Just some pretties for Monday

Since it’s a Monday, and we’ve all gone back to work, I thought I’d show you some of my favorite flowers blooming today. Maybe you’ll get some ideas for your garden, or you can give me some ideas for mine.

A cold front is stalled over Oklahoma, but hasn’t reached my part of the state yet. We have been very hot, and yet, some plants soldier on. We are not as hot as last year, and my heart goes out to Tennessee and other states further east who have bourn the weight of the heat dome poised over the U.S.

Bill and I installed a drip irrigation system in our pots for my last Lowe’s contribution. I have twenty-two pots on drip. The only problem is when the drip emitters fall out of a container. It only takes one day to finish off the plants within. Below is a new hybrid of Oklahoma’s state wildflower, Gaillardia hyb. ‘Punch Bowl.’ Steve Owens from Bustani Plant Farm got me to try this one, and I would definitely buy it again.

Still, the perennial gardens are looking good. I can’t say enough nice things about the plants in the photo below. From left are: Rudbeckia spp. beneath a soon-to-be-pink crapemyrtle. I can’t tell you the variety of black-eyed Susan because these have reseeded all over the garden over the years. Below left is Spiraea x bumalda ‘Anthony Waterer;’ a couple of daylilies past their prime and showing heat stress, but they’ll be fine; Artemisia ludoviciana ‘Silver King;’ Blush Knockout® rose which turns white in summer; Symphyotrichum drummondii var. drummondii (Lindl.), Drummond’s aster trying to bloom too early; Leucanthemum × superbum ‘Becky’ shasta daisy; and finally, a purple dwarf crapemyrtle. I am exuberant about all of these plants. They are easy to grow and will perform if watered. If nothing else, buy ‘Becky.’ She is a workhorse and look at how her stems stand up straight and tall.

A plant I’ve worked with for four years now is Tiger Eyes sumac, Rhus typhina ‘Tigereye Bailtiger.’ It has been a very slow grower in my side garden, but this year, it seems to be taking off. I am glad. The color is very pretty and with Pavonia missionum, Orange-Scarlet mallow, and Pennisetum purpureum ‘Princess Caroline’ grass behind, I think it makes a pretty picture.

I’m also thrilled with the color and late bloom time of Orienpet lily ‘Black Beauty.’ The first of the Orienpet lilies, and “a possible cross between Lilium speciosum, Oriental, and Trumpet pollen, with the possible inclusion of L. henryi,” ‘Black Beauty’ is nearly indestructible according to B&D Lilies. If you’d like to read more about this lily and its wonderful history, please visit their site, but don’t blame me when you order lilies there. I have also succumbed. I bought ‘Lionheart’ Asiatic lily, ‘Flashpoint’ Orienpet, ‘Forever Susan’ Asiatic, ‘Conca d’ Or’ Orienpet, ‘Royal Sunset’ a fragrant Asiatic and ‘Scheherazade’ Orienpet. Before you spend your hard-earned money, let me just say, it’s not easy to grow lilies here, but I’m willing to give it a try. I already have the old standard, ‘Casa Blanca.’ We’ll see if it returns.

There are also a few late daylilies blooming. ‘Autumn Minaret’ towers above them all in height so I placed it at the end of the garden. ‘Memphis’ is a new one and finally bloomed the other day.

Another new one, H. ‘Apache War Dance’ bloomed heartily in the back garden in partial shade. It’s a true blue red and will become a favorite I’m sure. I think I might have enough red daylilies in my garden now. Maybe. I’m not going to tell you how many daylilies I bought this summer, but it was a lot. I’m planning to revamp the garden and pull several daylilies out of the tiered beds. I’m tired of one with weak scapes, and I’m pulling another I don’t remember the name of. I also have a bronze one I positively hate, not because it’s a bad plant, I just hate the color. Not my thing. So, come to the Central Oklahoma Hemerocallis Society’s daylily sale on Saturday, September 15, 2012, at 8:00 a.m. There will be a lot of plants, but we also sell out very quickly.

I’ll end with a rose. Rosa ‘Valentine’ is not the hardiest rose in my garden, and she gets blackspot, but she is very pretty when she blooms.

Check out the leaves munched upon by grasshoppers. I must get some Nolo bait for those freakin’ grasshoppers. It’s a biological control and doesn’t harm pollinators. At least that’s what we’re told. I should have broadcast it earlier in the season because it is hardest on young grasshoppers, but I still see some out there. I’m getting some today.

Here’s hoping you don’t have a ton of grasshoppers in your garden, and that instead, it’s filled with pollinators of all stripes and types.