What's Blooming: August

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Here's what's growing and blooming in my garden this month.

It's been a rainy past few days here in western Long Island, but at least I got to photograph a few of my plants while the sun was still shining.

The Black-eyed Susan's have finally bloomed. I just love their cheery yellow with the dark center.

The purple Salvia has really done well in these boxes and their darkness is a nice contrast to the lemon-yellow Zinnias.

Every time I look at these impatiens, I am still in awe that these were from cuttings I made. Look how full and lush they are!

The Morning Glory vines have really taken off and trying to grab hold of anything they can climb on. I love the shade it provides from inside the house and the way it looks from the outside. I planted a mix of seeds, so the flower colors range from a deep purple to pink to a deep blue. So pretty.

The ferns in the shady area of my backyard are also doing well (as you can see from the fertile fronds on the fern below). But even happier is the Tradescantia zebrina creeping along the grass below the container.

The Caladiums look great, although the spotted pink/green ones are competing a bit with the white Impatiens. Still, they look full and lush and add a spot of color under that maple tree.

The pink Begonias I transplanted from a full shade spot are much happier now in this partial shade spot.

Next year I must remind myself to only plant Coleus in this container. I love the foliage color, but it completely choked out the other plants I had planted with it. Frankly, I don't really mind because it looks so healthy, but still...

I've noticed some garden nurseries advertising garden mums already. Much too early for me - I'm hoping my garden continues to look good through the month of September. See you next month!

Many thanks to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

What's Blooming: June

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Here's what's growing and blooming in my garden this month.

All my containers are starting to bloom and fill in. The house faces east and therefore, the front gets the most sun in the morning and midday. Here is a look at what the front porch area looks like:

A close up on the flower boxes and containers:

The main box is planted with impatiens and geraniums (both from cuttings), morning glories, white bacopa, purple saliva, black eyed susan, yellow zinnia and sweet william.

Below the box are two pots containing flat leaf parsley and columbine seedlings. To the right of the box are perennial daisies just starting to bloom and beneath that is the geranium plant I overwintered and took cuttings from this spring. It has just started to bloom and produce new growth.

The left box is filled with pansies (still holding on!), impatiens and geraniums, pink pentas, purple saliva, lobelia, morning glory vines, lychnis and white salvia.

The middle box is filled with white Angelonia augustifolia, pink verbena, campanula, pansy, purple salvia and a wild flower seed mix (still not sure what will bloom from these seeds). A small pot of basil I grew from seeds sits below the flower box.

 On the railing, I filled this box with small annual dahlias and yellow chiffon superbells.

I placed a strawberry pot filled with pansies, mint and strawberries (both of which came back on their own this year) on top of a tree trunk log for some height.

 

The rose bush is blooming nicely (a Valentine's gift from my honey two years ago). String beans and sweat peas are climbing vigorously on the teepee - I spotted my first sweet pea flower today! Sunflowers are growing in the container on the steps.

In April, I posted about my new Raspberry shrub. I honestly didn't know if it would be happy in a container, but so far it has been doing great. My kids and I even ate a few berries from it today!

Here's what's going on in the backyard, which gets part shade/dappled sun only in the afternoon:

Double impatiens, coleus, white impatiens and lobelia

 

This box still has yet to fill in, but when it does, the impatiens and lobelia together will look nice I think. 

 Two more impatiens created by cuttings this year, planted here with more lobelia

My newest addition this year - 6 large containers filled with 2 Ostrich ferns, 1 Cinnamon fern and 2 different varieties of hosta. I'm hoping the ferns will grow tall and act as a screen from the park path behind my house.

Beneath the maple tree, I have 3 containers each filled with Caladium. Impatiens fill in the outside boxes, while Lysimachia fills in the middle one. And how cute is my stone owl?!

Along the back fence, under the maple tree, I placed a long flower box and filled it with lime colored coleus and pink begonias. It adds a little bit of color to a very shady spot. I transplanted the ivy along the ground last fall and am happy to see new growth on it this year.

And that's it. By next month, I'm hoping the Morning Glory vines will have reached new heights, the string beans will be full of beans and the ferns grown taller. Be sure to come back and check in with me!

Many thanks to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Seed, Water, Sprout

With March temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s around here, I know spring isn't far away. So, let the seed starting begin! I'm using a 72-cell tray that sits on top of a water soaked mat with a drip tray beneath to keep the cells moist.

I've planted:
Sweet Pea, String Bean, Morning Glory, Moonflower, Wildflower mix, Columbine, Basil, Parsley and an annual Black-Eyed Susan mix

My kids are loving watching the sprouts grow taller every day.
As the sprouts grew, I moved some of the vines into bigger pots:

On the left are the Morning Glory plants. On the right near the window are the Moonflower and String Bean plants. In the foreground on the right I am growing geraniums and impatiens by stem cuttings.

Everything is growing pretty well so far, but I still have a while to go before I can plant them outside. Hopefully by then I'll have many strong and healthy plants to enjoy!

Good morning, Morning Glory!

This stunning blue Morning Glory brings a smile to my face. I have other pink and purple Morning Glories growing as well, but there is something so beautiful in the true blueness of this one.

Moonflower finally makes an appearance!

All summer long I have been waiting for the Moonflower to bloom. They were planted among the Morning Glories which have done really well this summer. But one night this week, I finally noticed a beautiful white bloom smiling down at me:

This is Giant White Moonflower (Ipomoea alba). I love the femininity of this flower. The soft ruffles of the petals and the overall shape of the flower. 

By the time the sun comes up in the morning, the Moonflower is finished. And while it's a shame I don't get to see it more, I know that it really isn't here for my enjoyment alone. It's really for the moth pollinators like the Pink-spotted Hawkmoth or the Luna Moth who are attracted to it's scent and the bright white flower during the night hours. Nevertheless, I was still happy to see it when made an appearance on my porch this week!

 

Morning Glory vines take off!

The Morning Glory vines in my flower boxes have been growing so well, but after they reached the porch banister, they had no where else to go. Since they were still actively growing and actively looking for some place to twine around, I decided to attach some strings to the porch's ceiling to give them a place to extend. And you know what? They LOVE it. Have a look:

I probably should have done this from the beginning. But since this was my first time growing them in this spot, I honestly didn't know what to expect. Now I know for next year!

Updated Flower Box Photos

Here are some updated photos of my flower boxes. These photos were taken mid-June - one month after planting. Everything is in full bloom except the vines and the Digitalis has already bloomed. 

And here are the updated containers in the backyard containing Coleus, Caladium and Impatiens: