Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - August 2011

Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for August 2011!

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 5b garden in central Indiana, the blooms are set against a backdrop created by the driest July in recorded history and a stretch of days with high temperatures that were 90 F and above for over three weeks, besting a record set in the dust bowl year of 1936.

I ventured out into the garden early Sunday morning to find some blooms and was greeted by the rain gauge flaunting an inch of rain from overnight storms. Leaves still had droplets of water on them and the garden looked almost relieved.  I was relieved, too.

Without this rain, a visitor might have assumed the garden had been neglected. Plants cried out for water and the ground clung to its weeds like a toddler clings to a security blanket. I did some watering through the driest days, but you can never water like the rain.

Out in the vegetable garden, the sunflowers are beginning to bloom.  The bright, lemony yellow happy face above is one of the many colors of sunflowers found in a mix called Flash Blend from Botanical Interests. 

Nearby the zinnias are also blooming even though by mid-afternoon on many days, they were as wilted as week old lettuce.

These are are a hodge podge of varieties grown from seed sown directly in the garden in mid-June.  I think the late sowing actually helped them through the dry spell.

I've waited since spring to see the blooms in the newly planted August Dreams Gardens.

It's still filling in and finding its way. The large purplish-maroonish flowers are Eupatorium dubium 'Little Joe', the little white daisy flowers on those wispy light stems belong to Boltonia asteroides 'Snowbank' and the orange-ish flowers in the background are Helenium 'Helbro' sold as Mardi Gras.

One end of this garden border is anchored by a popular perennial that helps support many late summer gardens... Rudbeckia hirta,  Black-eyed Susans.

August would not be the same without two other blooms that I can always count on. The Resurrection Lilies, Lycoris sp., showed up on schedule, popping up from the bare ground, their spring foliage long gone.

And the August lillies, a passalong Hosta, bloomed in spite of what July did to its foliage.

It's been a long summer for them and they've looked better in past years.

Finally, as I walked around the garden, noting where the dry, hot summer did its damage, I found a little Viola, a bloom that likes it cool, blooming away in the garden, unaware of how out of place it looked with all the blooms of August.

The little viola probably has a lesson to teach us about overcoming adversity or something like that. I'll ponder that another day when it isn't so busy.

What’s blooming in your garden as summer starts to wind its way toward its end?

We would love to have you join in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and show us. It’s easy to participate and all are invited!

Just post on your blog about what is blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month, leave a comment here to tell us what you have waiting for us to see and then put your name and the url to your post on the Mr. Linky widget below so we can pay you a virtual visit!

“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence