Garden Bloggers Blooms Day: That’ll Be the Dah-lia…

I have asked to be excused several times recently for my excitement about this year’s dahlia success – and I need to ask again as they are undoubtedly stars of the garden this August Blooms Day, a meme hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. From left to right: Serena, a Bishop Children’s seedling from last year, Procyon, Karma Amanda and Karma Fuchsiana. Nigella ‘Delft Blue is in the right foreground with a hint of Tagetes ‘Paprika’ and a dwarf coreopsis mix behind.

Adjacent to this cutting bed are more of this year’s successes, the rudbeckias, with Chim Chiminee on the left, Cherry Brandy on the right and what I thought was a rogue Cherry Brandy seedling in the middle but which I wonder now is indeed a stray gaillardia. The leaves are very similar on both, as well as the flower – what do other people think?

Similarly sunny and bright is this bold border combo – sunflower ‘Ruby Eclipse’ (saved seed producing nothing like the original plant), Crocosmia ‘Canary Bird’, Inula hookerii, Dahlia ‘Bishop of LLandaff’ and the last of Lobelia ‘Fan Blue’. I have had this particular Bishop for about four seasons now, lifting him each autumn, but this year he has produced more flowers than the other three years put together. Oh, and do kindly ignore the basket of very dead nasturtiums…

Cooling things down a little are Phlox ‘Rembrandt’ and  Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue‘:

Like this phlox, I was thinking today just how much some white flowers light up parts of the garden – Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ certainly does, shown here with just-about-over Astrantia ‘Shaggy’:

Not actually white but still doing a similar job amongst fresh growth on Rambling Rector is Clematis x jouiniana ‘Praecox‘…

… and this informal combination of green and white successfully fulfils its summer role in the special snowdrop border – Californian Poppy ‘Ivory White, pansy, wild carrot, Geranium nodosum ‘Silverwood’ with hosta and Heuchera ‘Electric Lime as foliage back-up:

Some of the roses are producing small second flushes, but ‘The Poet’s Wife’, a new purchase for this year, thinks otherwise:

Prize for the stupidest plant this month has got to go this tree lily though – reaching dizzy heights way above my head (not difficult) last year, I took the advice of Green Tapestry‘s Anna and put it into a pot instead. Did it stunt its growth? No it did not – and its fist size pink trumpets are now blaring away in the clouds, taunting me from above…