Articles for the Month of August 2016

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day August 2016

Gentiana paradoxa

Gentiana paradoxa

I find myself at the beach for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, but before leaving I snapped a few shots of the flowering activity around our hillside.  The gentian pictured above is a vigorous spreader in the Alpine bed that is a reliable harbinger of fall.  The feathery insides of the flower make it one of the prettiest flowers I know.

The rest of the yard is dominated by the hardy annuals and sturdy perennials that can make it through a dry Maryland summer.  A great example is the state flower, Black-eyed Susans, that dominates our front bed.

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)

In the vegetable garden we often grow Mexican Sunflower (Sithonia) which are very attractive to butterflies.

Tithonia

Tithonia

There a number of plants that deserve special praise for returning one or more times during the summer.

Clematis 'Roguchi'

Clematis ‘Roguchi’

Asclepias 'Hello Yellow'

Asclepias ‘Hello Yellow’

Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'

Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’

The salvia is not supposed to be hardy in our area, but it has returned reliably for 5 years now.

The two lobelias, red and blue, are winners for an August garden.

Lobelia cardinalis

Lobelia cardinalis

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

Amongst the shrubs, the Hydrangea ‘Limelight makes a long and lovely showing.

Hydrangea 'Limelight'

Hydrangea ‘Limelight’

From the greenhouse a number of the formosa lilies are in full flower.

lilium formosanum

lilium formosanum

And the small Herbertia texensis is putting out it’s complex flowers.

Herbertia texensis

Herbertia texensis

Let me close, because the beach is calling, with a wildlife image from the garden.  I found this remarkably lovely caterpillar on a tree peony leaf.

Caterpillar (American Dagger Moth?)

Caterpillar (American Dagger Moth?)