from the Chinese side. It is an annual for us, but it seeds around freely. I usually crush up the spent seed pods and sprinkle them over the garden during a late fall clean up.

     Finally, nothing says September in the garden like the long-lived, old favorite Lycoris radiata, spider or hurricane lily. This Asian native has had no trouble acclimating to our climate or being accepted by gardeners.

     Before we leave I want to apologize to my fellow bloggers for not being able to make the rounds and see what you have been up to. I have been crazy busy and school is also back in session, so blogging has to take a back seat to my son's homework and my wife's lesson plans. I know one blog I need to visit is Carol's at May Dreams Gardens, after all it is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.