Ninth Annual Citywide Bloomday

     As I do each year for July's Bloom Day, crapemyrtles (Lagerstroemia species and hybrids) are celebrated. 2016 finds the trees flowering about two weeks later than normal. Typically they are at peak color in mid-July, but until just recently, we have not had an extended stretch of hot weather, which they need to begin blooming. So earlier this week I took to my bike to see what color I could find, and what follows are just a few very random shots from the west side of Norfolk. 

     I had stopped at a 7/11 to take a photo of a particularly colorful crapemyrtle. While my eye was fixed to the camera, I was startled by a very bubbly voice asking if I was there for "the 7/11", to which I said no, I was here to take a photo of the tree. She asked if I would like her to be in the photo, and thought why the hell not. I asked her name, she said Ieasha, and as we parted she called me Love Bug. I didn't put two and two together about it being July 11th at a 7/11, so I rode off without my free Slurpee. In the photo Ieasha looks as if she is holding a crapemyrtle bouquet, but the tree is nearly 15' away.

     Do you have random shots of something blooming? If so join in the monthly celebration of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Fifth Annual Citywide Bloom Day

It is a July tradition at A Tidewater Gardener to celebrate my city's signature tree, the crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica and hybrids).  Last year's celebration took place elsewhere, but this year we are bringing it back home, and if you want to know more about why this tree is special here, then you can read more here.  My son and I got on our bikes this past Friday, enjoying temperatures in the low 80's, and began our trip at Old Dominion University, home to some very nice plantings. 

Despite a love affair with urban renewal, Norfolk still keeps a few older buildings lying around, and the crape myrtles grow by them just as well.

Let's head downtown where there are more than a few crapes to look at.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is an event held on the 15th of each month where gardeners who blog can post about what they have blooming. The host of this world-wide event is Carol of May Dreams Garden, and if you would like to see for yourself, then please pay her a visit.

(Stay tuned as the Florida travelogue resumes in upcoming posts.  You won't want to miss the next one, as I have a close encounter with a different species, Alligator mississippiensis.)

Fourth Annual Citywide Townwide Bloomday

It is a July tradition here at A Tidewater Gardener to showcase the city's glorious Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia) trees.  It's not that we are the only place that can grow them, it's just that they grow so damn well here and are Norfolk's dominant street tree.  That being said, this month I have bent even more, some already bent Bloom Day rules. We will travel a little further up the Chesapeake and look at the Crape Myrtles in the small harbor town of Onancock.

Onancock straddles two forks of a deep creek by the same name on the bay side of Virginia's beautiful Eastern Shore.  Its unusual and often mispronounced name (oh-NAN-cock) comes from its first inhabitants, the native Americans, and meant "foggy place".  Though, it was quite sunny when I took these pictures.  The town is fairly historic, is filled with notable architecture and has always been a low key, yet busy place.  The creek and bay beyond were historically its source of wealth as watermen and farmers shipped the region's bounty to larger markets.  Onancock was chartered in 1680 and quietly tended to its own business until being "discovered" only recently.  Now there are art galleries, antique stores, restaurants and other businesses that cater to the weekend trade and the sailing set.

We will start our tour at the town square, then we'll head to Cokesbury Church and then down Market Street.

King Street


North Street


Liberty Street


Holly Street


Kerr Street


The most noteworthy house in town is Ker Place, which was built in 1799 and is now the home of the Eastern Shore Historical Society.  To see the Crape Myrtles there we will have to look a little...


closer...


closer...


and out the door to an allée of Crape Myrtles.






I hope you have enjoyed this Bloom Day tour of Onancock, and if you would like to see what is blooming in other places, then you should visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.  On the 15th of each month, she gathers blooms from gardens all over the globe and shares them with the rest of us.  When you see her tell her thank you.

Third Annual Citywide Bloom Day

Long-term viewers of this blog may recall that in July I celebrate this city's signature tree, the Crape Myrtle. For no particular reason, this year I decided to only take pictures of trees that I walked or biked to, perhaps I am trying to operate a greener (or pinker) blog. Fortunately, my neighborhood's streets are lined with Crapes and everything that takes place on them at this time of year is done so underneath a giant pink canopy.

Many people don't like the Crape Myrtle because of what it leaves on cars, on sidewalks or in the street, but this is one of the reasons I like the tree. When you go out in the morning you find everything has been festooned with blossoms as if a parade just went by while you were still inside brushing your teeth.

Norfolk once had a reputation of being a drab Navy town, and is indeed home to the largest naval facility in the world, but at this time of year it is anything but drab, and even so, battleship grey goes well with pink.

If you would like to see what is blooming in other parts of the country and the larger world beyond, please pay a visit to Carol at May Dreams Garden who each month hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day from the beautiful green hills of Indiana.