New Blooms and Re-Blooms

Now that it's late summer in the garden, many flowers have faded but many more are just coming into their own.  The heat of August is intense and we have had little rain but certain flowers seem to love just those conditions.  Monarda punctata is one that likes it hot and dry.  It should continue to bloom right on through September.  Planted in front of the vegetable bed, hopes are high that the fall garden will benefit from the many bees that come to visit this plant whose common name is Spotted Horsemint. Butterflies love this one too. 

As she has done all spring and summer, Belinda's Dream is flushing with blooms.  The foliage has stayed beautiful with absolutely no spraying.  The bush has grown from a small 18" high to 30" in height.  Of course, I've been deadheading and cutting blooms for indoor bouquets which has kept the bush nice and tidy.  The typical pattern is for three buds to be grouped together on one stem. 

Sometimes a grouping of plants just works.  This one has done well in a partially shaded corner next to one of the rain barrels.  Blue Plumbago, Plumbago auriculata, blooms much more profusely when grown in full sun but it fits nicely here growing long, gently arching branches.  The clusters of blue flowers show up well against  the red blooms of the miniature climber, Rosa 'Red Cascade,'  in the background.  Dracaena deremensis 'lemon lime,' is growing in a container nestled in among the branches of the Plumbago.

A new addition to the sunny part of the backyard garden is Tecoma alata 'Orange Jubilee.'  More cold tolerant than the more common Yellow Elder or Tecoma stans, this sprawling shrub's foliage will serve as winter interest against the fence.  During spring and summer the orange trumpet shaped blooms attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  (I've only seen one hummingbird this summer and it was sipping from the tall red pentas.)

A re-bloomer in the garden is the Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum.  This shrub has proven itself cold hardy, heat tolerant and a beautiful bloomer. 

Many colors of  Pentas lanceolata are blooming in the summer heat. These butterfly and hummingbird attractors never stop blooming except when frosty temperatures arrive. They rebound quickly from a central Florida winter most years. January 2010 was an exception.

Tiger Swallowtail

Impatient gardener that I am, I purchased several new Pentas to fill the bare spots in the garden until some of the older plants returned.  That wasn't  entirely a bad thing to do.  A new color, cranberry, was added and it has proven to be a butterfly favorite.  Pentas are so easy to grow.  They are drought tolerant and bloom continuously without needing any extra fertilizer.   They fill in and add color to both shady and sunny areas of the garden. 

The late summer garden is going strong even through hot, humid days and nights.  Cooler temperatures will be coming though.  Evidence is in the buds forming on the fall blooming red firespikes, cassias, and forsythia sage.  There is always something going on in the garden. 

Growing in the Rain

It was mid-May when a new entry-way garden was started.  All the rain we have been getting this week has enlivened the new plantings.  After a very dry time this past month, rain has fallen every day for the last week.  It has been gentle and just the perfect thing for plants and gardens. 

The pink impatiens are bordering the new pathway using the pot-in-pot method.  When these flowers need to be protected from cold weather, I can just pop them out of the ground still in their pots and replace them with new pots of  annuals that will be more cold hardy.

Lots of caladium bulbs were planted to border the area and to add color in front of the azaleas when they are not blooming.  The red ones with the freckles are Red Flash and the white ones are White Christmas.

Four Mona Lavender plants were placed within the caladiums fronting the azaleas.  This past winter, Mona Lavender planted in the back garden made it through the record-breaking cold just fine.  The hope is these will be able to hold the area after the caladiums go to sleep for the winter.

The little gardenia tree hasn't bloomed again but it is putting out new leaves and seems happy in its spot.

To the right of the driveway huge azaleas and yellow walking iris have been spruced up a bit with a new border of liriope and caladiums.  These caladiums are Frieda Hemple. 

Earlier this spring I found boxes of caladium bulbs for sale at one of the warehouse clubs.  I just love going food shopping and coming home with something for the garden.

In fact, I was able to buy three native coonties at my local produce stand.  Food and garden shopping all in one spot is my new favorite way to shop. 

The area to the right of my front door was looking a little plain and left out of all the new plantings, so I planted the three new coonties and some pale pink pentas in front of the existing virburnum hedge.  Of course, I had already spread some caladium bulbs this spring .  The caladiums add some color to the existing liriope border. 

The rain has helped the struggling grass look better so for now there will be a small area of grass left.  But, I do have more grass elimination plans to be implemented when cooler weather comes along. 

My Favorite April Blooms

It's hard to pick favorites.  Every day as I find a new bloom it becomes my favorite.  I know my two roses have been shown many times before, but really can you ever see too many pictures of such beautiful flowers?  Belinda's Dream and Knockout Radrazz have been blooming since February.  This month they have been more beautiful than ever.  The Florida Gold sedum is blooming tiny yellow flowers which were a complete surprise to me.  The blanket flowers were a little late in showing off but late April brought an abundance of blooms.  Bleeding Heart clerodendrum is a new addition to the back fence in the shady corner and it is doing a great job of brightening that dark spot.  The pentas which have been a mainstay for color at My Garden Path were knocked to the ground this winter and are only just now putting out leaves about 6" above ground.  Tall red pentas were purchased and planted earlier this month to give the butterflies a reason to return.  Those pentas are such workhorses.  They just pump out blooms constantly.  When the purple, pink and white ones finally grow back to their former glory butterflies should abound once again.  I love to grow several different salvias and this Victoria Blue is a favorite of mine which just started putting out its long purple plumes earlier this month. 

I hope all my gardening friends are enjoying many, many blooms in their April gardens. 

Reworking the Sunny Corner

This corner in the backyard adjoins the bed along the chainlink fence.  It is an area that receives mid-day to afternoon sun.  There was a golden dewdrop, duranta repens planted in the back corner with a multi-color lantana, lantana camara, across the front.  The golden dewdrop was killed to the ground in January just as it was last winter.  It was decided that another butterfly and hummingbird attractor that could make it through cold weather was needed instead of the golden dewdrop which was relocated to a less prominent spot. 

 

A three feet tall red bottlebrush tree callistemon citrinus was planted where the dewdrop had been.  This specimen will be full of bristly red blooms very soon.  Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds all love them.  Since this small tree will be green during winter as well as summer, it will provide some privacy screen to the chainlink fence area.  When it achieves its full height it will be around 12 feet tall.

 

Beautiful blooms are imminent.

Blue-eyed grass is a native plant that grows in damp open fields.  This corner should be a perfect spot for it.  Placed as a border grass in front of the bottlebrush its sweet little blue flowers add interest to its lush greenness.

The lantana was also killed to the ground but it was left to come back between the border of blue-eyed grass and the bottlebrush.  Should it not make it back to the land of living plants it will be replaced most likely with a mixture of red and white pentas. 

The sunny corner package.

They Made It!

I know that whining about the big freeze has been very much overdone at My Garden Path, so today I declare that I am officially over it. 

Clockwise from Top Left - Fig, Firespike, Butterfly Ginger, Papyrus, Crinum, Ice Cream Banana

Many of the plants I thought were never to be seen again have begun to push through the oak leaf mulch.  Soon they will back better than ever just as they were last spring.

Clockwise from Top Left Ending in the Middle - Cat's Whisker, Penta, Canna, Tibouchina, Passion Vine, Grand NainxSumatrana Banana, Butterfly Cassia


The list of plants not showing signs of life is very short:  a few Hibiscus, Firebush, Pseuderanthemum, Clerodendrum.  By the end of March if they haven't woken up they will be replaced with other more cold hardy specimens.  The only one I will really miss is the Firebush, so I may get another of those for the hummingbirds.


At last, I'm able to go out into the garden and see life and growth!