Bloom Day - Not Bad for August

     I don't know about the rest of you, but we are having a spectacular August. So far, the temperatures have not gotten above the 80's, and we have had sufficient rainfall to keep the garden looking good. Of course the moisture has been just as welcomed by the weeds and grass, as it has by the garden. My neighbors can thank me for the rain. Every time we leave for vacation, I water like a mad man the day and night before, and while we are gone, it pours. This year we headed out to Colorado again, where they too were having a wet summer, at least it was wet by their standards. Me - I saw a parched and dry landscape, while they rejoiced in the extra rain. It's all a matter of perspective.

     As to Bloom Day, let's go alphabetically this time. First up in Asclepias currassavica (a.k.a tropical milkweed). I planted several of these this year, not only because I like its hot, long-blooming colors, but I am trying to do what I can for the monarchs.

     This is one of my son's Scotch bonnet peppers (Capsicum chinense). He and his buddies are fascinated with hot peppers. This evening they have been bottling a tincture created from infusing grain alcohol with ghost peppers. I am staying out of the kitchen.

    

     My Cestrum aurantiaum 'Orange Zest'  suffered from the cold this winter, and I had to cut it back to the ground. It quickly reached 6' again and has bloomed profusely.

     Cuphea ignea 'David Verity' is a plant I lost this winter, but soon replaced because I do love orange in the garden, and it looks really good with the gold leaf raspberry  (Rubus cockburianus 'Aurea').

     I've said it before, but I could not imagine a garden of mine without Miss Huff (Lantana camara 'Miss Huff').

     Evergreen wisteria (Millettia reticulata) is just now starting to bloom.  It is neither evergreen nor a wisteria, but I love its Nehi grape soda color and Nehi grape soda fragrance.

     Years ago my neighbors planted several black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida). This prolific re-seeder blew into one of the cracks in my sidewalk, where it has become very comfortable.

     I tried 'Lady in Red' annual Salvia for the first time this year. It has bloomed continuously since being planted, but I think I should have found a spot with more sun.

     Where I work we use a lot of Stachytarpheta in our summer plantings. We value its shape, colors and the fact that the hummingbirds like it as much as we do.

     I have been growing this Viburnum lantana 'Variegatum' in a pot on my front steps for close to 20 years. I water it, and that's about it.

     Finally, these are two varieties of Profusion Zinnia. I plant these, or any of the Zahara series, every summer. Keep them moist the first month, then after that they can stand on their own. This seems to have been an especially great summer for Zinnia around here.

     Garden Bloggers Bloom Day occurs on the 15th of each month, and is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Chihuly at the Denver Botanic Gardens

     For our vacation this summer we drove out to Colorado to spend some time with our friends the Sherpa Girls. In planning the trip I knew I would be visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens again whether anyone else would join me or not, but when Sherpa Girl K told me that they were hosting a Dale Chihuly exhibit the deal was sealed. I've seen bits and pieces of Chihuly's glass in museums, at Fairchild in Florida, and even in a former client's home, but the opportunity to see an entire exhibit made even driving through western Kansas worth it. When we got back home I told someone how thrilled I was that I got to see the exhibit, and they replied, in so many words, how overdone Chihuly was, and that he bordered on being passé. However, I loved it, in fact, I went twice, once during the day, and again at dusk to see the pieces illuminated. Judging from the full parking lot, and non-weekend crowds, I was not the only one who appreciated the successful marriage of art and garden.

     If I had one complaint about the exhibit, it would be that the art was so alluring it made seeing the garden an effort. So for the next Colorado post I will focus on just the gardens.