Pied Beauty

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Bloom Day, September 15

Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, and thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting.  Today, gardeners all over talk about flowers blooming at home.  Hop on over there later and check out her lovely garden, and the links to gardens everywhere.

It's so hot around here I can barely stand to go out and take a picture.  Temperature-wise, it's no hotter than most of August, and maybe even a tiny bit cooler, but by September 15, I am so tired of heat and humidity.  I can hardly wait for the cooler days and cooler colors of fall.  But the flowers blooming now are the toughest of the tough, and I'm happy to share them with you.

Bougainvillea.  Faithful as always.

Coral Vine.  Not as good as last year, but still.

Mauve Dancing Ladies Ginger.




Butterfly Ginger -- a great year!
Lantana.  Cannot be killed. (Look! No lacebugs!)
Milkweed.  Caterpillar damage artfully cropped out.

Oxalis.  In the full sun.  On the west side.
Passionflowers for the fritillaries.
Pretty pavonia.  Not the Peruvian kind!
Pentas.  My almost-perennial standby.
Turnera.  My favorite in the morning.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't show you the most prolific blooming groundcover in my entire garden.  Yes, there it is.  The lovely Virginia Buttonweed.  Sigh!

Virginia Buttonweed.  Also cannot be killed!

Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and don't forget to visit Carol's site for more flowers.

8 comments:

  1. My buttonweed is not blooming. What is your secret :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just livin' right, Victor! I'm VERY successful with buttonweed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Elizabeth! Your blooms are very pretty, in spite of the heat and humidity. We grow many of the same varieties here in S FL. Not too many plants can withstand the hot southern sun. I'm enthralled with your mauve dancing ladies ginger. I've never seen it before. FANTASTIC! Your butterfly ginger is very pretty as well. I think you and I are the only two garden bloggers with the Oxalis Charmed Wine. I added mine last year to a semi-shade / late afternoon sun location...it hasn't disappointed me at all. It came through the winter unscathed and blooms almost constantly. I love the color, shape and interest!
    Happy GBBD!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Bloom day to you! I do so like that Coral Vine! The mauve dancing ladies ginger is a so very lovely. Not long before autumn cools up~I am rwady, too. gail

    ReplyDelete
  5. The passion flower is so delicate. I would love to be able to grow them in my garden.Happy Bloom Day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. aloha elizabeth,

    what a beautiful garden you have presented to us this september, your color palette of whites, reds and purples are wonderful, i'm a fan of your ginger-its one of my favorites

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would gladly sway you some heat. It is cool here now and we will get very few warm days now. Summer ends abruptly here in southern Ontario.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your Virginia buttonweed is certainly much prettier than the buttonweed we have in Illinois:) Lots of lovely blooms for September; it's certainly been a challenging year for gardeners everywhere, I think. Happy belated Bloom Day!

    ReplyDelete