Tuesday, July 16, 2013

July Bloom Day

We've been experiencing a nasty heat wave and the temps plus humidity are killing me out in the gardens. It seems all I've been doing is watering plants coming inside to cool down then going back outside to water some more.  Many of the flowers don't hold up well in this heat especially my poor fuchsias. They are all covered with burned and limp looking flowers so no fuchsia pics for this Bloom Day.  But the lilies, phlox and other hardy characters out there are looking very pretty.

A day late unfortunately, I had good intentions but we were on a Garden Conservancy Open Days tour over the weekend and I just didn't have time to get the camera out. I braved the heat yesterday afternoon and grabbed some shots so without further ado here is a collection from my July gardens. 

As always, many thanks to Carol from May Dreams Gardens for hosting this monthly bloom fest.

Hemerocallis 'Jolyene Nicole'



Clematis 'Arabella'


Orienpet Lily 'Taragonna'

Summer blooming Azalea

Clematis 'Polish Spirit'




Echinops

Hydrangea 'Endless Summer'

Platycodon




Impatiens 'Variegated Salmon'

Phlox 'Pink Flame'

Hemerocallis 'Innocent Bystander'



Hosta 'Golden Tiara'


Abutilon 'Vodoo'

Abutilon hybrid

Cuphea ignea

Pentas



Tithonia



Dahlia 'Kelvin Floodlight' about to open its first flower of the season


Phlox 'Pink Flame'

Allium 'Millenium'

Hemerocallis 'Pastel Classic'

Heliopsis 'Lorainne Sunshine'

Phlox 'David'

Brugmansia


Rose 'Miss All American Beauty' with Lisianthus

Impatiens 'Variegated Salmon'

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16 comments:

  1. SueJuly 16, 2013 at 4:34 AM

    As far as I'm concerned the best thing about Bloom Day is it forces you to get off your behind and go poke around in the garden no matter what the conditions.

    Lookin' good! Too bad the heat is beating so many plants up. The flowers on my 'Jackmanii' clem went poof. At least we've had some rain to somewhat offset. Imagine if it was dry?

    Happy GBBD!





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    1. Deanne FortnamJuly 16, 2013 at 7:12 AM

      Thanks Sue and I completely agree with you. It was nice to take a look around yesterday even though it was miserable hot and humid. Most things are looking better than I'd expected considering the temps. You are so right, thank heavens we've had all this rain so the ground isn't bone dry on top of these temps

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  2. CommonWeederJuly 16, 2013 at 6:04 AM

    This weather is a trial. I water the vegetable garden, but with a well supplying our water, I can't really water the flower gardens. All things considered the flowers are doing pretty well. Yours are amazing!

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  3. AlisonJuly 16, 2013 at 8:04 AM

    Your flowers are gorgeous, and your photography skills do them justice. I especially love the Cannas, so luscious. Sorry you're in the middle of a heat wave. I hope your Garden Conservancy tour went well, and you weren't too stressed by it. I know I would be a basket case if I ever put my garden on a tour.

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    1. Deanne FortnamJuly 16, 2013 at 1:13 PM

      Thanks Alison, we had a great weekend for our Conservancy Tour. It went very well and I had a great time meeting a lot of interesting people. Fortunately the weather was very nice. Sunday was a bit warm but nothing like this.

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  4. outlawgardenerJuly 16, 2013 at 9:47 AM

    I'm always impressed by your beautiful garden and amazing photography! How did you get such great depth of field? I'm guessing that you used a tripod and a small aperture. Do you also have a macro lens? Your shots are stunning!

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    1. Deanne FortnamJuly 16, 2013 at 1:15 PM

      Thanks! Yes I did use a tripod. For these shots I was using my Canon 100/400 lens with a 1.4 teleconverter at F8. Long telephoto lenses with small aperture settings give great bokeh so it's fairly easy to isolate the subject if you choose your background carefully.

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  5. DeniseJuly 16, 2013 at 11:09 AM

    Was that your GC Open Day? If so, I can imagine how thrilled you are that it's behind you now. The lilies seem very happy this year, and I bet the tropicals are exploding with the heat. Though it stinks that the heat is frying the fuchsias. And I read yesterday that Cindy is having some of the hottest weather in the country!

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    1. Deanne FortnamJuly 16, 2013 at 1:17 PM

      Thanks Denise, these were taken the day after the Conservancy Tour and yes, the tropicals are growing at light speed. My Alocasia portodora is enormous, it's as tall as the Ensete maurelii right now. I didn't know they grew that large

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  6. sharonJuly 16, 2013 at 12:28 PM

    flowers galore!!.. I love the peach one

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  7. ksJuly 16, 2013 at 7:54 PM

    Deanne, I feel like I could reach out and touch those blooms; the images are just so crisp and vibrant.My hats off to you as always..

    ps looks like Tarragona went from buds to flowers in about two days--didn't I see pics with no open blooms from this past weekend ?

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    1. Deanne FortnamJuly 17, 2013 at 5:03 AM

      Thanks Kathy, Yes that lily opened at light speed. I had one flower open on Saturday, three on Sunday and today they are fully opened. The bad news is that they'll probably be done by the weekend with the temps we are dealing with

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  8. Mark and GazJuly 17, 2013 at 1:18 AM

    Lovely blooms Deanne, even better with your lovely photography!

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  9. scottweberpdxJuly 19, 2013 at 4:14 PM

    Your garden is gorgeous...and your photos are STUPENDOUS! As beautiful as they all are, it's the one of the Loosestrife and Echinacea that really sings for me!

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    1. Deanne FortnamJuly 20, 2013 at 4:43 AM

      Many thanks Scott, coming from you that is a huge compliment. Your photography always blows me away!

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