Pink and Orange: Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day August 2014

– Posted in: What's up/blooming
15 comments

Greetings, cold climate gardeners! It’s feeling autumnal around here, and starting to look it, too. The mid-August garden is a garden in transition. The early summer plants are looking shabby and the fall garden is just getting going. The beds that used to look so lush now have gaps in them because the Johnny-jump-ups have exhausted themselves, and yet colchicums are two weeks away. The garden needs a good going over–which it hasn’t gotten yet–so I am just going to share with you some highlights.

Self sown perennial pink phlox

This phlox is taller than its parent ‘Bright Eyes’. I need to think of a name for it.

The Phlox paniculata above was found growing in a clump of ‘Bright Eyes’ phlox, so I assume my new favorite is a seedling of it. The new one was hard to miss, being both taller and more vigorous than its parent. I have two clumps of it and I can’t wait until they get a little bigger. I need to think of a name for it. Suggestions?

pink Invincibelle Spirit hydrangea thrives in cold climates

Invincibelle Spirit’s pink is mellowing as autumn approaches.

Invincibelle Spirit hydrangea was a trial plant from Proven Winners several years ago. It is very hardy and took the move from the old house to the new with nary a pout.
Dwarf form of echinacea 'Butterfly Kisses'

‘Butterfly Kisses’ echinacea, short and sweet.

‘Butterfly Kisses’ is a dwarf form of coneflower that I received from Walters Gardens to trial. It made it through the winter just fine and I am looking forward to seeing the colchicums blooming among them in another couple of weeks.
unknown red daylily

This daylily is a darker red in real life.

My friend gave me this daylily and I don’t know the name. I grow it in the parking pad bed where I grow a lot of bright colored plants.
Lilium henryi an orange lily that blooms in late summer.

Lilium henryi is also in the Parking Pad bed.

My sister gave me this lily when she was on a kick to find plants named after relatives. She has a son named Henry and had gotten more bulbs of Henry’s lily than she could use, so gave her surplus to me. In looking for a bit of history on this lily (discovered by Augustine Henry, that’s how it got its name), I found one site that said it needed alkaline soil and another that said it liked slightly acid soil. I have acid soil and it grows fine for me, but I bet if you have alkaline soil it would also grow fine for you.
Razzleberry sedum perennial blooms in fall

‘Razzleberry’ sedum is just starting to bloom.

I have colchicums planted around this sedum and think it will look great when they bloom.
blackberry lily blooms in fall

I grew this blackberry lily from seed and it has a story.

I grew this blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinensis) from seed I started last year. The seed came from a far-away friend’s garden, and I shared a picture of my first bloom with her. It was then she told me that a dear friend of hers had given her the original seed, and that friend had died in the past year after a long battle with cancer. It makes her glad that a bit of her friend’s garden lives on in mine.

The picture at the top of this blog post is Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica) which came from another cold climate gardener. I planted the grass in a spot that had originally been growing Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), and apparently I missed a few roots of the milkweed when I dug it up.

Inspired by the words of Elizabeth Lawrence, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. On the 15th of every month, garden bloggers from all over the world publish what is currently blooming in their gardens, and leave a link in Mr. Linky and the comments of May Dreams Gardens.

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

Now, the digging and dividing of perennials, the general autumn cleanup and the planting of spring bulbs are all an act of faith. One carries on before the altar of delayed gratification, until the ground freezes and you can’t do any more other than refill the bird feeder and gaze through the window, waiting for the snow. . . . Meanwhile, it helps to think of yourself as a pear tree or a tulip. You will blossom spectacularly in the spring, but only after the required period of chilling.

~Adrian Higgins in The Washington Post, November 6, 2013

Comments on this entry are closed.

Finella September 22, 2014, 7:21 am

I’m enjoying your blog. The photos are lovely.

Gabriel T. August 20, 2014, 5:10 am

The flowers look great ! Nice photos and great article !

Les August 18, 2014, 6:50 pm

I am sporting quite a bit of orange right now, and just a wee bit of pink.

Jayne August 18, 2014, 11:23 am

Having recently moved to a WARM climate, I realize that when I gave up Winter, I also gave up some very special plants – I don’t think phlox would love this heat and HUMIDITY, so I am enjoying your photo! I do miss that phlox fragrance too!

Frank August 18, 2014, 9:05 am

Love the phlox! The dark fading to light around the edges is really nice, and the fact it’s a little taller also counts as a plus for me! How about “Purdy Pretty” or does that make you groan!?
I like your title photo of the grass and butterfly weed. Funny how chance can sometimes work out better than planned.

Carole West August 17, 2014, 10:29 pm

Love the photos -not cooling off down south but I do enjoy hearing about what others are doing across the country. Phlox is one of my favorites – the perfect cut flower for vase arrangements.
Carole – Garden Up green

Deborah Banks August 17, 2014, 1:35 pm

Phlox “Kathy’s Star”. Or how about “Purdy Pink” 🙂

gail eichelberger August 16, 2014, 7:08 pm

Lovely~oooh, I do like Henry the Lily very much! Moist soil for L henryii?

Donna@GardensEyeView August 16, 2014, 3:47 pm

Definitely cooling off and the veg garden is not happy. But the flowers are. I love the phlox…a good name is Pink Punch. My Invincibelle Spirit’s pink is one of only a couple hydrangeas that bloomed. Hoping for a few weeks more of hot weather for the veggies.

Daniela Baloi August 16, 2014, 3:29 pm

Lovely flowers! Nice photos! I have my eyes on that short echinacea now!
Thanks!

michaele anderson August 16, 2014, 1:32 pm

Hard to believe that there are starting to be hints of fall in the air. That ‘Razzleberry’ sedum looks yummy…love the blooms and also that dusky pink/purple foliage . You have so many interesting and beautiful plants…named and unnamed!

Dee Nash August 16, 2014, 12:34 pm

That felt like a fun visit over tea. I’m drinking tea so maybe that’s why. I loved the chattiness of this post. Fun stuff indeed.~~Dee

michael August 16, 2014, 7:36 am

You have a beautiful garden, love all the pictures!

kathy Sturr of the Violet Fern August 16, 2014, 7:18 am

Oh my I love that sweet little echinacea and was just oogling over that sedum in Bluestone Perennial’s catalog. I’m sold! Such beautiful color in your garden. I will be mad at myself for not planting any colchicums earlier in the season once yours begin blooming. Can’t wait!

Sue Link The Northern New York Gardener August 15, 2014, 11:51 pm

I loved your photos! You flowers are gorgeous. The Butterfly Kisses echinacea are beautiful. I’d love to try them. I purchased last year a dwarf Bee Balm that is similar in color. Your new phlox is a nice garden surprise. Good luck with that.