Morning in the garden – August 10, 2014
I’ve missed adding Morning in the garden posts the last couple of weeks. When you work in the gardens there’s less time to write about them. And here it is August 10, 2014 already. It’s been a dry summer and, so far, a dry August. Weekly deep watering helps keep all the plants happy.
Phlox, an Oriental lily, and other blooms happy are filling the void left by waning day lilies and Asiatic lilies.
Sweetheart Double Oriental lily and Phlox paniculata ‘David’s Lavender’
The lilies send a sweet aroma through the garden. I ignore what hungry little creatures have done to her foliage and focus on her blossoms.
Sweetheart Double Oriental Lily 8-10-14
Nicotiana sylvestris, aka flowering tobacco, has finally begun to bloom.
Nicotiana sylvestris
Early to mid summer brings so many blooms, but in the August garden I focus more on plant groupings to draw attention. One grouping is the Oriental lily and phlox above. Another is the potted Pennisetum ‘Fireworks’ in front of a ground-planted gomphrena, both annuals in my zone 6 Connecticut garden.
Pennisetum ‘Fireworks’ and gomphrena
I also love this grouping of luecanthemm, gomphrena, and ageratum. They look just as nice this morning as they did on July 20 in this photo, below.
Shasta daisy, gomphrena, and ageratum July 20, 2014
The groupings work together to create a garden bed.
Rear perennial bed 8-10-14
In the raised bed portion of a retaining wall, peppers and tomatoes mingle with small hydrangea, coleus, and zinnias.
raised bed below a retaining wall
Tomatoes have been feeding us for about three weeks. The ever-bearing strawberries potted nearby give us intermittent treats, and the figs continue to promise us late summer delights.
And our new trial plants, Centennial hops, have begun to bloom.
Centennial hops
The hops are small, compared to established hops planted in the ground (ours are in large pots), but they’re blooming and, therefore, a success.
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