Ok, some of my favorite garden bloggers faithfully observe a "Bloom Day" each month to showcase what's going on in their gardens. Dolt that I am, I never seem to know when it is until I read their posts! So forgive me a few days' tardiness (and my natural tendency to generally be late to the proverbial party!), and I hope you enjoy this belated contribution.This post is organized as a sort of an ad hoc garden tour, startng from my front door, down along the edges of the front boulder bed, through the Woodland Garden, the small herb bed behind the house, and on back to the hibiscus bed in the parking. This first shot is a volunteer Celosia that I noticed a month or so ago nestled between the rocks by the steps that lead up to the entry of the house. When it first appeared, I wondered if it would be a mutant (one of those weird "Pineapple" ones like we've had the past couple of years. Click on the label "Sports" down below to see what I'm talking about.), but as it turns out, it's pretty much faithful to the original plant we set out years ago. Funny ... I wonder if, after mutating a few years, such sports start reverting back to their original forms after a period of time? Something to research more about in my many moments of free time, LOL. Anyway, I'm glad it popped up where it did and think it's quite pretty!
Here we have a Calendula in bloom, about two steps away from the previously mentioned Celosia. I found this one especially attractive, so had to pause to snap a few shots of it as I continued down the walk in front. I know I'm always plugging these, but honestly, there's hardly an easier flower (ok, maybe Zinnias) to get established as a returning annual in the garden. Just keep them happy and watered in a sunny place their first year, pull off the seed heads, separate them and scatter them about, and you'll have more the following year, and successive years after ... They're edible, have great herbal properties (skin care) and so darn pretty, how could any lover of fire colors do without it? 
Regular readers will recognize the frequent "Bee Butt" shots I post when I get a good one, and since I know that some of you are fans of them, I present the August, 2008 Bee Butt of the Month. I got several of this bee working on Zebrina Mallow flowers at the corner of the boulder bed, and thought this was the best one to share. It was unbelievable how many bees were working in this area, which, frankly, has gotten out of control this year, with so many Zebrina Mallows up everywhere, that we are going to have start controlling them more. I did pull a few tonight where they were shading out more important plants, but while we were weeding this evening, there were just too many buzzing around that we just didn't want to risk ticking them off, so we worked some in the Woodland Garden instead. And to think a few months ago (June) I was prematurely lamenting the disappearance of our wonderful Bumblebees! Though we may both inconvenience each other from time to time. I got loudly "Buzzed" by one when I was pulling the Zebrina Mallows, but it was only a friendly warning. Of course, I then backed off quickly....
I had to include a few examples of the various Zinnias I have planted among the veggies and herbs right behind the house, because they are just now starting to come into bloom in the various places we have them planted around the garden. I really like this happenstance combination of the red and orange, but as you probably know, I'm really big on the fire colors so I'm always delighted to have them wherever I can on whatever I can! These haven't reached their mature height yet, but I've noticed that around the neighborhood where people have Zinnias planted, they seem to be blooming at a much smaller height than usual. I'm not sure what's up with that, but given the downright bizarre Spring-Summer we've had this year, it could well be an effect of the weather....
Again, we're in pretty much the same spot, different flower ... I just really loved the how the orange came through in this shot, as well as the amount of detail the camera captured at the center of the flower. (Have I raved enough about how much I love the Fuji S700? LOL) I think that every gardener who uses annuals and has a sunny spot should have to answer this question affirmatively: Got Zinnias? Such a cheap investment to plant seeds and you get back so much from them when you pamper them just a bit as they get going, and from then on, heat, humidity and drought barely touch them! Darn near perfect if you ask me -- which of course you didn't, but just in case.... 
One more for the road, as it were ... I'm never quite sure whether to refer to this as some shade of pink or magenta, but whatever it is, this color inevitably shows up in the mixes I buy to plant every summer. And I'm delighted with it, because these are always real eye poppers in the garden, no matter its designation. There are other ones blooming elsewhere in the garden, and you'll likely see more in the coming weeks, so consider these three to be but a brief preview from this month....
Let's revisit the Torenia I was touting a while back as the perfect replacement for Impatiens ... I guess I slightly honked off some Impatiens fans a while back when I bad mouthed them as "old lady flowers" and these are what I recommended to replace them. These two plants have done quite well over the summer and have expanded their spread quite a bit since we first planted them. They're quite happy to share their space with the ivy we have planted as a ground cover in this area, as well as the omnipresent ground ivy (aka: Creeping whoever... Charlie, Jenny, who else?). Only when I uploaded this shot to the computer did I realize I had also caught a maple seedling ... which will be dispatched soon, post haste! You can also see (to the left) one of the Toad Lilies that is starting to bud out (I think it's 'Amethystina'), but all you can tell right now is that it will be some shade of purple. To the right is one of our Hellebores that has been doing pretty well this year, so we hope it will bloom next year ... I wonder what color it will be, as this one has yet to bloom for us....
I don't think anyone will have to guess too hard what this bud is ... In fact, a few regular readers (who shall remain namelss) are probably just salivating at this tempting sight ... the long awaited blooming of His Majesty the Kopper King! I'll be devoting an entire post to this personal favorite very soon (maybe even tomorrow, depending on how wiped out I am by work at that point). I've been hearing from Gail that hers refuses to bud out and we suspect that lack of sun is the culprit ... but Shady Gardener has it worse! Hers is being eaten alive by some sort of critter ... a voracious caterpillar we suspect, but in any case, I'd really be whining if mine suffered the same fate! Hang in there, Shady, and hopefully it will manage to bloom for you this year! If not, just repeat the age old Gardener's Mantra: Next year....Well that's it from here for August Bloom day around here! There were a lot of other things I would have liked to include, but given the length of this post already, they'll have to show up later. Never fear though, I really milk the photos I get for all they're worth, so I hope no one feels slighted, hehe. I took all these shots on August 16 and 17, 2008, so they're an accurate reflection of how we were viewing things the past two days. I'll try to remember the right date for Bloom Day next month, but don't hold me to it!
