I am headed on vacation and will not be able to post the thread on 1 August. Hence I am posting it now. Please do not post on this thread until 1 August. If you do not know the date, click here

Here is the link for theAugust 2011 thread.

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July 2012 Part II

July 2012 Part I

June 2012

May 2012

April 2012

March 2012

February 2012

January 2012

To see all of the 2011 threads, please click on the December 2011 link. The first post will have links to all previous months.

Here's another view of the emerging "red legs"

Then today, I found mushrooms coming up in the same area, some in clusters like these

And some singly like this

I'm not a mushroom expert --- does anyone recognize these?
Molie

Not too much blooming now in my garden - I'd planned this to be a time for garden phlox to shine, but a woodchuck had different plans so that's on hold until next year.

My new little Summer Snowflake viburnum has flowers and fruit at the same time. It's still tiny but I expect great things from it in the future.

The doublefile viburnum I raised from a cutting has fruit too.

Pokeberries are starting to form berries (I know not everyone likes pokeberries but they do have a following)

And the new pieris foliage is lovely. They're just starting to set bud now for next year. There's some Jacob Kline monarda in the background that are past peak but still visited by the hummingbirds.

Claire

Claire, I am envious of your Summer Snowflake! I've been wanting one for quite sometime, and that pieris foliage sure is pretty.

I have an August surprise----a clematis I rooted from a cutting last summer is blooming now:

I am worried about the hummingbird on this Rose of Sharon, she doesn't seem to know how to get the necter from INSIDE the flower. Or maybe she knows something I don't?

Datura:

I swore I would never grow these again, but I'm trying again. I planted these Casa Blancas late this spring:

Teresa

Claire, my neighbor has a corner of his yard full of pokeberries.

August is never my best month. I do have blooms, but as usual, I haven't been able to keep up with the weeding and it doesn't make me happy looking at what I can't get to. I did manage today to make a start and got my front sun bed up to par. It had one weedy corner where California Poppies were wonderful 3 weeks ago, but now are past bloom and full of weeds. Out everything came and I added two Mums for the fall. So at least I have one bed that pleases me.

I do look forward to Hardy Hibiscus in August ....

I can't match Molie's fungi, but I found this one today.

My roses are only blooming sporadically now, a few at a time, as is their custom in August. They'll be back when it cools down.

Yankee Lady rugosa

Blushing Knockout

Pink Knockout

My new hardy begonias, B. grandis 'Heron's Pirouhette', is going strong next to some meadow phlox.

and the new little ceratostigma is quietly blooming while putting out new leaves.

The Royal Standard hostas are beginning to bloom - this one is in front of a huge Blue Angel hosta.

My new shade Hosta-Solomon's Seal garden continues to fill out. I like playing with combinations of the different variegated leaves.

Sedum flowers are in their broccoli stage now, with meadow phlox nearby. The phlox are on their second, or third, or maybe fourth flush - I've lost count.

The Frans Hals daylily is still blooming, to my amazement.

And my Golden Dragon clivia, which bloomed in June, has sent up another flower. In August! This clivia apparently doesn't believe in clivia tradition which says bloom in winter.

Claire

Tereas: Wow! Your garden looks great --- happy and healthy. My poor clematis plants are all so sad but yours look like spring blossoms! Still no hummingbirds to be seen here so thank you for those lovely photos.

Prairiemoon: how big does that hibiscus get and what's its name?

My plants have really, really suffered in the heat and full sun. Just notice my poor (favorite) rose, Just Joey --- now he's called "Just Tired"

Queen Elizabeth's usually bright pink has been bleached out by all the heat

And my Sedum "Red Cauli' has such spindly growth with hardly any leaves so the stalks just flop over.

Here's the only bloom on my Clematis 'Dr. Ruppel'

But on the plus side ---

Oso Easy Paprika

Hydrangea 'Blue Doneu' has rebloomed

My perennial Alcea has come back

And the bees are loving the new Verbena bonariensis 'Lollipop'

This late July/August has been so brutal that I'm forced to stay out of the garden except in the early morning. Weeding is something I only think about now --- mostly while sitting in the shade of our deck with a freshly made lemonade or glass of wine in hand!

