August doldrums Bloom Day
This Bloom Day post may fool those who skim the pictures without reading the text. You could be led to think that quite a lot is blooming in my garden right now, when really it’s just a few agastaches, some ornamental grasses, and a few tiny, scattered flowers on the xeric plants. It’s August, after all, and I have a mostly shady garden. Here we go,though. Central Texas natives are marked with an asterisk (*).
Pictured above, an orange-red globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua).
*Purple skullcap (Scutellaria drummondii)
‘Tangerine Beauty’ crossvine (Bignonia capreolata)
Agastache ‘Desert Sunrise’
Agastache ‘Desert Sunrise’ in close-up
Catmint (Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’)
*Winecup (Callirhoe involucrata)
Dwarf Mexican petunia (Ruellia brittoniana ‘Katie’)
*Zexmenia (Wedelia texana) poking up through bamboo muhly grass
Ruby grass (Melinus nerviglumis ‘Pink Crystals’)
Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’)
‘Helvola’ water lily
To see what’s blooming in gardens around the world on this date, visit May Dreams Gardens for links to other Bloom Day posts.
And don’t forget to celebrate your non-blooming garden goodness tomorrow for Foliage Follow-Up. It’s easy to participate. Simply post about your favorite foliage plants for August, and leave a link to your post in the comment section of my Foliage Follow-Up post (which will be up just after midnight). Thank goodness for fabulous foliage during the August doldrums, right?
All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Well, there is nothing gloomy about your garden Pam! Lovely blooms … I wish I could grow agastache like yours and what a sunny cheery water lily! Gorgeous photo! ;>)
That’s the power of photograpy to make a few up-close blooms look like a mass of color. Even if if their numbers are low, they are lovely. Happy GBBD!
Pam, Happy Bloom Day! I’ve been thinking about adding ‘Desert Sunrise’ to my garden since I love my other agastaches. I believe all your photos of it in your garden this summer have convinced me to go ahead and order it. BTW, I’m working on my Foliage Follow-Up post but things are tough in that area too – a lack of rain and hot sunny days has left much of my garden looking dull and crispy. Oh well, I just need to remind myself it’s August!
Yes, it is deceptive, all those close ups 🙂
Here in hot, dry Indiana, even the foliage doesn’t look all that great right now. We could sure use some rain, though we aren’t in a drought situation. Just an especially hot, dry August this year!
Foliage is the connector during this time of year for sure. Our gardens would be bare if it wasn’t for the green element so prevalent right now.
I always read the text because of cute stories and great ideas, but your images are stunning, especially the water lily. Great Bloom Day to you.
Happy Bloom Day anyway Pam. Mine also looks good in pictures, but the entire garden has a very washed out feel. I can’t wait until we get some cooler temps and perhaps rain. My fingers are crossed anyway. Your grasses look graceful my friend and so does the Agastache.~~Dee
Great photos, especially the water lily and the pennisetum. And I’m a big fan of Agastache. I like that one a lot.
It’s all about the angles (camera angles) isn’t it Pam? I bet however, that you downplay the beauty of your garden!
Happy Bloom day, Pam. That anything is flowering in all that heat is a miracle-especailly the wine cups. don’t they know they are a spring flower? Still looking with envy at the agastache.
I just love your grasses! and the agastasch is something I’m planning to keep my eye out for. Enjoyed my visit!
I enjoyed seeing your plants. Displayed big across a computer screen without the intervening foliage probably does make it seem like a more intensely floral time of year than it is. Sphaeralcea always surprises me with its different colors. Yours is much more red than all my clones.
Hi Pam – It’s so nice to see that ‘Desert Sunrise’ in a happy place! It languished here and eventually went away…Love all the natives, the secret to gardening happiness for so many of us 🙂
Nice! I especially like the fuzzy grass and the spiky agave-type plant behind it.
Beautiful photos, as usual, Pam. The purple skullcap I thought was dead is back–very happy! Yours looks great.
What a lovely photo of purple fountain grass and that gorgeous water lily!
What a lovely photo of purple fountain grass and that gorgeous water lily!
What a lovely photo of purple fountain grass and that gorgeous water lily!
My garden, like yours has lots of shade. I am going to have to check into more plants that thrive in hotter dryer climates if we continue to have summers like this one. The Agastaches might live here. I will have to look into that.
It’s 102.7 here in Katy at 4:55 pm on Bloom Day. August doldrums, indeed. At least the blooms you do have are lovely!
Pam: We are having your summer here and I am not sure I like it! It is hot everywhere isn’t it? Your photos are lovely, as usual. The agastache is one I am going to dry in the new dry, gravel bed. Miss ya!
Lots of lovely blooms dotting your landscape. And I like your gate with the cut-out in it, too! Happy GBBD.
As always, any month of the year, your garden looks beautiful.
Blooms are blooms no matter the count. Take them as we get them in these hot August days.
hey pam, thanks for reminding me i need to add agastache to my garden. not the best smelling plant, but the pink/apricot color of desert sunrise sure looks refreshing! stay cool over there…
Wow…not bad flowering for summer dormancy!