Fertilizer Friday Blooms

 

I am joining in with our hostess Glenda at “Tootsie Time” for Fertilizer Friday with a few blooms.

 
New blooms today is the opening up of the ‘Queen Charlotte’ anemones or windflowers.
I have had this anemone for several years and it has spread by roots into a very large patch.
In fact i have had to pull some of it up that is trying to take over a nearby hydrangea bush.

I have also transplanted several of its shoots into the Woodland bed. This anemone is the first to bloom of the several anemones in my garden. I added  several varieties over the years to give me some late summer and fall blooms when other flowers are waning.

Also one of the Crinodonna lilies has started to bloom that I have tried for the first time this year.

 
The subtle pink blooms are very pretty unfolding in the evening shadows.

Many have asked about my Crape or Crepe Myrtle growing in Ohio. This one is hardy to zone 6. It is planted at the corner of my garage where it is sheltered from harsh winds and may get a touch of warmth from the garage to survive in my zone 5 garden. The bush was a gift from a cousin in Cleveland Tennessee where they grow everywhere. The first year I had it it died back to the ground and then started sprouting just a little the next spring. Since then it has grown huge and is now scraping against the garage so it will need a good trimming. As you can see it is not coming from just one or a few trunks where it can be trimmed up into a tree shape but from many braches coming from the ground.

It will be full of seeds for those of you who would want some.

 
Also in the garden some of the old faithful flowers blooming includes this ‘Almost Black’ rose. This rose bush is very slow in growing for me even with all of the attention my roses get.
The bloom is actually a darker red than this picture depicts it and the buds are so dark red that they are almost black, so hence the name.

Bell a’ Roma is still throwing on a bloom or two and I am still fighting a few Japanese Beetles for the blooms on all of my roses.

Its yellow and pink tinged edges open with a yellow center.

 
Blue Ice veronica is such a lovely colored blue that I had to show it one more time up close.

 
Bright Eyes or Polka Dot phlox is still blooming in
the middle bed.

Victoria Falls Snapdragons vines are blooming in one of the hanging baskets. This is the first year to try this plant from seeds. It has a lot of  vines coming from the plant but it is not loaded with blooms like I wanted to see from it. The little  trumpet blooms are pretty though with a pink-lavender cups with deep pink veining coming from the center. I am not sure I would try it again though unless it was cascading over a ledge somewhere.

Echinacea Raspberry Truffle’s blooms are starting to fade out now but this new Echinacea has been a favorite in my garden this summer.

The yellow Heleniums are still blooming.This one is in the Hippy bed where color is  definitely needed now.Its little blooms are growing on me.

 
This is the last of the Brachycome Swan River daisies that is still blooming. The others have given up. I did cut them back to see if they would start another flush but since I have never grown them before I do not know whether this works or not on them.

 
This Ostesopermum is getting a lot of growth now in the planter.

As is this pelargonium Red Horizon.

So there are a few new and some old blooms in the garden but many are waning now in the late summer heat. Watering from the rain barrel is ongoing now with the lack of rains here. We did get one little shower early this morning but the dog days of summer are here and summer is flying by way to fast.
Many of the children have gone back or are starting back to school now. I am certain summer vacation went too soon for them.

Everyone have a safe and wonderful weekend.

Happy Gardening,
Lona

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