Molie

Hibiscus 'Sultry Kiss' showing how it got its name.

Clematis 'Mikelite' new for me this year.

The attack of Petunia Easy Wave in the sun garden.

Salvia Noid. Any help?

Lilium 'Casablanca' gone now.

A new Hosta for me. This one will get really big. Lakeside Love Affaire

Hemerocallis 'Sandra Elizabeth'

Clematis 'Ramona'

Rose 'Smiley Face'

Hydrangea 'Vanilla Strawberry' flopping. It's just a babe.

Hosta Fascination

Iris Immortality

Pennisetum 'Karly Rose'

Rose 'Can Can'

Flower Bract on Hosta 'Miss Grace'

Flower Bract on Hosta 'Beet Salad'

Steve

It was a 10 ft. tall tree but severely failing to thrive. It had rolled, nearly crispy leaves and it even had spider mites. I thought it might have a girdling root and it did. After clipping out 5" of the girdling root, leaving an 18" deep hole open and after filling it with water twice, this little tree wants to live:
June 18, 2012 - just stumped
July 22, 2012 - I added purple sand cherry and others to the end of the garden thinking I'd have a bare stump for quite awhile. Wrong. One month later, the kousa is now in a chicken wire cage to keep squirrels from breaking the new shoots: (yay! he's alive!)

August 18, 2012 - weeds and all, the cage is being filled with new branches:

Some branches are 15" long - in 2 months of growing time. To me, it's all so amazing:

Assuming this little guy makes it to next spring, I will hopefully be posting pictures of white bracts (blossoms).

Kindly,
Jane
P.S. FYI: This was a heavy B&B tree that was planted by a landscaper 3 years ago. Researching this tree's troubles led me to university articles that revealed that more B&B trees across our country are suffering from girdling roots due to improper care and a lack of education provided to the handlers about proper pruning practices BEFORE the trees reach the consumer. Sometimes a girdling root will grow back, sometimes not. To me, ornamental trees play a critical, statuesque role in my gardens, and I don't have enough time left in life to replace their years of growth. Therefore, if one can save a mature root system (sans girdling root), it's worth the while to try. Hope this info may help someone.

We've been doing research for a smaller tree with interesting features for an open area and fell in love with the dark, defoliating bark of Acer griseum (Cinnamon Bark Maple). Today we found a beautiful specimen growing in a display garden at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, CT. Yes, it was B+B when they put in the garden this year, but I'm very confident in the quality of what they sell at Broken Arrow.

This summer has been a tough one in my yard. I was desperate to save my roses and so cut them way back a while ago. They were sad little stumps when I finished. Now they are perking up, but I think that's more from the rain and cooler temps. Trees and shrubs are big investments, and you did a wonderful thing to tackle your Kousa's problem.

Molie

Rose 'Carefree Delight'

One of the Sedums, probably Autumn Joy, is just beginning to show some pink.

I have a number of hostas that bloom in late summer, most of them white and fragrant, and I have many of them planted at the front of the porch along with some miscanthus with new plumes. Hosta 'Royal Standard' is blooming now, joined this year by the hardy Begonia grandis and some ceratostigma. And meadow phlox, of course.

Hosta 'Royal Standard'

As far as I know the late blooming white hostas are Hosta plantaginea hybrids or cultivars. I like the bloom in late August so I keep adding more of the plantaginea hostas. They're really slow to mature though - I planted two of the Hosta plantaginea species in 2009 and one of them is finally blooming for the first time this year.

I've also got assorted variegated plantaginea types but they're still too young to flower. I dream of having a yard filled with white fragrant hosta blooms in August, but it will be a while yet.

An inherited hosta, maybe Hosta lancifolia, is blooming down by the road and a volunteer purple Adenophora (I think) planted itself right in with the purple hosta.

Adenophora and hosta

A volunteer Joe Pye Weed inserted itself in between an Eastern red cedar and a grass.

