Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-August 2010

It's a good thing that GBBD is today, otherwise who knows how long I would have gone without posting. I'm not sure what the deal is, but I've been in a blogging funk lately.  Maybe this will get the ball rolling again.  Let's see what happens.  I hope you're not in a funk, but, if you are, please go visit Carol's site, May Dreams Gardens, to see what other people have blooming in their gardens today.  Even if you're not in a funk, go visit Carol-it's fun to see what's blooming around the world!

This is my crape myrtle.  I think it's a petite orchid variety?  According to what I've been reading on line, they should reach about 3-5', but I've had these for a couple years now, and they are still only about 6-8" high.  Oh well.  They're pretty when they bloom anyway.  They seem to be flowering about a month later than they did last year.  I'm not sure why this is, but I'm just going to be happy that they're still alive and blooming at all...

Which is more than I can say for several of the things that I showed you in my last GBBD post.  Remember how I was all excited about my new Cuphea llavea, the one that had "all the brilliant color of a fuchsia with none of the tendency to die immediately upon coming into my care."?  Ummmm...yeeeeaaah.  I've already thrown away the nub that used to the the rootball which was attached to the stick that used to be the stem.  I also lost my geranium, my lobelia, and my strawberries.  I think this is largely a consequence of being out of town for three weeks in the middle of summer and leaving the watering to our house/dog sitters; although to be fair, the Cuphea and the geranium seemed to be going downhill before I left.  Luckily, the house and the dog fared better, so I guess I can't complain too much.  

I do still have a few survivors that are flourishing in this August heat.

My canna is doing well and putting on a nice show.

My bouganvillea is a bit withered but hanging in there.

And, finally, my white spider lilies, which I think are Crinum asiaticum, seem to be in almost perpetual bloom now that they've had almost a couple years to mature.

Speaking of mature, look at my tomatoes!  The ones that haven't been eaten by the birds yet, I mean.  

See how they're sitting there all red and ripe and not in a bird's belly?  My tomato plant started leaning into my red ti plant, and I thought I'd let it go and see if it would protect the tomatoes from theiving birds.  I'm not sure if it's the color or simply the fact that the tomatoes aren't highly visible from above, but either way it seems to be working.  I realize this isn't technically a bloom, but I thought it was worth sharing anyway.

Of course, since I lost so many plants in the last couple months, I had to replace them.  It was only the responsible thing to do.  Right?  Of course, maybe I should have waited until we get back from our next vacation...Wish me luck on these new arrivals.

Osteospermum or African Daisy

Portulaca-I believe this one is 'Fairytale Cinderella'  I love the bright pink against the yellow!

Evolvus glomeratus or Blue Daze

I think I've picked some hardier plants than I did last time, so hopefully they will be able to survive.  Also, August tends to be a good month for cloudy, rainy weather from tropical storms, so maybe Mother Nature will help me out a little bit.