Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, August 2010

August is prime blooming time here in Toronto!

Natives

• Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop, hysope anisée). I'm very excited about this one because it's the first time I've managed to grow it successfully from seed; in fact this plant is in it's first year and already blooming!
• Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed, asclépiade tubéreuse)
• Conyza candensis (horseweed, vergerette du Canada)
• Eupatorium 'Phantom' (Joe Pye weed, eupatoire naine)
• Monarda didyma 'Jacob Klein' (beebalm, monarde)
• Myosotis laxa (bay forget-me-not, myosotis laxiflore)
• Oxalis stricta (wood sorrel, oxalide)
• Rudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed susan, rudbeckie voyante). This one was a surprise because I was sure this plant was one of my Echinacea purpurea seedlings, but obviously not.
• Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed susan, rudbeckie dressée)
• Solanum ptycanthum (eastern black nightshade, morelle noire de l'est)
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• Solidago sp. (goldenrod, verge d'or)

Others

• Antirrhinum majus 'Montego Pink' and NOID (snapdragon, muflier)
• Calibrachoa NOID
• Cerinthe major 'Purple Bells' (honeywort, grand cérinthe)
• Cuphea hyssopifolia 'Lavender Lace' (false heather, étoile de Mexique)
• Glandularia NOID (verbena, verveine)
• Helianthus annuus (sunflower, tournesol)
• Iberis umbellata 'Fairy Mixed' (candytuft, ibéris en ombelle).
• Impatiens walleriana 'Xtreme Pink'™
• Lobelia erinus 'Cascade Sapphire'
• Lobularia maritima 'Snowstorm' (alyssum, alysse odorante)
• Monarda 'Bergamo'. This annual was supposed to "attract butterflies by the dozen" according to Park Seed but the butterflies who visit my garden ignore it.
• Pelargonium NOID (geranium, pélargonium)
• Pentas lanceolata 'New Look Pink'. Another supposed butterfly attractor that local butterflies have ignored.
• Petunia 'Carmine Madness', 'Ultra White', and NOID
• Scaevola aemula (fairy fanflower, scaevola émule)
• Tagetes patula 'Janie Primrose' and 'Janie Tangerine' (French marigold, œillet d'Inde)
• Tagetes tenuifolia 'Lulu' (signet marigold, tagète tachée)
• Thunbergia alata 'Blushing Susie' (black-eyed susan vine, suzanne aux yeux noirs)
• Tropaeolum majus 'Whirlybird Cherry Rose' (nasturtium, capucine)
• Viola 'Penny Purple Picotee'
• Zinnia elegans 'Persian Carpet Mix' and 'Thumbelina Mix'

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 August!

What pollinators like

I did a quick tour around the backyard to see which of the flowers are attracting the interest of local pollinators. Eupatorium 'Phantom' (dwarf Joe Pye weed, eupatoire naine) is evidently close enough to our native Eupatoriadelphus maculatus (formerly Eupatorium maculatum) to attract our native bees. (I got this recently at Valumart at 50% off!) Helianthus annuus (sunflower, tournesol) is a reliable bee attractor (unless you get one of the newfangled pollenless varieties, which may be lovely cutflowers but are useless for pollinators and seed-eaters). Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower, echinacée pourpre), although not quite native here (we're a bit too far north and east), is a favourite of humans as well as pollinators. (Another 50% off deal!) Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, rudbeckie dressée) is always abuzz. Finally, mint (Mentha sp., menthe), which grows as a weed in the backyard, is a hive of activity when in bloom.

What flowers are attracting pollinators in your garden?