Garden Bloggers Bloom Day for July

One of my fave daylilies (unknown cultivar but I call it Orange Julius)

Last weekend I was going to do a post about the plants that were managing to bloom in my garden despite the drought. But then almost all last week we had rain - about 4 inches worth! It was a wonderful respite. And since I never got around to that post, I'll do one for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted every 15th of the month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens (shh, I'm late!).

A nice, tall no-name daylily

This year the daylilies bloomed very early for me. I was kind of sad about that but I've been surprised by how many of them put on a second show. Usually they're too pooped and it's too much in the heart of summer for them to put forth much. Guess they had enough time to get revitalized before August. Or maybe I actually remembered to fertilize them. :-)

Red Cascade miniature climbing rose

Nothing stops my 'Red Cascade' mini climber from blooming and growing. You don't know how many times I've had to cut this back just because it's gotten too big.

Little Women rose

Little Women, a Storybook rose, is also quite hardy. It's petite but has never shown a sign of disease. It blooms in spurts for me but very often.

'Firecracker' cuphea

I plunked a few of these cupheas in my raised bed when I couldn't find anything else to put in there (I've been redoing this one particular bed over and over!). I'm glad I did because the hummers love these.

'Goldsturm' rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan)

The black-eyed Susans are starting to flower. This is the quintessential July bloomer for me.

'Robert Poore' phlox (Phlox paniculata)

Last year I grew phlox for the first time and I'm very happy I did. This 'Robert Poore' phlox is a particularly good one. It blooms non-stop and is very attractive to critters. Now that I have a new pergola and deck near this plant, I've had the pleasure of watching hummingbirds at work there. (Oh, I haven't shown you my new hangout yet! I will soon.)

'Black Beauty' lily

A few of you know I've been fretting over my new lilies - 'Black Beauty'. But I've been told it takes a few years for lilies to take hold. This is an older variety that I hope hangs around for me.

Figs!

Okay, this may not look like a bloom but the blooms are inside the green skin. I'm trying to espalier a fig tree, and this year I've even gotten a few off the tree (although the birds seem to be beating me to them).

Other plants blooming this month include roses, nicotiana, 'Coral Nymph' salvia, 'Black and Blue' salvia, coreopsis, petunias, waterlilies, Verbena bonariensis (always!), wild arugula (again, always!), and hummingbird plant (aka flame acanthus). Be sure to visit May Dreams Gardens to see what folks from around the world have blooming this month!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2012. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.