Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - August 2015

All that lovely rain that we got during the first five months of the year is now only a distant memory. Since the beginning of June, things have gotten much drier in my zone 9a garden here in Southeast Texas, and since the beginning of July, we have been positively parched. Combine that with the triple digit (Fahrenheit) temperatures that we've had most days in August and you will find a garden that is struggling to survive. My plants don't have much energy left over just now to produce blooms. 

Still, there are a few plants that soldier on without regard to heat, drought, or whatever else Nature might send their way.


Hamelia, for example. It blooms from summer right through fall, providing nectar for the migrating hummingbirds, and it is not fazed by heat and drought. 

Neither is Anisacanthus wrightii, another mostly fall bloomer that is a favorite with hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. 

Crape myrtles, of course, fairly relish our hot, humid weather. This is an old tree that we pruned back severely last winter. That treatment caused its blooms to come in a bit late this year, but now it is in full bloom.  

Blue plumbago is another reliable bloomer that doesn't mind brutal heat and drought. 

In the vegetable garden, most of the veggies are long gone now, having succumbed to the heat, humidity, or the insects that love such weather, but peppers, of course, thrive on all that and they continue to produce.

Marigolds provide a bit of color in various beds around the garden.

The African blue basil continues to bloom and to attract bees.

The beautyberries are ripe and the birds have already found them and are feasting on them.

Blooms of the 'Pride of Barbados' grow on long terminal panicles. The panicles start flowering at the bottom and continue in waves over a period of weeks all the way to the very end of the panicle. As you can see here, these panicles are close to reaching the end of their blooms and the bottom layers that have already bloomed are now producing the fruits which confirm that they are members of the pea family.

Even near the end of their bloom period, the flowers still attract butterflies like this Monarch.

Joe Pye weed continues its long period of blooms.

Along the back fence where a wild hedgerow grows, bright orange accents show that the native trumpet vine is in bloom. 
Elsewhere in the backyard garden, the almond verbena is flowering and scenting the area with its lovely fragrance.

And, of course, come drought or flood,  heat or frost, the bottle tree is always in bloom.

 
Thank you for visiting my garden this month and thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for again hosting this monthly meme. Happy Bloom Day to all.

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