July Bloom Day Late Edition

I'm several days late for this month's celebration of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but I couldn't miss this month--it's the height of the garden season, the time of year when everything seems to be blooming in my garden.  Garden work has been put on hold the past two weeks, but the blooms keep a-coming without any help from me.

Daughter and her family, including youngest grandson, were here the week of July 4, so naturally I was focusing on lots of hugging and play time, not gardening.  As soon as they left, Younger Daughter and I took off for nearly a week in Washington, D.C.  It was my first trip ever to D.C., and I hope it won't be my last--there is so much to see and do in this city, I  didn't get to see everything I had wanted to see, though we certainly tried.

While we were gone, Mr. Procrastinator, also known as Mr. I-Don't-Garden, volunteered to keep all my containers watered.  He did a great job, although a downpour one day helped:)  The little red wagon I planted just before the Fourth of July is looking much better than before I left.

This is the time of year when I would welcome visitors to my garden.  Coneflowers are everywhere and attracting bees and butterflies galore.  If you want to see all my coneflowers, check out my last post.  But they're not alone:  my addiction to daylilies the last few years has resulted in an explosion of color that has lasted several weeks and is still going strong.  I have so many different daylilies that rather than show individual photos, I decided to make a collage of some with i.d.'s below.

 Top Row:  Nettie's Rubies*, NOID passalong from friend Barb, NOID yellow.  Middle Row: 'Little Grapette, mystery NOID, newer unnamed hybrid. Bottom Row:  'Tangerine Orange Ruffle', Andrea's Dragonfly*, Prairie Sunrise*.

*Those marked with an asterisk are not registered lilies, so please don't report me to the daylily police:)  They are either passalongs from friends or relatives or one-of-a-kind hybrids that I purchased from our local 5 Acre Daylily Farm and decided to name myself.

Clockwise from top left: Passalong from friend Beckie, Nettie's Coral*, 'Susan Webber,' Spider lily, and 'Tangerine Orange Ruffle'...again.

I'm doing my best to remember all the names of these lilies, but with misplaced tags and my unreliable memory, it gets harder every year, especially when I seem to have so many peach and orange-colored lilies.  Then there are the mystery lilies, like this one that I forgot to include in a collage--I have absolutely no memory of planting this one!

The names I definitely remember are my small collection of "literary lilies" below.  Even though I don't know where I'll put them, I hope to add even more in the next few years as I find them.

Clockwise from top left: 'Divine Comedy,'  'Tennyson,' 'Romeo Is Bleeding,' no idea, 'Canterbury Tales,' and Juliet.*

These are doing well, especially Juliet, one of my self-named lilies.  

She produced so many blooms that poor 'Romeo' looked pretty puny next to her this year.

My favorite deserves a photo all by herself--'Mistress Prynne.' 

 No scarlet letter here--I love her pale ruffled petals.

Besides the daylilies, the Oriental lilies have begun to bloom in the last week.  I'm not sure there is anything that can rival 'Stargazer' for sheer beauty.

Unless you prefer the pristine white and intoxicating fragrance of 'Casablanca.'  A swallowtail butterfly apparently prefers it, flitting among the many blossoms as I was taking photos yesterday.

My love for lilies has branched out to other types as well.  Last year I planted some Orienpets 'Black Beauty.'  I'm glad to see how tall they have gotten this year, tall enough that I don't have to bend down to see their blooms.

A new lily this year growing next to 'Black Beauty' is this one which has me scratching my head.  I remember planting something called Turkish lilies, I believe.  There is a native lily called Turk's cap, but I thought it was only orange.  Hmmm, will have to check back through my records to see if I can find the real name of this one.

Although coneflowers and lilies draw most of the attention in my garden, they are not the only flowers blooming right now. Gray-headed coneflowers Ratibida pinnata rise above the mass confusion in my butterfly garden.

A new bloom that greeted me when I returned from D.C. was the Nicotania.  For the past several years it has re-seeded all over my arbor bed, threatening to take over at times.  I pulled most of the seedlings this year, but I always miss a few.  A few are fine with me, especially as a backdrop for 'Wendy's Wish' Salvia.

Another volunteer/gift from the birds, the pink phlox in the shade garden is beginning to bloom.

Meanwhile, back in the Arbor Bed the 'David' phlox is thriving this year.  I love these pure white blooms!

The annual hibiscus planted in a container is finally producing more than one bloom at a time--unfortunately, they are quickly devoured by Japanese beetles.

The shade garden is lush--and crowded--as it is every summer.  I wish I knew the name of this hosta in the forefront of the garden.  It's one of my favorites, and it is getting huge!

Not everyone likes the blooms on hostas, but I enjoy them, and so do the bumblebees.  This fellow was crawling into every bloom, coming out covered in pollen.

Sophie likes this garden, too--no wonder I can't keep the bird bath filled!

One of my favorites in late summer/early fall, the 'Limelight' is already starting to bloom.  I pruned it quite a bit this spring, but obviously not as much as I thought--it's already reached the roof of our one-story house.

I just can't leave here without one more photo of one of my many coneflowers.  I was thrilled to have another visit from a Monarch on Sunday--this one is a female.  I hope she finds some milkweed in my garden to lay some eggs!

July is such a beautiful, colorful time in the garden; I wish I could stop time for awhile.  It's been very hot so not much garden work has been done, but that's okay--I am content to just sit back and enjoy all the blooms in my garden.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you the 15th of each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  Thanks, Carol, for hosting this showcase of blooms around the world once again.