Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day July 2010

Black Beauty lilies. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

I’m tired and hot from another 90+ degree-day in the garden center. Did I mention humidity of at least 110 percent??? Just to prove it, it rained hard today.

All the heat, rain and long days have taken a toll with a bumper crop of weeds in my Indiana garden. Such is the life of the gardener. Anyway, in the spirit of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for July 2010, here’s what’s happening in the garden besides the weed:

Blackberry lily. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

There’s nothing like the maturing stand of Black Beauty lilies (Lilium) for drama. These stately beauties not only look great, they are fragrant. They came from Old House Gardens, a mail-order company in Ann Arbor, Mich., that specializes in heirloom bulbs. I finally have a large enough stand that I can cut some for indoor enjoyment.

Flowering tobacco. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

Another favorite fragrant plant is the flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alatus), a gentle self-sower that just shows up. Sometimes I transplant them to a better location. Sometimes I pull them out. And, sometimes they sow right where they should be.

'Hot Papaya' coneflower. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

New in the garden is ‘Hot Papaya’ coneflower (Echinacea), which was just planted about three weeks ago from a quart size pot. It has three blooms and this is the best one. It’s also fragrant.

German statice. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

The German or common statice (Limonium vulgare), also is blooming, a long-flowering perennial. Even when it is done blooming, the flowers dry and stay on the plant for weeks, eventually breaking off to tumble through the garden. A great cut flower to air out a bouquet.

'Sunshine Daydream' sunflower. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

Also new is ‘Sunshine Daydream’ sunflower (Helianthus multiflorus), which was planted last fall. It’s from Plants Nouveau and is still in the holding bed, awaiting a spot where it will shine at 5 feet tall.

The blackberry lily (Belamcanda) is an oddly named plant…not the blackberry, because that’s just what the seed head looks like, but the lily part. The foliage is a lot more like an iris and the flower does not really remind me of a lily. Still, it’s a lovely plant that self-sows a bit, but is easy to pull out, if needed. A nice cut flower, too.

Calla lily. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

The calla lily (Zantedeschia) is an unknown cultivar. I bought it in Amsterdam at Schiphol Airport as I was leaving Holland. It was one of the few plants that I liked that had a phyto sheet that would allow me to get through U.S. Customs. The calla lily was supposed to be ‘Black Star.’ Instead, it’s almost a hot pink and short, maybe the cultivar ‘Hot Flash.’ Pretty, though, and a keeper to commemorate my trip.

'Cherry Brandy' rudbeckia. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

‘Cherry Brandy’ (Rudbeckia hirta) is one of the plants in the Sunken Garden at Garfield Park this year. This is the park I grew up in, and where I’m on the board of the Friends of Garfield Park. Garfield is the city’s oldest and will be one of the public gardens we’ll see when Garden Writers Association has its annual symposium in Indianapolis in 2011. This plant, though, is growing in my garden, and is a delightful specimen that lives up to its name. (Please ignore those grassy weeds nearby.)

'Diana' rose of sharon. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

One of my favorite late- and long-blooming shrubs is ‘Diana,’ a sterile rose of sharon (Hibiscus syriacus). The large white flowers dot the plant from July into October. None of those pesky  hibiscus seedlings, either.

See those flowerless stems of zucchini? I’d say rabbits with a penchant for gourmet food have been dining on the squash blossoms. So far, one yellow squash has been harvested.

Rabbits must be nibbling the squash flowers. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp