Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - July 2017

Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for July 2017.

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana there are blooms a-plenty in my summer garden.  And they do not lack for moisture.

We usually get an average of 42 inches or so of rain in a year and so far this year we've already gotten over 35 inches.  We are blessed, except in areas that flood. They are flooding.

Out in the garden, the balloon flowers, Platycodon grandiflorus, are swelling up and popping open, as they do. If I would have stepped back a bit when I took this picture of them, you would see that my balloon flowers are not well placed in Plopper's Field where I plop perennials in open spots where I think they won't get covered up by flowers around them.

Oops, these ballon flowers are somewhat hidden by some nearby Amsonia, blue dogbane. I keep threatening that I'm going to dig up Plopper's Field and replant it all properly some day.  But "some day", as we gardeners know, is a code phrase which means "I'm probably not going to find time to do it, but I like to think I will."

The other story this picture tells is in the lower left hand corner where you can see a slighly out of focus thistle plant. Oh, Thistle, why doth thou torment me and my garden? What have I done to deserve your unwelcome visits?

Moving along, the rest of the garden is more or less blooming on schedule.  I shall now proceed with a litany of pictures so you can see some of the blooms.  If you are in a hurry, scroll down to the bottom to find the usual bloom day instructions.

But why hurry? It's summertime. Come along for an evening stroll through my garden, and imagine me taking picture while off in the distance there is thunder and yet more rain coming to my garden.  We will criss-cross all over the garden because I just let the pictures load in a random order.

Culver's Root, Veronicastrum virginicum is blooming nicely in the August Dreams border.  Behind it those yellow flowers are the tall daylily 'Notify Ground Crew'. Really, that's the name.

We could be dropped into the garden blindfolded and then as soon as we saw the coneflowers, Echinacea purpurea, we would know it was high summer.

Phlox is blooming! This is Phlox paniculata 'David'.

Just one bloom has opened on this lily, 'Black Beauty', but when that whole candelabra of buds opens up it is going to be stunning.

False sunflowers with more phlox. I don't know the variety of Phlox. I've had them forever. The false sunflower is Heliopsis helianthoides, and most are seedlings of named varieties, particularly 'Loraine Sunshine', that I bought decades ago. I've been gardening a long time.

Another candelabra of buds. Can't wait to see the flowers.

Of course I have daylilies. Of course I've lost the labels so I don't remember their names. There are three varieties in this picture. And a rogue perennial sweet pea vine, Lathyrus latifolius, in the lower left hand corner. I pull it when I see it. It mocks me.

More daylilies.

My bottle tree is finally in bloom. Don't judge me by the years it took to get bottles for this tree. Yes, I know green and clear bottles don't really stand out but I like green. And they were free.

Finally, I figured out how to get Sweet Alyssum to spread out and really bloom and perfume a garden in mid-summer. Plant it in March. Yes, March. It doesn't mind the frost and it has a chance to get established before the heat of summer.

Zinnia time is summertime. Or is it summertime is Zinnia time?

Did I mention Zinnia time is summertime?

Once more, in case you don't believe me. Zinnia time is summertime. And zinnias are oh so easy to grow from direct sown seed in the garden. If you don't have a few zinnias in your summer garden, what's wrong with you?

A bit of yarrow in a neglected corner.

More daylilies. This one I know the name of. It's 'Hyperion', an old variety that I like a lot.

More false sunflowers. Those plants are over six feet tall. Do remind me to deadhead them as they are prolific self sowers.

The cupflowers, Silphium perfoliatum, are blooming. I definitely deadhead these because it is a big plant and I don't need big plants like this one taking over the perennial border.

How about hydrangea? Now that's a summertime flower. Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'.

Hostas are blooming!

And so are some black-eyed Susans, Rudbeckia hirta, probably.

And some Agastache, with more 'Hyperion' daylilies. This is Agastache 'Blue Fortune' and the bees love it.

And finally, thank you for staying through the entire tour. We skipped over some flowers but those are the highlights. I'll leave you with this bud of the next wave of blooms, Joe Pye Weed, in particular Eutrochium dubium 'Little Joe'. By this time next month...

And that's some of what's blooming in my garden here in the middle of summer. What's blooming in your garden? Join in for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day  on the 15th of every month and show us. It's easy to participate. Just post on your blog about what's blooming in your garden, then come back here and leave a link in the Mr. Linky widget and a comment to tell us what you have for us to see. Remember...

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