Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, August 2010

Once again, I am happy to participate in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. August is a bit of a slow month for blooms in my garden. The flowers of June and July have faded, and the September show of Sedums, Asters, and Sweet Autumn Clematis have not yet begun. And since I tend to grow my houseplants more for foliage and form than flowers, there is not a lot going on there either. But I do have a few things to share.

Indoors:

Aglaonema 'Sethimankong' with its greenish spathe-and-spadix flower

Aglaonema 'Siam Aurora' The white flower stands out against the red-patterned leaves. There is an old spadix visible as well.

Gymnocalycium stenopleurum bud just shy of opening. Photographs of a fully open flower can be seen here, in a post from last October.

Outdoors:

Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb'

Salvia nemorosa 'East Friesland.' My older plants are pretty much spent, but the ones I planted in a new bed this spring are still going.

Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm'

Weigela florida 'Red Prince' June's big show of blooms is long past, but a few new flowers pop up all summer.

I have self-sown Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) every year; the original planting was in 2005, I think.

Delosperma dyeri cultivar

Container planted with Portulaca grandiflora

A recently purchased Echinacea 'Harvest Moon' planted in a new bed we've made in our backyard. The Echinacea varieties elsewhere in the garden are looking a bit weathered at this point, since they've been in bloom for more than a month.

Here's hoping that every day is a happy bloom day for my fellow gardeners.