An extravagant display of blooms isn’t the overwhelming impression the garden is making this July, which is pretty typical.
Though the Pennisetum ‘Skyrocket’ grasses are technically blooming. In the dimming twilight, the ferny leaves of Selinum wallichianum can just be made out leaning onto Furcraea foetida ‘Mediopicta’ in the foreground.
And the sideritis is also technically in bloom.
Solanum marginatum’s white blooms are for all floral intents and purposes invisible.
And there are blooms you have to move leaves aside to see, like with this little Aristolochia fimbriata. Since it reminds me of a tick, I don’t mind if the flowers stay hidden behind those very cool leaves.
In the foreground lean in the bleached-out plumes of Chloris virgata. Eryngium pandanifolium tops the pergola in the background
‘Monch’ asters are responsible for some of that blue.
And ‘Hidalgo’ penstemon is the tower of lilac blue. So far this is a beautifully erect penstemon that I’d absolutely include in next-year’s garden if it decides to return or maybe seeds around. From Mexico, zoned 9-10, reputedly long-lived and not touchy about drainage issues. On that count, one of the first casualties this summer is the lovely shrub Phylica pubescens, pulled out yesterday. I pruned it lightly when I returned from being away a couple weeks. Immediate decline followed. Never, never prune touchy shrubs mid-summer. Will I ever learn?
Peachy yarrows like ‘Terracotta’ line the path cutting through the border behind the pergola, now not more than a dog track.
Salvia chiapensis flowering at the base of the eryngium.
More closeups of Eryngium pandanifolium, the undisputed rock star of the garden this summer.
Persicaria amplexicaulis will pretty much own the garden in August.
In July I’m glad for every Verbena bonariensis I pulled out of the paving and planted into the garden in spring
One of the “suitcase plants,” Pennisetum ‘Jade Princess.’
Crithmum maritimum weaving into Senecio viravira. The senecio is starting to throw some more of its creamy blooms after being thoroughly deadheaded about a month ago.
So far the crithmum has been the most reliable umbellifer to flower through summer. (Selinum wallichianum is struggling. to put it mildly.) Crithmum with yarrow and Eryngium planum.
Crithmum, yarrow, leaves of persicaria, calamint, anthemis, agastaches, anigozanthos in the background
Some peachy Salvia greggii are building size for a late summer show with the grasses.
I carved off some bits of the ‘Skyrocket’ pennisetum in spring to replace Diascia personata which I found disappointing, and the grass bulked up fast. Its slim tapers move quickly from burgundy to beige.
Tall, sticky-leaved Cuphea viscosissima seems to love the heat.
Plectranthus neochilus is starting to bloom heavily, just as nearby Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ slows down after being cut back
Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ lightly reblooming
In a border closest to the garage/office, early spring-blooming annuals and flopping penstemons were replaced with Gomphrena ‘Strawberry Fields’
and Gaillardia ‘Oranges & Lemons.’
Russelia reminds me of a blooming restio, great for texture tumbling around nearby containers. It’s planted in the garden and does well with minimal irrigation.
There’s odds and ends I left out, such as eucomis and the passion flower vine which has been wonderful all summer, but that’s the sketch for July. Sending out solidarity to those suffering in excessive heat, or too little heat if that’s possible, unseasonal drought, too much rain. It’s always something in July! Thanks as always to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day on the 15th of every month (and not minding those straggling in a day late).
