Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, August 2009

In August, the garden is overflowing with flowers! This Bloom Day most of my photos came out too badly to post; I find the current bright bright sunlight difficult to photograph in. I've linked to previous posts of these flowers where possible. In any case this month's Bloom Day is a lot like last month's, but the daylilies, Venus flytrap, butterfly weed, and liatris have gone, and the rose of Sharon has just started doing her thing.

• Acalypha rhomboidea (three-seed mercury, ricinelle rhomboïde)
• Amaranthus tuberculatus (rough-fruit amaranth, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun en français)
• Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon, gueule de loup
• Calibrachoa (million bells)
• Campanula rapunculoides (creepycreeping bellflower, campanule fausse raiponce) (almost done blooming)
• Conyza canadensis (horseweed, vergerette du Canada)
• Dianthus chinensis 'Double Gaiety Mix' (China pinks, œillet de Chine)
• Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower, echinacée pourpre)
• Erigeron annuus (eastern daisy fleabane, érig&eaucte;ron annuelle) (mostly done blooming)
• Fuchsia
• Helianthus annuus (sunflower, tournesol)
• Heliotropium arborescens (heliotrope, héliotrope du Pérou)
• Hibiscus syriacus (rose of Sharon, althéa)
• Hosta (almost done blooming)
• Impatiens walleriana 'Accent Lavender Blue'
• Lathyrus odoratus 'Royal Family Mix'
• Lilium 'Dot Com'
• Lobularia maritima (alyssum, alysson)
• Mentha sp. (mint, menthe)
• Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline' (almost done blooming)
• Myosotis sp. (forget-me-not, souvenez-vous-de-moi) (almost done blooming)
• Nepeta cataria (catnip, cataire) (just getting started)
• Nicotiana 'Perfume Mix' (flowering tobacco, tabac d'ornement)
• Oxalis stricta (wood sorrel, oxalide)
• Petunia 'Cascadia Mystic Purple' (shown), 'Sanguna Lavender Vein', 'Famous New White', and unknown cultivars in light pink, bright pink, and dark purple
• Polygonum lapathifolium (pale smartweed, renouée à feuilles de patience)
• Primula vulgaris (primrose, primevère)
• Reseda odorata 'Mignon's Finest Mix'
• Rudbeckia hirta
• Solanum ptycanthum
• Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod, verge d'or du Canada (just getting started)
• Tagetes tenuifolia 'Lulu'
• Tropaeolum majus 'Jewel Mix' (nasturtium, capucine)
• Viola x wittrockiana 'Delta Pure Rose'
• Zinnia elegans 'Polar Bear'

Check out what's blooming in other gardens this Bloom Day! And thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting.

Echinacea purpurea in bloom

The old Echinacea plant which we've had for a few years is in glorious bloom. This is one of my favourite plants, even if it isn't exactly native (we're a bit north of its native range). Not only is it pretty, but it's one of those perennials you can plant and forget. Click to enlarge this photo and see the inflorescences in many stages of development.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, July 2009

I've been so busy with summer fun (went to Ontario Place yesterday!) that I almost forgot today was Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

First, my beloved natives:

Monarda didyma (bee balm, monarde) is one of my favourites. Such a pretty shade of red!
The Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed, asclépiade tubéreuse) is getting huge! Hard to believe that a couple of years ago it was a single stem, about 20 cm tall, with no blooms.

Liatris spicata (blazing star, liatride à épis) is just starting to bloom.

The Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckie dréssé) has opened a few tentative blooms. It will be smothered for next GBBD, I'm sure!

Next: the new and exciting!

I wasn't expecting the Dionaea muscipula (Venus fly-trap, dionée attrape-mouche) to bloom! (I've already killed two of these.) I think it's very happy to be out in the sunshine with lots of bugs. According to carnivorous plant expert Barry Rice, you shouldn't let your Venus fly-trap flower. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was sending up a flowering stalk until it was too late (okay, I admit, I also wanted to see the flowers). Recently it tried making a second flower stalk but I nipped it in the bud like a good gardener.

The Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower, echinacée pourpre) is just starting to turn pink.

Not exactly new, or even a bloom, but too pretty to leave out: Athyrium niponicum var. pictum 'Applecourt' (Japanese painted fern, fougère peinte). Earlier this summer it was struggling, I guess due to transplant stress, but it seems to be on the mend.

The hostas (cultivar unknown) are in full bloom now! Of course the flowers cannot compete with the gorgeous foliage.

I believe this is Campanula rapunculoides (creeping bellflower, campanule fausse raiponce), which is unfortunately rather invasive in southern Ontario. I'll be deadheading this religiously; I can't remove it completely because my landlords' son is attached to it.

