Happy August Bloom Day and welcome to my zone 9a garden in Southeast Texas. After all the rain that I reported on last Bloom Day, it suddenly stopped a few weeks ago and had been very dry since until today. Today we finally did get substantial rain which the garden and the gardener much appreciated.
In spite of the uncertain weather conditions, I do have a few blooms to report.
The Texas sage, aka purple sage, is in bloom.
The 'Pride of Barbados' has been attracting scores of butterflies of many kinds this month, but of course, when I went to take pictures there were none there.
The watermelon pink crape myrtle blooms on.
Rudbeckia hirta, black-eyed Susan.
Blue plumbago, of course.
'Julia Child' rose.
Hamelia patens, Mexican firebush.
The beautyberry has finished blooming and is now producing its berries in purple...
When the
Duranta erecta blooms mature, they produce yellow berries that are called golden dewdrops. Birds like them a lot and many of the berries have already been picked clean as you see here.
From my patio succulent garden.
Ruellia, Mexican petunia.
Butterfly bush,
Buddleia 'Pugster Amethyst.'
A glowing backlit Mexican sunflower,
Tithonia.
A bird-planted sunflower.
'Cashmere Bouquet' clerodendrum, Mexican hydrangea.
Thank you for visiting. I hope both you and your garden are doing well and I hope to visit you in turn.
The Julia Child rose is beautiful!! Julia Child use to live in Santa Barbara and she had been friends with the owners of The Rose Story Farm in nearby Carpinteria. The Rose Story Farm had a 100th birthday celebration honoring Julia Child where they had a special tour of the garden along with a meal and told stories about Julia Child... So if you're ever in the Santa Barbara area, plan a visit to the Rose Story Farm (https://rosestoryfarm.com/) during your trip!
ReplyDeleteI always wondered what the name was for 'watermelon pink crape myrtle'... they seemed to be planted everywhere here where I live now. Gotta love the color! So, thanks for the information!!
I didn't know that about Julia. Very interesting.
DeleteI don't know what the real name of that crape myrtle is but watermelon pink is a very common color. We see it everywhere.
Beautiful blooms!
ReplyDeleteLove those purple Beautyberries! Ours will be plumped up and turning purple by next Bloom Day. I don't think I have seen white ones before.
Nice to see Purple Sage - an interesting plant!
Have a wonderful week!
The white cultivar of the beautyberry is not very common but I bought a plant several years ago and it has done well. I like it and the birds like it a lot. They tend to strip those berries before moving on to the purple ones.
DeleteThe kind of heat you have to tolerate must be difficult for plant and human alike. Purple Sage seems to remind me of novels by Louis Lamour!
ReplyDeleteIt would. And then there is Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey.
DeleteThe cashmere bouquet hydrangea is so pretty. I have never seen that variety. We have the more common ones and lacy ones.The blue plumbago is new to me as well and my first crape myrtle sightings were when I visited Houston about 20 years ago on business. Thhanks for sharing so many lovely pics.
ReplyDeleteIndeed you would have seen crape myrtles here. They are everywhere. They are actually non-native, coming from the Indian subcontinent, but they have colonized widely.
Deleteso many flowers i never heard of! gorgeous display!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteGorgeous blooms! The Pride of Barbados makes me think of home. It grows everywhere in Puerto Rico.
ReplyDeleteIt's a popular plant around here as well and it really is a butterfly and pollinator attractant.
DeleteBeautiful blooms! I am looking up Pride of Barbados as soon as possible! And the Mexican hydrangea, too!
DeleteThey should both grow well in Louisiana.
DeleteIt looks like your garden really enjoyed your July rain, Dorothy! I love the Leucophyllum. I have one (can't recall the species offhand) that I was afraid I butchered when I cut it back hard last winter but I noticed its now covered in fresh foliage - no flowers yet, though, but then we've been exceptionally dry this year. I love your purple beautyberry too. There's one species that's supposed to grow here in SoCal but I've yet to come across it in any local garden center.
ReplyDeleteIt did benefit from the rain. Unfortunately, so did the weeds!
DeleteYou still have a wonderful selection to look at. That Julia Childs rose is beautiful. So is the Mexican Petunia, although I understand it is considered invasive in parts of Florida. And, of course, the crepe myrtle, which makes me sigh every time because it isn't hardy where I live. Alas!
ReplyDeleteSome types of ruellia can be invasive but the one I have doesn't seem to present a problem.
DeleteI'm admiring your Pride of Barbados as always. And watermelon pink crape myrtle looks really interesting to try. I've never seen orange Justicia.
ReplyDelete-Ray
I've had that Justicia for several years and thought I might have lost it in our February freeze, but it has come back strong.
DeleteThese are all gorgeous ... especially the Texas sage stands out. Does that have a big smell - like the sage in California?
ReplyDeleteNot really. It does have scent but you might not notice it unless close by.
DeleteSo beautiful 🥰
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteWhat lovely colors! I really like the justicia.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to share at My Corner of the World
It's a favorite of mine as well.
DeleteI just LOVE to visit your garden every now and then. I was making a list in my head with all the flowers I like, but it's just too much!!
ReplyDeleteThe purple and white berries look really nice, do birds eat those?
I would totally see myself reading on a sunny day with all those lovely flowers and plants surrounding me!
The birds love those beautyberries. They seem to prefer the white ones for they always strip them first but they'll quickly move on to the bushes with purple berries. By the end of next winter, they will all be gone.
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