If you took a vote for least favorite month to garden in Texas, August would win by a landslide. We are all tired of the heat
as the hope of cooler weather is only a distant whisper.
Yet, the wagon wheel flowers in the sunflower family (and other families) seem to enjoy the endless heat.
After your visit, roll on over to Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see the entire wagon train.
Let's see what's blooming this month.
Wagons Ho!
Let's see what's blooming this month.
Wagons Ho!
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Vinca Nirvana 'Cascade Burgandy'
Zinnia angustifolia 'Crystal Orange'
Plumbago auriculata beside blue bottles
Zinnia angustifolia paired with burgandy Vinca
Osteospermum 'Voltage Yellow'
Red Pentas with Sun coleus 'Versa Lime' (I think) and silver Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas).
This silvery lavender has done surprisingly well in our Houston humidity. I keep it in a raised bed with excellent drainage. I will grow this one again!
Rudbeckia hirta is seeing its last days for this year.
Another view of the red Pentas with Spanish lavender.
Zexmenia hispida is a tough little Texas native.
The Whole Enchilada
Cora Vinca 'Deep Lavender'
Coreopsis 'Route 66' is a new one for me. I love it!
Not a wagon wheel type flower, but so pretty. It's a lavender sage.
Rudbeckia triloba holds the record for most blooms with over 50 at one time!
This was given to me by my friend Cindy at My Corner of Katy.
Thanks! :0)
Zinnias with variegated Yucca gloriosa.
Some fun foliage.
Agave x 'Mr. Ripple'
Agave x 'Sharkskin'
One of my many species of Aloes.
A nice scene with Mexican Feather Grass, windmill palms, agaves, and flowers.
I'll have more of this grass next season.
******
And there you have it!
I had to sneak in a little foliage at the end since the agaves and the grasses are having their hay day just now. (get it....grasses..HAY day...bad pun)
Hope you are having a much cooler August where ever you might be.
Here it's 98 degrees each afternoon.
Thanks for stopping by to see the wagon wheel flowers.
David/:0)
Verbena
Enjoyable indeed, especially the first one!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking how I didn't need to know the names of the plants - then I came to the first agave (with the delightfully shaped leaves). I would like to know what that is!
ReplyDeleteHi Esther,
DeleteYes, it is indeed a stunning agave and one I that has taken the lead as my favorite. It's a hybrid cross between two native species. The people at Yucca Do Nursery have named it 'Mr. Ripple'.
http://www.yuccado.com/agave-sp-mr-ripple.html
I loved the little red and white flowers together. But I really liked seeing the whole enchilada! Very nice - especially for August! I hate the August heat, but I hate to think of summer ending, too.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks great. I'm having to help it out every now and again. The rain is back so no more watering for awhile. But talk about wind storms blowing everything around!!! I dislike September the most here. It's still a nasty month. And I always welcome October with a smile:) Hope you have a good start to your school year. This is our second week back:(
ReplyDeleteYou have some lovely flowers and foliage despite the heat. We have a lot of foliage plants in common!
ReplyDeleteI thought we had it bad in August in San Francisco, but you remind me that it can always be a LOT HOTTER. And add going back to school in August, I still haven't gotten used to that. I love the fact that you're posting your agaves and grasses, and am always a sucker for a bad pun.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the wagon wheel flowers but as you mentioned that August is quite a challenge to have gardening going - I guess it must be that these blooms are quite hardy.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite impressive to see all the lovely beautiful blooms weathering the most difficult moment of time in your garden.
Must be the hard work of the gardner making sure all is well - I guess.
August temps do get tiresome, and I don't have near the cause to complain that you do. Your garden is holding up beautifully. My 'Mr. Ripple' is so big now he's starting to get some negative comments and requests to cut off some lower leaves.
ReplyDeleteLove your "wheels". I also never thought of them in that way. My hot August garden is over-grown and has become a jungle in this hot and humid Houston weather. This is the time of year I cut and tie the tangled stems to find my individual plants again.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the Rudbeckia triloba is so happy in your garden! Here's to gardening in the dark and on weekends now that you're back at school :-)
ReplyDeleteWonderful showing for August, David. That's a lot of color you have going on there. I envy you your Rudbeckia. Mine bloomed (a miracle in itself in this climate) but were all deformed.
ReplyDeleteAugust does take all the fun out of being outside.
ReplyDelete