Sweet Autumn Clematis is beginning to bloom. For the first time this year I'm seeing seedlings in the garden, and I wonder if I'm going to have the invasive problems DtD has been warning about. She's on the Cape, not so far from here, and the climate is similar.

My one remaining intact garden phlox, Phlox 'Grenadine Dream', is still blooming in the Phlox Protection Zone (no woodchucks allowed) and if you look behind it you can see another tall phlox which just may be about to bloom! This is one of the rescued phlox and I have no idea which one it is. I dug up about a dozen defoliated green sticks and just planted them in the fenced in area wherever they'd fit in between the roses and Siberian irises. So far many of the phlox have survived to the point of putting out leaves, although I've probably lost some.

Rescued phlox

I may get some phlox flowers yet this year.

Claire

You are correct that Hostas that flower at this time of year and have white or near white flowers are descendents of the species plantaginea. H. plantaginea is highly fragrant and will give 6 inch long pure white flowers. But members of this family are not slow to mature. They will benefit from full day sun at our latitude. Other members of this group are Stained Glass, Guacamole, Fragrant Bouquet, Sweet Innocence, and Cathedral Windows. Here's what Cathedral Windows looks like.

Steve

Cathedral Windows is gorgeous!

Maybe the slow growth here is just because I have my hostas in shady areas. I still cringe at the memory of crispy burned hosta foliage in too much sun in the old garden.

I put in two Ming Treasures last year but neither has bloomed yet, and a Diana Remembered this year. These all get a fair amount to sun but not full day. I also couldn't resist a little Guacamole from Home Depot which I planted in the woods.

Years ago I planted the double Aphrodite, but it only bloomed once. Photos of Aphrodite taken on Sept. 3, 2009 blooming with the White Wood Aster (I just noticed a little jewelweed flower there too).

Last year I moved Aphrodite to the woods with some other plantaginea relatives, since it was taking up too much space by the house without consistently blooming. Royal Standard blooms there in the woods so Aphrodite can take her time without pressure to perform.

Claire

agastache'blue fortune'with zinnia 'uproar rose'

Claire, that is a nice yellow Clivia. I can remember a time when I just wanted a Clivia as a houseplant in the worst way. Yours looks great and are they easy to get them to bloom? The way I'm taking care of my houseplants at the moment, makes me want to avoid any new additions though. (g) And my Sedum AJ are about at the same point as yours.

Pixie Lou, thanks for continuing to post photos of your Tithonia. I had seeds three years in a row and never started them, so it's great to see what it grows like. Are you finding a lot of visitors to it?

Molie, what is that shrub to the right of your Hollyhock, it's variegated right?

Steve, I love that Hibiscus 'Sultry Kiss'. Love the way it opens and love the name!
And the dark Clematis with that very noticeable light center is another pretty flower.
'Beet Salad' Hosta....lol. So funny. Nice dark bud presentation, what does it look like when it opens?

That is a very encouraging outcome for your dogwood, Jane. I would not have thought to do any of that, to get it to grow back healthier or expected such great results. I learned something new, thanks.

Bill, Crape Myrtle.... I've wanted to have one for a long time. I want too many plants....lol.
Very pretty color and great next to that golden plant. The foliage looks dark. Which variety did you get? Pushing the zones again, or did you find one that is hardy in your zone?

franeli, How did you get your Agastache 'Blue Fortune' to look so good this late in August? Did you cut it back earlier? Also making me very sorry I didn't start those zinnia seeds. :-) Looks great!

Okay....this is the last of the summer garden before the mums open up.....

Peppers in with the Perennials….

How is your cactus doing?

My cactus is still living is about all I can say about it. :-( I had a feeling that my clay soil might not be what it wants. It looks okay, it's just not growing much at all. I have it on the East side of a pretty full bed that is in full sun from sunup to sundown, but maybe I need to move it to the south side. Add something more for drainage. Would you move in fall or spring?

That is a really pretty Crape Myrtle. You must be so tickled with it and I LOVE the name too! I still have some renovations to do in the house and in the garden, so I am putting a hold on any new aquisitions, but it's going on my list. :-) Plus now I will get to wait and see how yours does over the winter. Or two. lol That combo is nice. I've seen that 'Gold Mop'. nice choice.