Hemerocalis fulva (orange daylily, lis d'un jour fauve) is another invasive my landlords' son won't part with. Here it's growing with native Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane, érigéron annuelle).

This Helianthus annuus (sunflower, tournesol) was a volunteer. The parents were probably 'Velvet Queen' and 'Autumn Beauty'.

The Dianthus chinensis 'Double Gaiety Mix' (China pinks, œillets de Chine) which I started from seed in March is in full bloom now.

This Mentha (mint, menthe, don't know the species) grows like a weed in our garden— indeed, when we moved in, we practically had a mint lawn! I never noticed before how fluffy their flower spikes are.

Lastly, the old standbys:
The Viola x wittrockiana 'Delta Pure Rose' (pansy, pensée) is still soldiering on despite the hotter weather.

The planter my landlords' son put together is filling out nicely. It's dominated by Petunia 'Sanguna Lavender Vein', the dark purple, pink, and 'Famous White' petunias are apparently not nearly as vigorous. The fuchsia also seems to be flourishing.

The calibrachoas are still going strong. The basket with bright pink petunias and verbenas, on the other hand, is petering out, so I didn't even bother photographing it this month.

Tagetes tenuifolia 'Lulu' (signet marigold, tagète tachée) just keeps getting better. This is the most successful plant I've grown from seed this year.

Only one of the seeds of Nicotiana hybrid 'Perfume Mix' (flowering tobacco, tabac d'ornement) grew and survived to bloom. The flowers are okay but not terrific, and are not especially fragrant. I don't think I'll bother with these in the future.

Lastly, the mystery Sedum that the landlords' kids and I rescued from a garden down the street (the new owner replaced it with a lawn) is growing like a weed and blooming for the first time!

Echinacea purpurea foliage

The old echinacea we've had for a couple of years is doing well. This dear little spider has rolled one of the leaves into a tube and fastened it with webbing; I wonder why?

Echinacea purpurea seedlings chomped by cats!

My poor little echinacea seedlings, which have been through so much, have fallen victim to the cats! Most of them are still alive, so I'm hardening them off in the hopes of saving them from further suffering.

By way of contrast, here is the happy healthy old echinacea plant that's been growing outside for a few years. Although one of the cats has been sneaking outside a bit to enjoy the sun, he hasn't tried chomping this plant.

Echinacea purpurea: seedlings

The once-bedraggled echinacea sprouts are doing surpisingly well. Here they are about a month after their rescue from the bowels of my fridge.

Echinacea purpurea seedlings looking good!

It's hard to believe that so many of the bedraggled Echinacea sprouts that languished in my fridge for a year have survived, and even look healthy! You can see that some of the seedlings have a slightly fuzzy true leaf growing now. Click on the photo to see it enlarged.

Echinacea purpurea: sprouts

Echinacea purpurea, known in English as eastern purple coneflower and in French as echinacée pourpre or rudbeckie pourpre, is a perennial native to eastern North America. It is used as a herbal medicine and is becoming popular as an ornamental plant. The flowers are like big purplish-pink daisies with conical brown centres.

Last week, I posted about the poor bedraggled echinacea sprouts that had been languishing in my fridge since last year. I planted them and put them under fluorescent lights, and a surprising number (8 or 9) of them seem to have survived! As you can imagine I am thrilled!

Can these Echinacea sprouts be saved?

On March 18, 2008, I put a bunch of Echinacea purpurea seeds in a plastic bag of damp potting mix to cold moist stratify in the fridge. They were supposed to be there for 6 to 8 weeks, but my fridge being what it is I didn't find them until August or September. By then they had sprouted, and they say that if they sprout while being stratified they should be planted immediately, but I didn't think I could put them outside so soon before winter so I just left them in the fridge.

Today, about 6 months later, the sprouts look much like they did back then. At least some of them look like they might still be alive! Here they are, sown at last. I just set up some fluorescent lights for starting seeds, so they will get a chance to grow a bit inside while we wait for the weather to warm up. If even one of these sprouts survives, it will still be a bargain price for Echinacea, since the whole packet of seeds (Gardener's Choice from Canadian Tire) was less than a buck!

Echinacea purpurea: winter

Echinacea purpurea, known in English as eastern purple coneflower and in French as echinacée pourpre or rudbeckie pourpre, is a perennial native to eastern North America. It is used as a herbal medicine and is becoming popular as an ornamental plant. The flowers are like big purplish-pink daisies with conical brown centres.

The seedheads, which are like spiky dark brown balls, remain ornamental in winter (until the snow gets too deep).