Dahlia Bloom Days

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, autumn is here and the leaves are falling and coating everything. We've had a few very cold days, but also a few very warm ones. We've also had some good rains.

This bloom day I thought I would share one of the Dahlias that is blooming now. I cut it and popped it in a bud vase to enjoy by my kitchen sink. Thank you to a garden friend who dropped off a box full of dahlia tubers earlier this year. He had over-ordered and I reaped the benefits. I threw them into containers, garden beds, and also over at the community garden plot. They have done well and I hope to dig and save some of the tubers successfully to grow next year.

In the garden also blooming today, I have blooming: Zinnias, Celosia, Gomphrena, Brazilian Verbena, Goldenrod, Toadlily, various Asters, Mums, Pansies/Viola, Impatiens, Fuchsia, Marigolds, Alyssum, Tithonia, Tall Sedum, PJM Rhododendron, and much more!

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for lots of pics of what is blooming in our garden and area gardens that we visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

A Golden Bloom Day

 

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, summer has been unusually wet - but I'm not complaining! Even though July was insanely hot, I have not had to drag the hoses out nor top off my water garden yet. This last week brought in mercifully cooler temps and so I'm finally able to get out and beat back some of the rampant weeds.

In bloom now in my garden are many flowers with golden hues including Black-eyed Susans, the aptly named Goldenrod, yellow Echinacea, and Cup Plant. My favorite though is Bronze Fennel (pictured above). It is like a halo of golden flowers that is the perfect backdrop to many other garden plants and the pollinators love it too!

In the garden also blooming today, I have blooming: Hydrangeas, reblooming Lilacs and Azaleas, Waterlilies, Lotus, Pickerel Weed, Trumpet Creeper vine, Zinnias, Celosia, and much more!

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for lots of pics of what is blooming in our garden and area gardens that we visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

Bloom Day: Just Rosy

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, spring has been a long, cool one so far -- very English-like -- so I thought to was appropriate to share my favorite English Rose in my garden, it is the David Austin 'Olivia'.  It is a shrub rose and the flowers are medium-sized. It currently has more blooms than it ever has before in my garden. I cut a small bouquet for my mom and have a few small bouquets all around my house for myself. I love looking at it, but more than that I love the fragrance -- a classic light rose-fruity scent.

In the garden also today, I have blooming: Weigela (several kinds), Peonies, Clematis, Bearded Iris, Columbine, and much more!

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming in our garden and area gardens that we visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

This post is also part of the #GardenBloggersChallenge sponsored by Gardencomm for the month of May. You are invited to join in and can see more details at gardencomm.org

Bloom Day: Spanish Bluebells

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, spring has definitely sprung! It feels like EVERYTHING is blooming at once. We had a warm spell this week and that brought a bunch of the things bursting in bloom. 

In the garden today, I have blooming: Flowering Almond, Spanish Bluebells, Heather, Hellebores, mid/late-season Daffodils, Tulips, Grape Hyacinths, Lilacs, Leucojum, Epimedium, Primrose, Redbud tree, Weeping 'Higan' Cherry tree, Confederate Jasmine vine, Pansies, Viola, Stock, Alyssum, Brunnera, Phlox, Trillium, Euphorbia, Pushkinia, Golden Ragwort, PJM Rhodidendron, Azalea, Vinca, and much more!

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming in our garden and area gardens that we visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

Marching into Bloom Day

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners around the world with blogs share a few flower photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, we had had a very harsh winter. January was our coldest and snowiest in years. We had a tantalizing taste of a few warm days and we are back now to the typical March of cycles of cold temps and blustery winds followed by glimpses of  spring. Today is a lovely spring-like day.

Blooming in my garden today, I have Winter Jasmine, Witch Hazels, Heather, and Hellebores. The Forsythia flowers are opening and the buds on my Flowering Plum are just about ready to burst. Early bulbs flowering now include Snowdrops, Crocus, Winter Aconite, and early-season Daffodils like 'Tete-a-Tete'  and 'February Gold'. In outside containers, I have Primroses, Alyssum, and Pansies.

The Saucer Magnolia (pictured above) is looking particularly lovely. The early blooms that opened on it last week got zapped by ice and snow over the weekend, turning them to brown rags, but those flowers still in bud at that point are opening up just fine now.

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming in my garden and other area gardens that we visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

Sunflowers in December

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here on the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the fairly mild fall weather has continued into December. No real snow yet, but my pond has had ice forming in it on a few mornings.

Blooming in my garden today are: Mahonia, Alyssum, African Daisy, Petunia, Violas, Roses, Geraniums, and Bacopa. 

