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!

Development of Monarda didyma flowers

First the bracts turn dark red...

Then the flower buds colour up...

...and grow larger.

Almost open...

...and here's a fully opened inflorescence in all its glory!

Bee balm is such an easy to grow plant, and attracts hummingbirds (though I have not seen this myself). I would expect that this is a healthier way of feeding hummingbirds than a feeder filled with sugar water, and lower maintenance too.

Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline': foliage

The beebalm is growing like a weed! I never noticed last year that the centre vein of each leaf is red (click to enlarge); don't know if that's characteristic of the species or just this cultivar.

Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline': first signs of spring growth!

Monarda didyma, known in English as bee balm, bergamot, Oswego tea, or firecracker plant, and in French as monarde, thé d'Oswego, bergamote, or mélisse d'or is a perennial in the mint family native to much of eastern North America, and also the northwestern United States. Its flowers are very unusual and hard to describe—some say they look like jester's hats or fireworks; and are a lovely red.

This is one of the first plants coming up in the garden this spring; even at this early stage the leaves have that amazing Monarda scent!

Monarda didyma: seeds

Monarda didyma, known in English as bee balm, bergamot, Oswego tea, or firecracker plant, and in French as monarde, thé d'Oswego, bergamote, or mélisse d'or is a perennial in the mint family native to much of eastern North America, and also the northwestern United States. Its flowers are very unusual and hard to describe—some say they look like jester's hats or fireworks; and are a lovely red.

I collected some of the seedheads from our plant in the fall; they look like prickly dark brown pompoms. They come apart into papery tubes about 1 cm long which are open at one end; at the closed end (closer to the centre of the pompom) of each tube is a tiny black seed; at least, I hope it is a seed.

Since this is a native plant, I am assuming it needs to go through a Canadian winter, or at least part of it, to germinate, so I am wintersowing it.

Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline': flower

Monarda didyma, known in English as bee balm, bergamot, Oswego tea, or firecracker plant, and in French as monarde, thé d'Oswego, bergamote, or mélisse d'or is a perennial in the mint family native to much of eastern North America, and also the northwestern United States. Its flowers are very unusual and hard to describe—some say they look like jester's hats or fireworks; and are a lovely red. They are said to attract hummingbirds, though I haven't witnessed that myself.

The plant photographed originally came from the local Valumart, and was grown by President's Choice. PC called it a "really easy perennial" (or something like that) and it certainly was; I just planted it and it grew rapidly and was covered with long-lasting blooms.

The leaves smell like Earl Grey tea.