Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, July 2010

Lots of blooms for July, mostly annuals. I started a lot of plants from seeds this year, and it is gratifying to see some of them flowering already!

Natives

• Adiantum pedatum (maidenhair fern, adiante pédalé). I bought this beauty at the North American Native Plant Society Plant Sale this spring. It will never bloom, of course, but it's too pretty to leave out.
• Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed, asclépiade tubéreuse). I saw a monarch butterfly in the garden yesterday; maybe it will lay some eggs? Fingers crossed!
• Myosotis laxa (bay forget-me-not, myosotis laxiflore). Another treasure from NANPS, it has already quadrupled in size! I'm going to relocate the encroaching sedum soon to give the forget-me-not room to really go crazy.
• Oxalis stricta (wood sorrel, oxalide)
• Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, rudbeckie dressée); as always, the star of the summer garden.
• Solanum ptycanthum (eastern black nightshade, morelle noire de l'est)

Alas, the Monarda didyma 'Jacob Klein' (beebalm, monarde) which put on such a show last year is very unhappy this year; it had a few small sad blooms which are already past. I tried moving the Liatris spicata (dense blazing star, liatride à épis) to what should be a better location for it in terms of sun, and it seems stressed out too, though it is working on a flower spike.

Happily, some of my native seedlings are doing well, in particular, Tradescantia ohiensis, Agastache foeniculum, and Asclepias tuberosa; maybe they'll make an appearance for a Bloom Day next summer!

Others

Antirrhinum majus NOID (snapdragons, mufliers)

Calibrachoa NOID

Campanula rapunculoides (creepy bellflower, campanule fausse raiponce). This pretty plant is horribly invasive here in southern Ontario; I've started trying to get rid of it though it seems futile.

Cerinthe major 'Purple Bells' (honeywort, grand cérinthe). Compare these cream and pink flowers to their depiction at the McKenzie Seeds website. This isn't the first time that McKenzie seeds have come out very unlike the depiction on the package. They're okay, but not especially striking, especially from a distance.

Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant, plante araignée)

Cuphea hyssopifolia 'Lavender Lace' (false heather, étoile de Mexique)

Glandularia NOID (verbena, verveine; apparently they've moved these common annuals which everyone calls verbena into a new genus)

Heliotropium arborescens 'Marine' (heliotrope, héliotrope)

Hibiscus syriacus (rose of Sharon, althéa)

Hosta 'Orange Marmalade' and NOIDs

Iberis umbellata 'Fairy Mixed' (candytuft, ibéris en ombelle). Grown from seed for the first time this year, started outdoors, very easy. I think I'll be growing these again!

Impatiens walleriana 'Xtreme Pink'™

Lobelia erinus 'Cascade Sapphire' (I think)

Lysimachia

Matricaria recutita (German chamomile, camomille vraie)

Pelargonium NOID (geranium, pélargonium)

Petunia 'Carmine Madness', 'Ultra White', and NOID

Rosa NOID (rose, rosier)

Sanvitalia

Scaevola aemula (fairy fan flower, scaevola émule)

Sedum spurium (rock cress, orpin bâtard)

Tagetes patula 'Janie Primrose', 'Janie Tangerine'

Viola 'Penny Purple Picotee'

Zinnia elegans 'Magellan Persian Carpet Mixed'. I'm pretty pleased with these, though I do feel that Park Seed misrepresented the colour, what do you think?

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Be sure to check out what's blooming around the world this July!