Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - August 2014

Clematis 'Rooguchi' with Lamb's Ear Leaves

Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for August 2014.

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in Indiana, I am thrilled with this summer we've been having.

I don't mean to brag or make anyone with weather woes cry or gnash their teeth or throw down their own gardening hoe in disgust, but this has been one of the nicest summers in my memory.

We've had rain when we needed it, for the most part, and I can't remember any particular days or stretches of days when it was too hot.  In fact, out in the vegetable garden, I think the peppers would like it to be a bit hotter and drier. But the rest of the garden isn't complaining.

Really, it's been a good growing season. I barely remember our record breaking terrible winter.

Now, I could give you a twirl around the entire garden, starting with the Clematis 'Rooguchi' still blooming as it runs at ground level across one section of Plopper's Field.  See how 'Rooguchi' is completely ignoring the support I am attempting to provide it?

Oh well, I'd rather have 'Rooguchi' running through the garden at ground level than have no 'Rooguchi' at all.

You can quote me on that!

Yes, I could give you a twirl through the entire garden but I'm going to just focus on the garden border I call August Dreams Garden.  We'll see the other flowers another day.

August Dreams Garden is a flower border designed and planted to be at the height of bloom in late summer.   It's coming along nicely after being planted back in 2011.

This is what I see in August Dreams Garden when I come out the back door in the evening to decompress from the day's activities.

Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta, is in full bloom. If you look just above its flowers, you can see the purple mop heads of Joe Pye Weed, Eutrochium purpureum 'Little Joe' (formerly Eupatorium).  And at the far end, you can just make out the yellow flowers of some very tall Rudbeckia, species unknown, though it might be Rudbeckia maxima

If you walk around to the other side of the garden, the path side, you'll see touches of white from Tall Phlox, Phlox paniculata 'David'.

The big yellow flowers are cup plant, Silphium perfoliatum. It has large leaves and can be a bit of a "my garden, I'm taking over" flower, so I hear.  I shall soon be deadheading it to make sure it doesn't go to seed. 

The sculpture in this garden, from Girly Steel, is barely visible this time of year when the Boltonia, Boltonia asteroides 'Snowbank' begins to bloom around it.

The rest of the year, the sculpture adds some interest while I dream of what this garden will look like in August.

Even though it is mid-August, this garden border is far from finished with its blooms. There are more blooms to come.  One of the asters is just beginning to show some color.

This is Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Andenken an Alma Pötschke', normally sold as 'Alma Potschke'.

And once the asters start to bloom, the goldenrod, Solidago shortii 'Solar Cascade' will make its crescendo, drawing pollinators from near and far for a final dance in the garden.

When my garden designer and I sat down and reviewed the plans for this area of the garden, she suggested either "daylilies" or a mix of late summer blooming plants. I'm very happy with my choice. I even like the Little Bluestem grass, Schizachyrium scoparium, which grows amidst the flowers, providing a matrix for the forbs, and giving the whole garden a prairie feel. 

Now this garden border is one of my favorite garden areas here at May Dreams Gardens. It provides new blooms at a time when many gardens are winding down, extending the perpetual spring, first described by Sir  Francis Bacon, through early fall.

It makes me happy to just stand by this garden border in the early morning before the sun is fully over the horizon, before I leave the garden to tend to life.

What's blooming in your garden in August? Please join in for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and show us.

It's easy to participate. Post on your blog about your blooms on the 15th of the month, then leave a comment below to tell us about your blooms and a link on the Mr. Linky widget so we can find you. If you have any problems with the links or commenting, shoot me an email, and I'll help however I can.

As Elizabeth Lawrence once wrote, "We can have flowers nearly every month of the year."