Claire, thank you for the link on hummingbird feeding; very interesting. I don't have to worry about that little bird anymore. :)
Gorgeous white flowering hosta, BTW.

Pixielou--beautiful tithonia! I tried to start some fron seed and got zero germination.

Molie--thank you; despite what you claim there seem to be some very pretty blooms going on in your yard. :)

Steve----Sultry Kiss is GORGEOUS, and I love that Ramona clematis. Your gardens look very healthy!

Beautiful crape myrtle, Bill.

Franeli---the combination of pink zinnias and 'Blue Fortune' agastache is stunning. I'd like to add that combo to my garden next year.

Prairiemoon----the russian sage in the background of your pictures is so pretty. It's one of those plants that everyone but me seem to be able to grow.

Crape Myrtle, Dynamite...I think:

I was trying out white cannas in the white garden. I think they are too yellowish to stay there:

Hardy hibiscus:

Queen Red Lime zinnia; I'm not as impressed with it's coloring as I was last year when I saw it in someone else's garden:

Lots of sunflowers:

Ann, your cactus would easily tolerate all the sun you can give it. I suggest mounding the planting area even slightly. It doesn't even have to be noticeable but I'd say a gentle mound 4 or 5 feet in diameter with the plant at the high center. Mulching with small stones will help a lot too as it tends to stay high and dry. Wet and cold will kill with rot, while cold alone is no problem for that species of Opuntia. They can grow even into zone 4 or colder. I've seen them wild in Wyoming and Canada as well!

Bill, I put it on the East side of the bed for better drainage on the down slope of that bed, but I think I can still get the same effect on the Southeast side. Mounding it is a great idea. I've done that with other plants. And I hadn't thought of stones for mulch. That might be especially helpful going into the winter. Thanks!

I don't have any space that's suitable for that regimen so one of my two clivias waits until it's warm enough to go out on the deck and then flowers. The other clivia hasn't bloomed yet even though it's now as big as the other.

Teresa/girlcat: Those sunflower pics are wonderful, particularly the back-lit one.

One of my cotoneasters has red berries, contrasting nicely with the Yucca Color Guard next to it.

I have another hosta just beginning to bloom. It was sold as Hosta montana (elata) with white flowers. Obviously it doesn't have white flowers but I like the lavender/purple stripes. I did some googling but didn't find an ID. Maybe Steve has an idea? It's in my new hosta-solomon's seal bed down by the road.

Claire

Prairiemoon, I remarked on it on another thread too, but it deserves repeating how pretty your pink echinacea look against the backdrop of other pink flowers whose name escapes me. I love echinacea, but for some reason I can't get them to grow here.

Franeli, your blue agastache looks wonderful with the pink zinnias and echinacea.

And Bill your crape myrtle is fabulous. I wish they would grow here, but I'm just too far north.

I'm also envious of your tithonia, Pixielou. What an amazing plant! It must be such fun to watch it grow and grow! Again I'm cursed by my zone 4 (which I think borders on being zone 3).

Thanks everyone for the wonderful pictures.

There is a montana hybrid named Elata. But it is supposed to have light lavender flowers that bloom in June and July. How old is your plant? If this is its first year then it might be Elata, just blooming later than usual. Below is a link to the Library page on Elata. Remember that immature plants often look quite different from grown up ones.

BTW, Aphrodite needs regular supplemental water to bloom. Its rather finicky that way. Move it close to a water source and you are more likely to have luck with it blooming. Mine is in tight bud right now. If it bloom I'll post some pics.

PM2, Beet Salad has dark purple flowers. But I've been doing some crossing with this one, so I've been tearing the flowers off. Beet Salad's claim to fame is that it has a single cell read margin in the leaf. You really need to look close to see it, but it's there.

Steve

I didn't know that immature hostas "often look quite different from grown up ones." So hostas are like birds? More confusion in my life (sigh).

