My favorite plant at the moment is Ricinus communis ‘Impala’ grown from seed. Several others in better locations (in my opinion, obviously not the plant’s) are taking longer to get going. Highly poisonous, but no one or thing has tried to eat it yet, not even the targeted gophers.
Salvia ‘Black and Blue’
The flowers on the Dorotheanthus ‘Trailing Red Mezoo’ are coy little things.
‘Casa Blanca’ lilies light up the shade and perfume the air.
This is a bit of a cheat, as the drumstick Alliums are well past their prime, but I like the way they have come up through the long swooping branches of the Physocarpus.
This was a surprise. Aloe ‘Carmine’ usually blooms during the indoor months.
Echinops banaticus ‘Blue Glow’ is best loved here in its bud stage, but once it fluffs up the bees go crazy.
For the hummingbirds, Fuchsia ‘Golden Gate’ is the entree of choice.
I’m having to start over with Dahlias. I only dig them every three years or so to divide, so those rough winters wiped me out. This one is ‘Cotton Candy’, picked up for half price on the sale counter at Portland Nursery and nursed back to health. It is now way ahead of the others I planted as rhizomes.
At last! A bloom on Eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’.
Not a very good shot of the lone water lily, but since one of the fish showed up for his close-up, I thought I would include it. Oops! Just noticed there are two fish. Can you see them?
The Hydrangeas are the workhorses of the late summer garden. This one is ‘Preziosa’.
‘Limelight’
Don’t you just love it when something reblooms unexpectedly? The ‘Orange Ball Tree’ is putting out a few of these fragrant bright orange balls right now. That’s it for me…well, not really, but you don’t want to see pictures of all 111 plants in bloom here. Instead, join the party at May Dreams Gardens for a floral celebration of August.
Love the castor bean plant!! I have a bunch all around the yard. My Black and Blue salvia is in limbo….the soil is so bad I am lucky it is just staying alive!!
I can’t wait to see your garden in person! So much loveliness going on.
Great collection of blooms. The echinops is one I need to research for my own garden. We are zone 8 but the heat tolerance is a big issue here.
Is the Orange Ball Tree a type of buddleia? We had one very similar at our last place, but with no discernible scent. So just what memo did I miss about growing Castor bean? Yours looks glorious, as does Heather’s. And is that a blossom I see that looks almost like a eucomis? Questions, questions….
I have a Ricinus , I too grew from seed , It’s about a foot tall , must be something going on , my Canna is short as well in the smae area …strange
Lovely blooms , looking forward to seeing it all up close.
Love the “orange ball tree”…the first one I ever saw almost made me slam on my brakes in the middle of the street!
So jealous of the Castor Bean. Like I told Heather the year I don’t grow them is the year we finally get some heat!
Janet~I killed a couple of ‘Black and Blue’ plants. This one is in a pot and gets babied.
Alison~I never know what the slugs will take a shine to year to year…but there is so much forest around us that they are not a major problem.
Heather~I hope it is still looking halfway decent in October.
Shirley~If Echinops is in a happy place it will seed around, but I haven’t had much luck transplanting the seedlings. I pretty much let them go wherever they choose.
Jasne~It’s Buddleja globosa, picked up at Cistus as a tiny little thing. Now I just have to find it a permanent home. That is indeed an other-worldly blossom on the Castor Bean plant. I’m hoping it will produce many seeds, which I will be glad to share.
Linda~Like I said, only that one has really taken off. The others are more like yours.
Loree~What? No Castor Bean in the Danger Garden? I did the pedestrian version of slamming on the brakes when I spied Buddleja globosa sitting on a table at Cistus.
I really need to get some scented Lilies next year…and I’ve never had great luck with ‘Black & Blue’ Salvia. They always come back…but so late in the year that they don’t really amount to much 🙁
Scott~So…those lovely lilies of yours have no scent?