August Blooms

New here this year, complements of Walters Gardens, this is 'Midnight Raider', a semi-evergreen tetraploid daylily.  They have made a beautiful addition to an area where there's lots of morning sun.  'Midnight Raider' is a reblooming daylily.  It may not rebloom its first year, but I'll be hoping, and watching for more of these beauties later this summer or in early fall.

Another trial plant sent to us by Walters Gardens this spring is this beautiful hardy hibiscus, 'Heartthrob'.  And yes, mine does (throb) when these gorgeous , dramatic 8" blooms open.

One of a bunch of hanging baskets here.  This one is New Guinea impatiens and scaveola (fan flower).  I haven't tried scaveolas here before - didn't think we'd have enough sun for them to bloom well.  Apparently I was mistaken - so glad I tried them, and will definitely grow these again here.

The foliage is nothing fancy on this hosta, but the 4 foot scapes loaded with double blooms in light pinky-lavender are pretty awesome.  I look forward to the blooms of Hosta rectifolia 'Fujibotan.' all summer, and so do the hummingbirds.

Surprise lilies were divided and spread around last year.  Some are sulking (as they often will after moving or dividing) and didn't bloom this year, but we do have a few small clumps like this. Phlox, bellflowers, and coneflowers are blooming in the background.

Wax begonias are substituting for impatiens this year - maybe every year going forward.  They are so much less thirsty than impatiens, and are great in part sun.

Phlox paniculata 'David', with Diamond Frost euphorbia.

After last year's drought, agastaches are a shadow of their previous selves this season, and one didn't return this year.  It was a surprise, as they've always seemed so drought tolerant.  Hopefully the remaining ones are gaining strength with our cooler, wetter summer, and will return big and strong next year.

Phlox, black-eyed susans, and coneflowers

This is 'Crystal Palace Gem' pelargonium.  I love the chartreuse foliage so much, I'd grow this geranium even if it never bloomed.  I took cuttings from last year's plants, rooted and overwintered them in our basement greenhouse.

Echinacea purpurea 'Butterfly Kisses' is another trial plant from Walters Gardens.  At maturity it will be a diminutive 18 inches tall.  In its first season, it's under a foot tall - perfect for this border of small and miniature plants, and oh, so cute.  That's dragon wing begonias in the hanging basket, and more Diamond Frost euphorbia in the basket and in the background.  I overwinter Diamond Frost, and they get bigger and better every year.

Another surprise lily, with calamint, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, and agastache.  About to bloom is a pink Japanese anemone.  The tall yellow coneflowers in the background are 'Herbstonne', also known as 'Autumn Sun'.  They languished in last year's drought, stunted, mildewed, and hardly bloomed.  They're in their glory this year, like nothing ever happened.  None were lost.  'Herbstonne' may do best in full sun with moist soil, but they do extraordinarily well in our dry, part sun garden.

'Blue Paradise' phlox is blooming again, here with a pelargonium I've overwintered for years, more coneflowers, catmint, calamint, surprise lilies, and 'Mocha' heuchera villosa.  'Mocha' blooms all season, from late spring through frost - the longest-blooming heuchera I've ever seen.  Hummingbirds love 'Mocha' blooms in our garden, along with many other heuchera flowers.  The cooler weather seems to be keeping 'Mocha's foliage more greenish purple this year.  Most summers the foliage is a beautiful mocha-brown color.  

Phlox was one of the first perennials I ever grew, and they remain long-blooming favorites in our summer garden.  This one is 'Laura.' 

Happy Bloom Day everyone.  To see more August blooms, please visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Blue(?) Bottlebrush Blooms

Monica of Garden Faerie's Musings visited the Lurie Garden in downtown's Millennium Park on Sunday during her visit to Chicago a couple of weekends ago. She wrote about her visit on her MLive blog, Full Bloom. I haven't been to the Lurie Garden yet, or Millennium Park for that matter. Quite the homebody, I don't get out much! When I'm not working I spend as much time at home as possible, especially in my own garden.

Anyway, Monica posted some lovely photos from her visit to Lurie Garden. The first shot in the post is of Agastache 'Blue Fortune.' Check it out, then compare the bloom color to the same plant in my garden. I wanted that blue, but this is what I got instead:

Well, this is sort of what I got. I didn't enhance this photo at all, yet the blue in the photo doesn't accurately depict the color of these blooms. They're really more the color of dirty dishwater.

They don't look like this either. I took the first shot in the early morning, and this one later in the day, right after sunset. I've tried at several different times of day, and can't capture the dull color of these blooms on camera.
Agastache 'Blue Fortune' is also know as Anise Hyssop. The foliage is very fragrant, and when crushed smells distinctly of anise. It's described on the tags that came with my three plants as follows: "Beautiful spikes of flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden. Add the aromatic foliage to teas, salads, and drinks for a sweetly spicy flavor. Prized for is neat habit, long bloom season, and heat and drought tolerance." It's estimated height is 24-36", and recommended exposure is full sun.

The anise hyssop here is planted in the shade. In it's second summer in our garden, it's over three feet tall and blooming profusely in spite of its less-than ideal light conditions. It's just the color of these flowers that bugs me. They're dull. Dull, dull, dull. Oh, and did I mention they're dull?

There are a number of plants recommended for sun that bloom admirably in part sun, and occasionally, even in full shade. Other examples include some daylilies, phlox, and coneflowers. For example, here's 'Ruby Giant' in the shade with about an hour of dappled afternoon sun in our garden:
There's nothing ruby, or giant, or purple about this coneflower. In this case, I enjoy this demure, pretty, pale pink flower, and I don't think the finches will care what color it was when they're enjoying it's delectable seeds.

I'm thinking about moving the hyssop in the fall to a spot where there's a little more sun - in front of the 'Herbstsonne' Rudbeckia,and behind the 'Goldsturm.'The rudbeckias are planted in the sunniest part of the garden, (still at best part sun.) I wonder if moving the hyssop would perk up the color of the blooms. This fall I hope to move lots of things around in our garden. It's been more of a nursery than a garden as I've been collecting plants and experimenting with what and where to grow stuff in this dry, shady garden these first years I've lived here. I'm very pleased with how well the hyssop is growing and blooming, even in the shade. I love the scent of the foliage, the large size of the plants, and how well they tolerate the challenging conditions of growing in the shallow roots of our large maples. I like the long bloom time. It's just that dull bloom color that bugs me.

Oddly enough, the coneflowers planted in almost full shade are blooming before the ones in part sun. I'm curious to see the buds on the sunnier coneflowers as they open, probably starting in the next few days. I wonder if they'll be brighter in color. I suspect they will. If so that will be even more motivation to move the hyssop and the 'Goldstrum' Rudbeckias.

Do you grow Agastache 'Blue Fortune' in your garden? I'd love to know your opinion of this plant. I'm curious about the color of your blooms, and how that might correlate with how much sun they receive.