I got this one in June 2011 as a small plant from Forest Farm so it's still a youngster - I'll keep an eye on it to see what it grows into. I'm fine with another hosta that blooms in late August rather than in June or July when there's a lot of other stuff blooming. As for even later hosta blooming, I've lost sight of a couple of Red Octobers behind a huge Blue Angel (it wasn't huge when I planted it). I hope they bloom, but I may have to move them to see them next year.

This pic was taken on Sept. 24, 2008 of Hosta Red October blooming with goldenrod just before a forsythia swallowed it. Not appropriate for this August thread, but I did want to mention the late blooming hosta. Are there others you know of that bloom really late?

I may move Aphrodite again to give her more water, but I planted her in with two plantaginea species without labels and I'm not sure if I can distinguish them by leaves alone (I think I remember where she is...). I'd hate to move the wrong one.

Claire

I've never been the biggest fan of hostas. That mundane run of the mill hosta you see everywhere - the one with the droopy lavendar flowers - really turns me off. But seeing Claires photos and Steves photos - gosh - I may be considering one. I also took a recent trip to the Acton Arboretum - they have a huge hosta garden. Maybe there will be hosta in my future!

girlcat - absolutely lovely sunflowers. I have 1 sad sunflower in bloom this year - photo below. Normally the birds do a number on my seedlings.

As for my tithonia - heres another overall view of the planter. The shepherd hook is a little taller than my head. You can see my zinnias and monarda trying to peek out.

I've had tons of red admiral butterflies feasting on the tithonia. As well as bumble bees. I recently collected about 25 seed heads and planted the whole seed heads around my property as an experiment (I successfully grew echinacea this year by planting the whole seed head in the fall. I got close to zero germination on my WS echinacea.)

Here are the zinnias peeking out.

And the monarda fighting for sunlight

I will say that winter sowing was a success for me. I was surprised to get blooms on both my rudbeckia and my hollyhocks this year.

A random echinacea in the garden

My sole sad sunflower

And now for the items I did not plant - these awesome looking mushrooms sprouted up.

And yikes - purple loosestrife growing on the banks of the pond.

I don't believe Iris Immortality reblooms. This is its first year for me and it has bloomed late, I believe.

Funny you should say that about Hostas. I'm working on a presentation tentatively titled "Not your Grandmother's Hostas Anymore." Here's what I see when I walk around my neighborhood.

The Green One

and The Green and White One (notice how the center burns out in the sun)

What I would like to see is this:
Guacamole (fragrant flowers, full sun)

Liberty, (looks like it's on fire when it emerges in Spring)

and June (changes color based on the amount of sun it receives)

There are so, so many more.

Steve

The new ones are so much more beautiful. I can't match your collection, but I do love

Big Daddy

Paul's Glory

and
Guardian Angel

Claire (who just realized that all of these pictures were taken after rain - hostas look good with raindrops)

First of all, I am amazed at all the magnificent hostas ; our yard has so much sun and so few shady areas to tucked them into. Big dose of 'Hosta envy' here.

Claire -- love your Hosta 'Red October' but wonder how did it get that name with such blue flowers? I absolutely crave your purple striped Hosta. Is it, in fact, Hosta 'Elata' and is that a purple/white striped variety? I couldn't tell exactly from the link Steve provided, but I'd like to track one down. It has a unique, Columbine-like flower head.

Steve, I googled your Hosta 'Beet Salad'. It's magnificent with those dark red stems, plus the fact that it stands up probably gives it slug protection, I'm guessing. The blossom reminds me of an artichoke. Could you post a picture of one in bloom? I agree that many hostas are uninspiring with their shriveled thin leaves and prefer hostas with thicker, more textured leaves or striking leaf variations like the 'Liberty' you showed.

Bill, your combination of Crape Myrtle 'Pink Velour' and the Chamaecyparis 'Golden Mop' is striking, probably as much from a distance as it is up close. The texture of 'Golden Mop' plays so well against the Crepe Myrtle with its crinkled blossoms.

Franeli, what a beautiful area with Agastache 'Blue Fortune, the magenta Zinnia and the Echinicea (which one?) tucked in the back.

