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!

Dahlia 'Pooh'

The Dahlias are a genus of perennials native to Mexico, central America, and Colombia. Unfortunately they are not hardy here in Toronto, which is why I haven't tried growing them (I avoid plants that require coddling). But this beauty, 'Pooh', is sorely tempting me.

Photographed at Toronto Botanical Garden.

Veronica longifolia 'Eveline' : a lush carpet of purple spires

Veronica longifolia (speedwell, véronique à longues feuilles) is a Eurasian perennial bearing spikes of small purple (or blue, or white) flowers.

There are a few veronicas which are native to Ontario. They are not as flamboyant as the Eurasian veronicas sold to gardeners, but I think Veronica americana (American brooklime or American speedwell, véronique d'Amérique) and Veronica anagallis-aquatica (water speedwell, water pimpernel, mouron aquatique) have potential as water garden plants. Both have dainty blue flowers which some find reminiscent of forget-me-nots. In our garden, I'm encouraging the native volunteer Veronica serpyllifolia (thyme-leaf speedwell, véronique à feuilles de serpolet) as a groundcover.

There are also some unrelated natives with spires of purple flowers. I like Verbena stricta (hoary vervain, verveine veloutée), and Agastache foeniculum (lavender hyssop, hysope anisée), a mint-relative with a strong licorice scent.

Lobelia erinus [Laguna Sky Blue] 'Loboudtis': a bit of heaven on earth

Lobelia erinus (aka "edging lobelia", "garden lobelia", or "trailing lobelia", in French lobélie érine) is a tender perennial from southern Africa grown as an annual here in Toronto.

Lobelia is available in different shades of blue, purple, white, or pink; this gorgeous sky blue cultivar caught my eye at Toronto Botanical Garden.

Lobelia siphilitica: glorious azure spires

After admiring photos of great blue lobelia (lobélie syphilitique), and botching my attempt to grow it from seed, I was excited to find it at the Toronto Botanical Garden. Even at the end of the season and a bit past its prime, it's gorgeous! Definitely worth further attempts to grow it in our own garden.

Planning ahead for spring...

It's still summery these days, but it's also time to order bulbs to bloom next spring! Since last year I really wanted more early blooms, I've ordered

• Galanthus nivalis (snow drops, perce neige)
• Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl' (snow crocus, crocus de printemps):
• Crocus crysanthus 'Romance'
• Chionodoxa forbesii (glory of the snow, gloire des neiges)
• Tulipa tarda (species tulip, tulipe botanique)

I've also ordered

• Phlox paniculata 'Katherine' because I've really been taken with all the phlox I've seen in others' gardens.
• Iris x hollandica 'Blue Pearl', because I have a sentimental attachment to irises. My parents had a massive collection of bearded irises when I was growing up, and I was originally planning to order 'Victoria Falls' which is described as "cobalt blue". Luckily before I ordered it I checked the photos of 'Victoria Falls' at Dave's Garden, and found out that while it is pretty, it certainly is nowhere near the deep blue shown in the catalogue! So I went with the less nostalgia-inducing but much cheaper and bluer Dutch irises.¹
• Cyclamen hederifolium (hardy cyclamen, cyclamen à feuille de lierre) because I really wish I had some new flowers to look forward to in the fall, instead of just watching everything slowly go dormant or die.

What are you planning for spring?

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1. The worst example of a plant being radically different than the sellers' photos that I know of is the 'Replete' daffodil which is advertised as "rosy pink", with matching photo (presumably photoshopped) when it is actually peach (click the link to see a comparison of the catalogue photo with the actual flower). The moral of the story is if a plant is advertised as having a very unusual colour, be sure to check out photos taken by ordinary gardeners who are not trying to sell you something. I don't know why people lie about what colours plants are; all it will do is alienate their customers when they inevitably discover the truth. 'Replete' is a very pretty peach daffodil; why not advertise it honestly as such?

Verbena stricta in bloom

This Verbena stricta (hoary vervain, verveine veloutée) is putting on a show in the boulevard beds near the Grenadier Café in High Park. The boulevard beds were planted with native plants by the High Park Volunteer Stewardship Program in 2000. Here's a closer look at a flower spike. Only a few blooms at a time are open, giving a longer blooming period. Since I started some Verbena stricta seeds this spring, perhaps I'll see these lovely lavender flowers in our own garden next summer!