July Bloom Day

It's the middle of July already--or as we are beginning to call it, "Monsoon Season"--and time for another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  Between all the rainy days and being busy with family activities, I haven't had time to do any work in the garden lately.  But I do take a little stroll each day, admiring all the blooms and ignoring the weeds and anything else that needs to be done.

It is Lilypalooza time, with nearly every daylily blooming right now, creating a riot of color throughout the garden.  I tried to use the collage tool on the simple photo editing program that came with my computer; it didn't produce quite the effect I was looking for, but it gives you an idea of some of the various blooms that I am enjoying at the moment.

I won't take time to show every single lily that is blooming, but I want to share a few of my favorites, including this spider lily whose name I've forgotten.  I don't remember it blooming last year and was afraid I'd lost it, so I'm especially glad to see it reappear this year, looking healthier than ever.

Another nameless favorite is this passalong from friend Beckie.  This dark beauty has very large blooms and a throat that positively glows in the sunlight.

The fair 'Juliet' and her love 'Romeo Lies Bleeding' have been blooming for several weeks--I love happy endings:)

All of the lilies I have purchased were carefully tagged and their names recorded in a garden journal . . . somewhere.  But as they grow larger and the tags disappear who knows where, it becomes more difficult to remember who is who.  I think this might be one of my first lilies, 'Orange Tangerine Ruffle.'

A new daylily I planted late last summer to add to my growing "literary" collection, 'Tennyson' is quickly becoming a favorite.

I purchased five new daylilies last summer and carefully tagged each one.  But over the winter, the tags disappeared on a couple of them.  I thought I could figure out which lily was which by the process of elimination, but I've discovered instead of five new lilies, I have six!  Although I remember five names, I have no recollection of where the mystery sixth one came from.  Consequently, I'm not sure if this is 'Susan Weber'....

. . . or is this 'Susan Weber'??  By the way, 'Susan' is named after a local MG who is a daylily enthusiast.  A plant breeder met her and named one of his new hybrids after her--how cool is that?!

Besides the daylilies, the Oriental lilies are beginning to bloom as well. My daughter's favorite, 'Stargazer,' opened up the day she and her family arrived for a visit.

Another whose name is lost in my disorganized files is Salmon something...

I haven't had time to deadhead anything lately, but this little visitor seemed to appreciate the faded lily bloom for a brief resting spot.  Maybe I'll just forget deadheading altogether:)

Of course, there is so much more blooming right now than lilies.  The red, pink, and nearly blue phlox are fading, but the white 'David' is just coming into his own.  All this rain, however, is producing some less than attractive blooms.

I thought the portulaca in the birdbath planter would not appreciate the rain either, but it is blooming its head off anyway.

The hydrangeas are loving all the moisture, though.  'Vanilla Strawberry' keeps getting bigger and bigger each year and is covered in blooms.  This is a special plant, one given to me by my friend Cheryl  from the UK when she and her husband visited here a few years ago. I'll always treasure this hydrangea as a reminder of our blogging friendship and the memories of that visit.

The blooms eventually gain a pinkish cast, but right now they are more 'Vanilla' than 'Strawberry.'

Moving along to the shade garden, I was surprised to see a few columbines re-blooming.

A few of the Caladium bulbs I planted have also appeared.  And yes, those are plastic forks surrounding the plant--so far they seem to have deterred the voracious rabbits that are proliferating like crazy this year.  Actually, I'm not sure if it's the forks or the fox that has been visiting our property recently, but I'm glad these have escaped bunny damage so far.

The hostas are blooming as well.  I know not everyone likes the blooms on hostas, but I do.

And I'm not the only one--not the best picture, but you might notice the bumblebee to the center right of this photo.  As I was walking around the shade garden, the bumbles were happily flying from one hosta bloom to another, enjoying whatever delights lay within.

A couple other blooms here and there--I showed this Rudbeckia hirta blooming in the roadside garden on my last post.  It's 'Prairie Sun,' which I have grown from seed the past few years.  I treat it  as an annual, though it is actually a short-lived perennial hardy from zones 3-8.  But this year it has self-seeded in several places, much to my delight.  I have other Black-eyed Susans, but I especially love these Green-eyed Susans!

More yellow blooms in the butterfly garden--Ratibida pannata, gray-headed coneflower  is a native that stands out among the yet-to-bloom asters and goldenrod.

Of course, I couldn't complete a Bloom Day post without showing the coneflowers once again.  It's an understatement to say they are swarming with butterflies on a sunny day, the air is so thick with them.

And other creatures enjoy them as well.  Yes, if I could have only one plant in my garden, it would have to be coneflowers.  

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I've been very busy with family affairs lately.  My mother, unfortunately, is back in the nursing home.  On a happier note, my daughter and son-in-law came for a visit last week, bringing my youngest grandson for his baptism and his first visit to Grandma's house.  He's definitely the best bloom in my garden!

For more GBBD posts, you can visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.