Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, October 2009

It's definitely autumn now, and most of the flowering plants are either finished or on their last legs. Here are the brave hangers-on: Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon, muflier) volunteers in the front garden.

Chrysanthemum sp. (chrysanthème), courtesy of my landlord.

Helianthus annuus (sunflower, tournesol) volunteer.

Impatiens walleriana 'Accent Lavender Blue' (impatience).

Lobularia maritima (alyssum, alysse odorante), volunteer offspring of 'Rosie O'Day'.

Cynoglossum sp. (forget-me-not, souvenez-vous-de-moi).

Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, rudbeckie dressée).

Sutera cordata (bacopa, bacopa) volunteer in the Sedum spurium (rock cress, orpin bâtard).

And here are some plants that are not blooming now but are looking pretty:

Heuchera 'Bressingham Hybrid' (coral bells, heuchère).

Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod, verge d'or du Canada).

Tiarella cordifolia (foamflower, tiarelle cordifoliée).

Waldsteinia fragaroides (barren strawberry, waldsteinie faux-fraisier).

Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in gardens around the world!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, September 2009

Here's what's blooming in our garden today:

Natives

• Amaranthus tuberculatus (rough-fruit amaranth, amarante tuberculée)
• Conyza canadensis (horseweed, vergerette du Canada)
• Oxalis stricta (wood sorrel, oxalide)
• Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, rudbeckie dressée)
• Solidago canadensis (goldenrod, verge d'or)

Others

• Callibrachoa
• Campanula rapunculoides (creepy bellflower, campanule fausse raiponce)
• Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower, echinacée pourpre)
• Helianthus annuus (sunflower, tournesol)
• Heliotropium arborescens 'Fragrant Delight' (heliotrope, héliotrope)
• Impatiens walleriana 'Accent Lavender Blue' (impatiens, impatience)
• Ipomoea tricolor 'Heavenly Blue'
• Lobularia maritima (alyssum, alysson)
• Mentha sp. (mint, menthe)
• Petunia 'Sanguna Lavender Vein' (shown) and others
• Sutera cordata (bacopa, sutera cordée)
• Tagetes tenuifolia 'Lulu' (signet marigold, tagète tachée) (shown in photo above with black-eyed Susan)
• Tropeolum majus (nasturtium capucine)
• Verbena
• Viola × wittrockiana 'Delta Pure Rose' (pansy, pensée)
• Zinnia elegans 'Polar Bear'

Not bloooms, but still nice

• Taxus sp. (yew, if)
• Vitis sp. (grape, raisin)

Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming elsewhere for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

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!

Rudbeckia hirta: seeds

Rudbeckia hirta, known in English as black-eyed Susan, gloriosa daisy, or yellow ox-eye daisy, and in French as Rudbeckie dréssé is a biennial native to most of North America. Its daisy-like flowers have bright golden yellow rays surrounding dark brown cones in the wild type, though many cultivars with various colourings are available.

I collected these seeds from my landlords' garden; the parent plants came from seed given out by the High Park Nature Centre for Earth Day 2007.

Rudbeckia hirta: flowers

Rudbeckia hirta, known in English as black-eyed Susan, gloriosa daisy, or yellow ox-eye daisy, and in French as Rudbeckie dréssé is a biennial native to most of North America.

These gorgeous flowers grew from seed I received for free from the High Park Nature Centre for Earth Day 2007. I threw them around in the garden but wasn't sure anything had grown until the second year, when suddenly there were big beautiful plants covered in blooms. It's amazing to me that one tiny seed can produce a 40-cm tall plant with 50 flowerheads on it. Each flowerhead lasts a long time; the flowerhead in the foreground, with a flatter centre that's light in the middle, is a younger bloom; as the blossoms age the centres become darker and more conical as seen in the background.

Bees love these flowers!