PM2, to answer your question, the shrub next to my Hollyhock is a variegated Wieglea that we put in about eight years ago. I don't remember the name but it is a MONSTER. I cut it back viciously every spring and it's now grown back to about 7' x 7'. It pretty much takes up the whole garden area underneath one of our bedroom walls.

Girlcat, love the yellow and red sunflowers! When I showed your photos to my husband he said, "We have to get some of those next year!" And what is that against the blue sky in your ninth photo? Looks similar to something we have ( Heliopsis helianthoides 'Prairie Sunset') ---- perhaps related to it.

PixieLou, is that an old-fashioned Hollyhock/Alcea? I had one that I kept going with seeds, but then I lost it two summers ago ---wimpy plant, no flowers, thus no seeds to save.

Molie

I think I have a green hosta and a green and white one that we inherited with the property. They're ok as filler plants on a steep and shady narrow garden between two buildings. Perhaps that might be considered erosion control.

Hosta 'Red October" has red stems, hence the name. I just went out and bushwhacked over to where I have three Red Octobers hiding behind a Blue Angel. They probably would be redder if they were in a bit more sun. I want to move them but I'll wait for them to bloom this year before the move.

Hosta in hiding:

I still don't know if the purple striped flower belongs to Elata, although it could well be. Apparently they're really variable and this one is young and maybe will change. I checked my photos and it bloomed the same last year, so maybe this is the mature flower. Steve might know about a named hosta with a similar flower that you could order - mine came from Forest Farm but was described as having white flowers. They're out of stock now.

Claire

I just googled hosta with purple striped flowers and found Hosta 'Gosan Gold Mist'. I don't think this is mine (leaves are different) but it's beautiful!

Claire

Morning Glory. Not uncommon but the color always amazes!

Crape Myrtle is fully bloomed now.

Cannas have grown like tropical giants this year. Even though they are the common species type, I think the flowers are really nice.

I usually tear off the flower petals of Beet Salad and throw them on the grass since I'm doing some crosses with it. But I took a few pictures this morning.

Here's Beet Salad in tight bud. You can see the hand pollinated pistil underneath.

Here's what the torn off flower looks like.

Here are what the seed pods look like.

Here's an even nicer flower. This one is from H. Miss Grace.

Here's what Miss Grace looks like in tight bud.

Here's a flower bract from Hosta Squash Casserole with the morning dew.

Here's what the flower looks like. I'm not crossing this one.

Some non Hosta pics. The Knockout Rose looked particularly good this morning.

Red fruit on Ilex Verticillata

Steve --- Regarding those hosta pictures --- I sat here with my mouth open! Each one was more spectacular. The flower bract and the blossom on Hosta Squash Casserole are magnificent. I couldn't get over the flower from Miss Grace --- its coloration is similar to Claire's H. montana (?) with the white edges. Does the blossom form look kind of like a columbine as it opens? That's one of the things that struck me with Claire's hosta. Where do you get your hostas? I didn't realize you also hybridized them. I'm impressed!

As usual ---- I look at everything others have grown and keeping adding things to my "buy" list for next year.

Molie

Steve, my next door neighbor's front walk, looks just like your photo of The Green One. Only now it has dead brown flower stalks. (g)

Thanks for the photo of the bloom on Beet Salad. Very pretty flower and the flower on Squash Casserole is very different too. I have been looking at hostas for fragrance and flowers lately too. I don't have more than a half dozen.

I divided a Guacamole in the spring and I was so surprised that it filled right in and bloomed this year. It was only about a 1/4 of a plant. It moved from more sun to almost full shade and it looks better in that position and bloomed more.

I also have a red stemmed Hosta that I really like, called 'Fire Island'

Claire, I would have the same problem not having a place that is below 60 at night for the Clivia. We put the heat at 64 at night, that’s as low as we go. And our basement is warm.

Thank you spedigrees…. I wonder why echinacea won’t grow there?

Thanks molie, I would actually like that Weigela monster. I also like a shrub that can be cut back in spring and come right back to full size in a season. I guess you have to have the space for it though.

Bill, as usual, your photos are so clear and color is great. Nice healthy foliage on those morning glories. Using some sort of fertilizer? Crape Myrtle…surprised to see the blooms do remind me of velour….lol. Going to be a nice addition to your garden.