Amazingly, the miniature Sunflowers are still hanging in there and sending out new blooms! I almost yanked the plants as they are a bit in the way of my back driveway entrance, but as long as they keep flowering I will leave them be.

I am also seeing foliage emerging from the ground on the early Daffodils and other minor bulbs, which is right on time since many of those will be flowering in February-March.

What is blooming in your garden today?

Fenton Friday Meets Bloom Day

I don't recall another time when my weekly Fenton Friday reports on our community garden overlapped with the 15th of the month aka Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, though I' m sure it must have... In any case, here is my combined post. 

The bloom that is putting on a terrific show right now in the garden plot is the Marigold 'Big Duck Yellow'. We started it from seed and it is just now really hitting its stride. The flowers are HUGE and the bumblebees are burying their heads into them. I had quite a struggle finding a few full blooms to cut as the bees were not letting me! It was an AAS winner in 2019. These plants is very sturdy and tall, so I am using it to divide the cherry tomatoes from another bed, as the indeterminate tomato plants would take over that whole side of the plot, if we let them.

We harvested the largest leaves from the 'Viroflay' Spinach today and picked some more cherry tomatoes. We also cut some branches off the Holy Basil aka Tulsi for the interns to sample. 

Last week's replacement seeding of 'Garden Party' radish mix and 'Shanghai Baby' Bok Choy are all up and doing great! Today, we thinned out the radish seedlings and can likely thin the bok choy next week.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

Autumn Daffodils for Bloom Day

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been generally hot, but we had some moderate days and a taste of fall, so the garden is starting to feel like it is rounding the corner soon from lush, jungle exuberance to shaggy autumn decline.

For this month's Bloom Day. I thought I'd share a picture of the Autumn Daffodils in my garden. It is also known as fall daffodil, winter daffodil, or yellow autumn crocus. The Latin name is Sternbergia lutea. Despite the bright-yellow color, it really does look more like a tall crocus, than a daffodil to me.

I bought the bulbs at Green Spring Gardens Fall Plant Sale a few years ago from a woman who dug a bucket-full up from her farm. They were already sprouting and I don't recall many flowers that first year. When I read up on them, I saw they were used often in rock gardens and want perfect drainage, so I planted them in a location with great drainage next to my driveway and a hypertufa trough. Each year they multiply a little bit, in a few years I may be able to dig and transplant or share as few bulbs.

In the rest of the garden today, I have blooming: Gomphrena, Cosmos, Sunflowers, Goldenrod, Celosia, Tall Phlox, Japanese Anemone, Butterfly Bush, Tall Verbena, Petunias, Rose of Sharon, Butterfly Bush, Zinnias, Cosmos, Fuchsia, Bacopa, Impatiens, etc.

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming in the garden and area gardens that I visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

Devil's Trumpet Blasting on Bloom Day

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been another HOT ONE -- the big difference from last month to now is that we have RAIN and lots of it and cooler temps coming with it. Hurray!

For this month's Bloom Day. I thought I'd share a pic of a Datura Hybrid  'Double Purple' aka Devil's Trumpet, aka Horn of Plenty aka Downy Thorn Apple aka Angel's Trumpet aka Brugmansia. Those late two names really apply to a totally different plant, but they have been used so interchangeably that much confusion still ensues. 

To easily tell the difference between Datura (Devil's Trumpet) and Brugmansia (Angel's Trumpet), think of which way they would be pointed when played. The devil from below points his trumpet facing up and the angel from heaven points hers facing down.

My photo here is looking straight down into the trumpet as it is just starting to unfurl. That is my favorite stage of these flowers. They are so amazingly beautiful -- like a dancer swirling and unswirling her skirts.

This datura is a tropical plant and will only last until a frost. One could try to winter it over indoors, but I will not as it is poisonous and I have cats that like to nibble on growing things. I bought this one from Thanksgiving Farms in Adamstown, MD, on a whim and plan to just enjoy it for the season.

In the rest of the garden today, I have blooming: Sunflowers, Abelia, Lycoris, Goldenrod, Celosia, Tall Phlox, Japanese Anemone, Butterfly Bush, Tall Verbena, Petunias, Agapanthus, Hydrangea, Black-eyed Susan, Zinnias, Cosmos, Daylilies, Fuchsia, Bacopa, Impatiens, etc.

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming in the garden and area gardens that I visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

No, it is not Pot! (Or Weed, Dope, Mary Jane...)

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been HOT and for the past week the promised rains have gone just north or just south. It is so frustrating when we get in that pattern. I hope that we get a break from it this weekend. 

For this month's Bloom Day. I thought I'd share a pic of one of my favorite small trees/large shrubs in bloom:

This is Vitex. I have two of them. One in a container inside my yard, the other I planted in my sidewalk median to test it out in that very tough spot.

