Wednesday, August 15, 2012

It’s August 15th…that means Bloomday!

August appears to be the month of the Eryngium bloom in my garden with 6 of the 10 different types in some stage of blooming. We start with Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’ (it's lost most of it's blue with age)...

Eryngium agavifolium

Eryngium giganteum

Eryngium variifolium

Eryngium venustum

And finally, Eryngium yuccifolium...

A few of my Echium russicum are experiencing a second round of blooming, although on much shorter stalks.

Echinops 'arctic glow'

Macleaya cordata, with Echinops 'arctic glow' on the left.

Eucomis 'oakhurst'

Eucomis pole-evansii, not yet in full bloom but at this stage the tuft of leaves on top really stands out.

Hibiscus syriacus 'Red Heart'…

Hesperaloe parviflora

Hydrangea (NOID)

Acanthus mollis with Sedum ‘autumn joy’ in the foreground.

Lysimachia Paridiformis F. Stenophylla

Agapanthus, I almost I like this stage best of all, when most have the flowers have faded and some seeds have formed.

The shortest blooming Canna you’ll ever see! I guess it’s obvious I haven’t watered my front garden much this year.

Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw)

Chasmanthium latifolium (Northern Sea Oats)
Blurry photos are all I could capture with the slight breeze that was blowing.

Grevillea juniperina ‘Lava Cascade’

Grevillea juniperina ‘Molonglo'

And finally a couple of images that I’m reposting from earlier, because they are still blooming! A tall Canna Tropicana Black…

And a small Haworthia flower…

Just in case you're new to the Garden Bloggers Bloomday concept click here to visit our hostess, May Dreams Gardens. There you'll see the round of all the garden bloggers across the globe participating in this monthly flower-filled event.

33 comments:

  1. Yea for bloom day! Your eryngiums are way cool as is everything else in your garden!

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  2. Darn, I miss Bloom Day every month! I need to make a note in my calendar.

    Thank you for posting so much eryngium photos. It's very helpful seeing so many different species side by side. I have a 'Sapphire Blue' and love it.

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    1. So far I can safely say I've never met and Eryngium that I didn't love, lucky for me most of them seem to do alright here.

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    2. p.s....I hope you do participate next month, I'd love to see the bloom snapshot in your garden!

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  3. Even the most dangerous garden likes to put on its party dress, I see.

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    1. What fun is a spike without a little fancy bling to go with?

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  4. I love your garden so much! Great eryngiums and eucomis. The eucomis pole-evansii with your amazing yucca rostrata is EPIC! What a great combination! And I honestly just yesterday had a Hibiscus syriacus 'Red Heart' in my hands and almost bought it. seeing how beautiful yours is I'm kind of regretting my decision.

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    1. I know so many people who are down on Hibiscus but I love them...the 'Red Heart' would fit right in with your other exotics, you should probably go back and get it...

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  5. Love these blooms. Your post has me checking eryngiums to see if they would work here. Apparently they are heat tolerant so I'll look for some when plant shopping.

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    1. Yay! I look forward to see what you find.

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  6. I was eyeing some Eucomis recently so it was nice to see it in action. By the way, I totally copied/was inspired by your looking back post and finally pulled my before and after shots together online. I've got a lot of work to do still, but it is a really useful exercise to take the long view and not just focus on plants I like at the moment.

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    1. I enjoyed your before and after post ValHalla, glad you mentioned it!

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  7. You've got some great plant choices for your garden. I like the form on several of them which makes them stand out on the rest. I'm betting gloves are needed while handling them. No matter how hard I try, I still get stuck:) Excellent selection of plants.

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    1. Thanks! I do try and always have a pair of gloves handy. This morning when I was out watering I managed to get Opuntia spines in the hose!

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  8. You saved the best for last, love the canna, kangaroo paws, Haworthia and Grevillea. I have cannas, someday must try to get some paws and Grevillea.

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    1. I'm surprised there aren't Paws all over in your part of the world Nicole!

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  9. Amazing! I love all those Eryngiums...I somehow missed a few of those when I was there...drat! I've always considered growing the Chasmanthium...but was a little afraid of its reseeding tendencies...are they a nuisance for you?

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    1. I guess you'll just have to come back!

      I've never had a single seedling from my Chasmanthium and I've had it for 10 years now (brought it with me from Spokane). It can get quite floppy by late fall so I usually end up cutting it back (it makes a lovely specimen in a vase in the house) which might have something to do with the lack of seedlings. Still I've got it in 4 different places in the garden and I don't always cut it all back. Remind me in the spring and I'll divide it for you!

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  10. Insanely jealous of your Eryngiums! They just never do well here. Most only stick around for a year or two then pouff, gone! Love that you have so many different varieties. That kangaroo Paw is fantastic too. Love it all

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    1. The K. Paw is an annual here (usually) but I can't resist it!

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  11. You really must quit teasing me with plants that I can't grow. Eryngium is temperature hardy here, but it really resents our humidity and soil, though people at the beach who garden in sand can sometimes grow it. And unfortunately, Anigozanthos is never seen anywhere but in a florist's cooler.

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    1. That surprises me (Anigozanthos), the fact that it's not hardy here doesn't seem to stop plenty of places from selling it.

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  12. That's a pretty nice collection of Eryngiums! I completely overlooked my E. varifolium this time. And of course, I'm grooving on your Grevilleas. They bloom and bloom for you!

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    1. I'm not sure if I ever publicly admitted to killing my G. 'low-red'...the one I bought at the YG&P Show along with you. I moved it early this spring and did a poor job. It might have rebounded but I wasn't so patient and instead bought 3 G. juniperina ‘Lava Cascade’ to replace it.

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  13. Love the silvery colours and the Kangaroo paw, what a delight. LT

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  14. Amazing selection of blooms! Year in year out I admire the blooms of Eryngiums in flower shows but never get to buy them. Must rectify that soon...

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    1. You have none? Yes...you really should!

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  15. Eryngium, Eucomis, Acanthus...all plants that won't live or thrive for me-boo hiss! Vicarious plant enjoyment is another benefit of Bloom Day.

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  16. I have a short Canna with no bloom and have been watering it plenty...

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    1. I wonder what's up with yours? I have a couple out near the one that's blooming that only have one little leaf peeking out of the ground!

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