Ann, I just feed with Miracle grow every 2-3 weeks. I am really pleased with the Crape Myrtle.

Last year I dug out a couple of beds in my cottage garden and planted vegetables for the first time (aside from a handful in pots over the years). I've really enjoyed it (and so has the woodchuck that recently showed up). My brother made me 2 tuteurs that we just put in. It adds to much.

I don't often get lucky with H. macrophylla blooming, but I guess the warm winter helped this one out. It has been covered in blooms. With all the rain, the new growth has all but covered them up.

I love Ligularia 'Britt Marie Crawford'.

This is a flower carpet rose. I'm a big fan of the flower carpet series since they are so disease resistant and japanese beetles don't seem to care for them.

I gotta have hibiscus in the late summer garden.

Ironweed has a gorgeous purple color. Over the past couple years it has become a rampant reseeder. They're not so easy to pull out!

Ironweed and Joe Pye weed comingling. A favorite rest area for the bees.

I'm bummed this photo came out blurry. Butterfly bush 'Lo and Behold' does a great job attracting butterflies. The threadleaf plant in front of it is Ironweed 'Iron Butterfly'. Can't wait for it to bloom.

There's so much more in bloom now and much more to come. I can't wait for the sweet autumn clematis to burst onto the scene!

Molie - my hollyhocks came from trade seeds. They were labeled "pink hollyhocks". Of the 4 plants that have bloomed this year, 3 are like the one I posted, and the 4th plant has double darker pink blooms. Unfortuneately some critter came by and knocked over the stalk of the double pink, so I won't be able to save seed from that one. But I still have 2 or 3 plants that didn't bloom this year, so maybe one of those will turn out to be a double pink. Or maybe another surprising pink.

prairiemoon - as you can tell from the photos, I will have plenty of tithonia seeds! so I figured I could easily experiment with planting some seed heads. I'm also going to save some as seeds and wintersow them. I just love this plant.

These are WS zinnias that are thriving under the tithonia.

Phlox noid. Phlox just isn't happy at my house. I must have transplanter 50 plants from my moms house. Only 3 have survived and gone on to bloom.

And of the 50 gladiolas I planted this year, this is the only one with flowers.

Bill--I googled the white ginger and yes, it does look like the white canna.

prairiemoon--thank you! The white hibiscus is the star of my white garden. The last picture I posted is of a multibranching sunflower, and I cannot remember the variety. I will definately grow it again; it has been keeping me well supplied with cut flowers.

Claire and spedigrees....thank you; I love the sunflowers.

pixie lou---I used to not do well with sunflowers, so I no longer direct seed them. I start them in aluminum lasagna pans with lids in April until they are past the stage where critters want to eat them. Then when I transplant them I put toilet paper roll cutworm collars around them. Your tithonia is so beautiful. My neighbor is planning to install a white vinyl fence and I want to hide it; tithonia would look lovely up against it. That white glad is beautiful(more white garden inspiration); my glads didn't do well at all this year.

Steve---I am very impressed with your hosta knowledge and collection. I have the usuals, but now inspired to add a few more interesting ones. That photo of your knockout rose is great! Very pretty.

Bill--your crape myrtle is stunning in full bloom. I hope mine grows up to be as beautiful.

thyme2dig---gorgeous blue tuteurs!!!! I WANT!!!! It adds such a nice touch to your garden.

This thread is very long, but I'll add a couple more pics:

An August garden bouquet:

Teresa

Healthy looking zinnias, pixielou!

Girlcat... you're doing a nice job of coordinating your colors. And the bouquet is SO pretty!

My new little Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' is still blooming away - it's maybe three feet tall now.

Knockout Rose is back in business.

White Wood Aster is everywhere.

One of my rescued phlox, which had a few leaves too high up for the woodchuck to nosh, turns out to be David's Lavender. You can't see it here, but the stem is bare down to the ground.

It's right next to Grenadine Dream, which is winding down, and I'm hoping for a red-purple display next year like spedigrees posted.

Claire

Lots of images

Claire