While reading in my gazebo today, I heard a passerby gasp and say, "Is that marijuana?" This is not the first time I've heard this observation. No, it is not weed. Don't try to smoke it! Unless you want some very disappointing side effects. 

To me, it looks nothing like Cannabis -- and certainly not in July when it is in bloom! Maybe it is wishful thinking on their part, but if I WERE to be growing Mary Jane in my garden, it wouldn't be out in my sidewalk median aka hellstrip! 

It probably doesn't help that a medical marijuana dispensary is less than two blocks away from my house! Maybe they just have Mary Jane on the brain?

In the rest of the garden today, I have blooming: Abelia, Kniphofia, Agapanthus, Hydrangea, Echinaciea, Black-eyed Susan, Monarda, Daylilies, and many annuals!

For more about Vitex, see the cover story of the August 2017 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine. 

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming in the garden and area gardens that I visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

Dreaming on Bloom Day

 

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been in turn dry for weeks, followed by monsoon-like rains, then sultry heat, the unseasonable cool, and back again. 

Pictured here is one of my asiatic lilies in bloom right now. It is ‘Purple Dream’ is from Brent and Becky Bulb's. It is almost as tall as me and I have nice-sized patch of them, so I have plenty to cut and share.

In the rest of the garden today, I have blooming: Hydrangea, Astilbe, Lavender, Roses, Campanula, Commom Milkweed, Clematis, Daylilies, and many annuals!

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming in the garden and area gardens that I visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

Bloom Day: Tulip Time

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, spring has finally sprung! It feels like EVERYTHING is blooming at once now, so I decided this month just to focus on the tulips. I made the collage graphic shown above. The main frame shows 'Purple Prince' and the side panel are a few others that caught my eye. See my article here on several other of my favorite tulip varieties. 

In the rest of the garden today, I have blooming: Heather, Hellebores, mid/late-season Daffodils, Grape Hyacinths, Lilacs, Leucojum, Epimedium, Primrose, Redbud tree, Weeping 'Higan' Cherry tree, Confederate Jasmine vine, Corydalis, Pansies, Viola, African Daisy, Alyssum, Brunnera, Phlox, Trillium, Euphorbia, Pushkinia, Golden Ragwort, PJM Rhodidendron, Azalea, Vinca, and much more!

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming in our garden and area gardens that we visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

A Blustery Bloom Day

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, we had had a very harsh February -- ice storms and a polar vortex -- that is keeping our bloom cycle about two weeks behind "normal." We had a tantalizing taste of a few warm days and we are back now to the typical March cold temps and blustery winds. Spring is coming, it is just taking its own sweet time....

In my garden today, I have Winter Jasmine, Heather, and Hellebores. Early bulbs are having a nice, long run due to the chilly temps -- Snowdrops, Crocus, Winter Aconite, and early-season Daffodils like 'Tete-a-Tete'  and 'February Gold'. 

In outside containers, I have Primroses, Geraniums, Violas, Alyssum, and Pansies.

Indoors, I have forced Forsythia branches and Tulips 'Purple Prince' (pictured above), along with Orchids, Violets, and more Primroses.

Be sure to follow @WDCgardener on Instagram for daily pics of what is blooming inour garden and area gardens that we visit.

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

Fuchsia Fun on Bloom Day

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been a fairly mild mid-autumn. My garden is slowing down, but we haven't had a hard freeze yet. That means I have lots of annuals still. Some of them are even thriving and reviving in this cooler period. In particular, the fuchsia in my hanging pots on my gazebo (pictured here) is coming back strong and is looking stunning in the autumn light.

Other annuals still looking good include bacopa, impatiens, torenia, violas, snapdragons, and salvia.

What is blooming in your garden today?

It is the 15th of the month, which means Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again. To view links to other garden bloggers' blooms around the world to see what it blooming in their gardens today and to read their collective comments, go to: 
https://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2020/11/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-november-2020.html

Déjà Vu -- a Reblooming Bloom Day

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been a fairly typical early autumn. My garden is humming along. For this month's bloom day, I thought I'd share a few of the plants that I am trialing that are reblooming now. These are all bred to have flowers outside our usual bloom times.

I have a Bloomerang Dwarf Purple Lilac blooming now, along with several reblooming Weigela, Hydrangea, and Azalea varieties. Pictured below is an azalea I was recently sent to trial. It arrived several pruned back and took a few weeks to recover. It is now covered in flowers and looking quite spectacular.

Azalea Perfecto Mundo Double Pink from Proven Winners

What is blooming in your garden today?

