Garden Blogger Bloom Day - August 2014

Welcome to my one day late Garden Blogger Bloom Day for August 2014.

Here is Ohio, US we have hardiness zone 5b and I can tell you that all in all we had an awesome summer for gardening.

I was a much lazier gardener than last year so weeding still needs to be done, deadheading, and splitting but I can tell you this:  I loved this summer in the garden!  I strongly agree with Carol at May Dreams gardens that this has been the best summer in a long long time.

There are three beds in my garden that you can't pass by without noticing: The Roses Bed in the back by the patio, the Outside Path Bed which leads to the patio and in front of the house to the North is the North Front Bed loaded with July and August blooming plants.  So lets start the tour, shall we?

Roses Bed on august 16, 2014

My climbing rose "Blaze" looked awful at the beginning of the season.  It has recovered! The carpet rose is blooming almost non-stop!

Spider Flowers or Cleomes (re-seeding annual)

Roses and Spider Flowers

The yellow flowers are  the Rosa "Sunny" Knock Out® (zone 5)

 Rosa "RADrazz"Knock Out® (zone 5)

The highlight for my rose bed for the last couple of weeks has been this dainty but showy annual that I received as a gift from a gardener friend.  Four plants put a big show at the front of the border.  I will try to propagate it from some cuttings and save them in the sun room for next year.  The flower shape, the long blooming time and the color had me hooked at the first sight!

Lisianthus or Eustoma gradiflorum "Mariachi Carmine"

The Outside Border by the path is also dominated by hot colors  this time of the year.

Several clumps of Echinacea "Pink Mist" cool off the the red blooms of the Lobelia Cardinalis (z.3-9) . The purple Lobelia gerardii"Vedrariensis" (z.3-8), stages the showy"Fireball" Hardy Hibiscus (z. 5-9). The yellow orange bloom at the front is Ligularia Dentata "Marie-Britt Crawford" which I grow mainly for the dark burgundy foliage and wetness tolerance. (z. 3-9)

Hardy Hibiscus "Fireball"

Back view..a better view don't you think?

Closer view of the HOTTIES in this border

In the front North Bed, the Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta is the eye catcher in this front view of the bed.

Last fall a couple nice plants were added to this bed as this hot pink Echinacea below:

Echinacea purpurea "Pow Wow Wild Berry"

In the side few of the bed, beside the squirrel who photo-bombed this photo, you see the crescendo of plants with one exception.

The exception is Anise hyssop who was not supposed to be that tall, or so I thought.  In September this will be moved towards the back. Love the leaves' fragrance (which keeps deer away from it) and love the color of the bloom. A bees and butterflies magnet, is a must for a sunny late season garden.

Agastache "Blue Fortune"

Somewhere in there you can see the Joe Pye Weed, Eutrochium purpureum 'Little Joe', another new plant from last fall.  It is interesting that I saw this plant combination in a couple blogs this month and in a couple of gardens that I pass by walking.  It must be a "classic" combination that I was not even aware of.

Behind Joe, red Monarda or Bee Balm is almost done blooming but the eye gets lifted by the Cosmos (annuals started from seeds directly ouside) who are reaching for the sky.

Cosmos "Sensation Picotee" (annual)

More annuals were planted in the back side of the bed to give the neighbors something nice to look at like Larkspur and Zinnias but the blooms were scattery, floppy and disappointing in this bed so will not be shown here. What I must show is the well known Coneflowers or Echinaceas,  favorite  perennial in our garden always visited by either butterflies or bees.

This North Front Bed also called the "The invasive Bed" because many of the plants are spreading fast and trying to dominate.  The winner this year and for past couple of years is the most annoying fast spreading plant: Gooseneck loosetrife.  I try to remove some every year but I can't get myself to eradicate it yet.  Just look at this picture from July and you will understand why.

Gooseneck loosetrife or Lysimachia clethroides (zones 3-8)

So what is blooming in your August Garden?  Leave comments with your likes and questions please.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at  May Dream Gardens.  Visit her blog to see what is in bloom this month in gardens from many climates and countries.