It is the 15th of the month, which means Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again. To view links to other garden bloggers' blooms around the world to see what it blooming in their gardens today and to read their collective comments, go to:

 https://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2020/10/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-october-2020.html

A Smoking Hottie for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been hot -- record-heat hot! Blessedly, this last week brought a break in the heat wave and the nights are cooling off. We are continuing our wet pattern from spring and early summer and I am NOT complaining as this is normally the time of year for drought for us and I hand-water most of my garden.

Pictured here is what I THINK is Nicotiana alata Lime Green. I threw a nicotiana seed mix into a large terra cotta container last year and nothing came of them. This summer, I noticed some foliage growing that looked like it might be it and sure enough, this week this wonderful little planted jumped into bloom.

Elsewhere in my garden, I have blooming:

- Canna

- Cleome

- Calamintha

- Allium

- Nicotiana (tall, white)

- Blue Lobelia (alba)

- Obedient Plant

- Goldenrod

- Black-eyed Susan

- Cup Plant

- Coneflower (various)

- Butterfly Bush

- Rose of Sharon (double, sterile)

- Hydrangea (various)

- Hosta

- Blue Mist Shrub

- Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

- Torenia

- Petunia

- Fuchsia

- Bacopa

- Impatiens

- Begonia

- Alyssum

and more...

What is blooming in your garden today?

It is the 15th of the month, which means Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again. To view links to other garden bloggers' blooms around the world to see what it blooming in their gardens today and to read their collective comments, go to:
https://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2020/08/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-august-2020.html

A Sizzling Hot Bloom Day

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day Garden Blogger's Bloom Dayagain! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens. Here is the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been a HOT one. How hot? We are approaching a record # of 90+ degree days in a row - today we are at Day 20.

MONARDA FISTULOSA - BEE BALM

I realized that many of you might be visiting this blog just once a month for Bloom Day and not have seen our weekly Plant Profile videos/articles. Most all of these are flowering plants and much of the footage is shot in my own home garden, especially in this time of COVID and limited access to local public gardens. Our latest one is on Monarda, which is blooming away in my unforgiving and unwatered hellstrip pollinator garden. These are locally focused for the Mid-Atantic USA and are also seasonal -- profiling plants of interest in the garden at that time. You can view them here: https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/search/label/plant%20profile.

What is blooming in YOUR garden today?

Colorful Combinations on Bloom Day

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens. Here is the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been a roller coaster - from no sign of rain for days to deluges of several inches at once and temps ranging from scorching hot to quite chilly again this morning. It has been pretty unpredictable.

This month, I thought I'd share two favorite combinations blooming in my garden now. Both were unplanned and both involve daylilies. The first (pictured above) is the common ditch daylily and chicory. I have both "weeds" planted along my back fence line and sidewalk media strip. They are hemmed in on all sides so cannot escape cultivation. Every year, they both open their flowers without fail at the exact same time -- I think they know just how well orange and blue set each other off.

The second combination is a daylily cultivar whose name I'm wracking my brain for, but alas, cannot recall. I planted it right against the Lavender 'Phenomenal' near my small water garden. The violet tones in the middle of the daylily really pick up the lavender wands around it -- trust me, it is much better in person than I can capture with my iPhone camera here.


What is blooming in YOUR garden today?

A Warm Welcome to Bloom Day!

bearded iris

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens. Here is the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, the past month has been a very wet and cold one. The early-spring blooms that had been ahead of schedule due to the somewhat mild winter are now all gone and the mid-spring are now here. Today, we take a BIG temperature jump into the mid-80s and I am loving the warm sun on my skin this afternoon.

Pictured here is a bearded iris that I got from another gardener years ago. It came with no name, so I have no idea on the variety. In my head, I call it "grape bubble yum" as that is what it smells like to me.

Over at my Instagram account, I have posted many more blooms in the last few days that you can check including:
- Clematis 'Silver Moon'
- Clematis 'Taiga' 
- Hardy Geranium (Geranium sanguineum) 'Pink Summer'
- Allium ‘Globemaster’
- several different weigela shrubs
and I will be sharing many more bloom photos in the coming weeks.

What is blooming in YOUR garden today?

Daffodils Delight on Bloom Day

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens. 

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, we had a fairly mild winter and are now having an early spring.

I have a multitude of blooms, even the Lilacs are starting to bud up. With such a wealth of choices, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite daffodils in the collage above, Here is my list of everything that is in flower in my garden today:

- Viola and Pansies- Alyssum- Scilla
- Puschkinia
- Veronica
- Vinca groundcover- Hellebores
- Crocus- Grape Hyacinth (Muscari)
- Dutch Hyacinth- Daffodils
- Primrose
- Forsythia
- PJM Rhododendrons
- Winter Jasmine (ending)
- Pieris japonica
- Mahonia
- Saucer Magnolia tree 'Jane'- Flowering Plum tree 'Thundercloud'