Just a girl with a hammer

Garden bloggers’ bloom day July 2013

Written by

Heather

in

Agastaches! Salvia! Crocosmia! If you’re a hummingbird, this is your month.

Salvia ‘Black and Blue’

A nightmare color combination of Agastache ‘Ava’, roses, and Stachys ‘Helen Von Stein’

Echinops ritro ruthenicus

Eucomis comosa ‘Sparkling Burgandy’

Agastache ‘Blue Blazes’

Agastache ‘Golden Jubilee’ and Sedum ‘Matrona’

NOID crocosmia

And grasses!

Stipa teniussima
Pennisetum ‘Redhead’ and Pennisetum macrourum ‘White Lancer’
Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’

Garden bloggers’ bloom day is hosted by Carol at May Dream Gardens. Be sure to check out the show!

Comments

  1. Peter Herpst Avatar
    Peter Herpst

    You're right, it's humming bird buffet time out there! Alison and I saw 'Blonde Ambition' at a nursery we visited this weekend and talked about how good yours looked!

    Reply
  2. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    It's so funny, Scott and I were nursery shopping this weekend talking about you and Alison and Alison's Hypericum. Twinsies!

    Reply
  3. Kris Peterson Avatar
    Kris Peterson

    I'm sure your hummingbirds are in heaven, Heather. What sun conditions is that Eucomis in? Mine has nice foliage but no sign of any bloom and I'm wondering if it's a matter of too little sun exposure in its current placement 🙁 .

    Reply
  4. Scott Weber Avatar
    Scott Weber

    I was so jealous of your 'Ava' yesterday…yours is so happy and mine just died for some reason this winter 🙁 I was super envious of how much happier your grasses are than mine…they are huge! I swear your whole garden is a month ahead of mine!

    Reply
  5. Jane / MulchMaid Avatar
    Jane / MulchMaid

    All those deep blues and purples look so good with your house color in the background. And I love your NOID crocosmia backed by that dark canna leaf (or is that a red banana?) Still waiting for my salvia Black and Blue to open…

    Reply
  6. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I love that crocosmia too! And you're right, it's Canna 'Wyoming.'

    Reply
  7. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I guess that's the upside of living in a neighborhood with no street trees. :p That's such a bummer about your Ava! You want a cutting this fall?

    Reply
  8. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    It's in full south-facing sun. It has very good drainage and I don't remember to water it very often. I've heard it can take three years to bloom sometimes, but once it finally does it will do so reliably from then on.

    Reply
  9. Alison Avatar
    Alison

    Love that Blonde Ambition! Mine was new in the ground last fall, and is still looking kind of thin. No sign of it flowering yet. Same with my Salvia Black and Blue. Ah well. Yours is fabulous!

    Reply
  10. Kathryn Avatar
    Kathryn

    Beautiful. I just love your agastache. I'm inspired to put it on my wish list (I used to have it but it disappeared and I've forgotten about it until now).

    Reply
  11. Denise Ginger Avatar
    Denise Ginger

    This might be a double post, but just wanted to applaud the full sun effects on the agastaches and grasses — so upright! And also the 'Blonde Ambition' grass looks like the photo in the HCG catalogue — which mine never did. I bet every hummer in the neighborhood hangs out in your garden.

    Reply
  12. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    The goofy thing is that I bought half of my Bouteloua from Wind Dancer and they look terrific, while the other half are from High Country Gardens and look miserable. Go figure!

    Reply
  13. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Isn't that funny how we don't even realize something has gone missing? Yet another reason I have to keep a blog to remember anything in my garden. 🙂

    Reply
  14. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    Love the Pennisetum and Bouteloua. The Eucomis is also very cool, though not something we would grow in these parts.

    Reply
  15. Anna K Avatar
    Anna K

    I have blue house envy – it all looks so good against the house! I love all your grasses, and the Blonde Ambition is spectacular! Nice!

    Reply
  16. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    THANK YOU for saying our house is blue! It looks blue to me but everyone else seems to see it as gray. I'm starting to think I'm colorblind. 🙂

    Reply
  17. Linda Avatar
    Linda

    I bought one of those eyebrow. Grasses from ' wind dancer' as well. I'd forgotten About it till I noticed those blooms the other day!
    I like that you've gone for a riot of color , so have I …

    Reply
  18. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    It's not a very interesting grass until it blooms but when it does . . . It's so good. Riots of color are for winners!

    Reply
  19. Laurrie Avatar
    Laurrie

    My envy knows no bounds. I cannot grow salvia Black & Blue to save my life — every year I plant a new one and get a flower spike, just one, and lots of bushy foliage. My agastache was lovely but did not come back from winter. And my Lucifer crocosmia are vivd red and nice, but only 3 or 4 came up from about 20 I planted. grrr. So here I am along with the hummingbirds, admiring all of yours — and they look great!

    Reply
  20. Lost Roses Avatar
    Lost Roses

    Don't you just love Black and Blue Salvia? If I couldn't have that in my containers I wouldn't bother planting and the hummingbirds wouldn't bother with me

    Reply
  21. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I bought mine for $2 at a clearance sale and I swear it was the best $2 I've ever spent. It's so, so beautiful.

    Reply
  22. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Is it the snow that dooms the salvias and agastaches? I've been so thankful for them–they require so little care and they make me look like I know what I'm doing! 🙂

    Reply
  23. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I think everyone in Portland has the same Eucomis. It's kind of funny how these trends spread.

    Reply
  24. Anna K Avatar
    Anna K

    Naah – you're not colorblind – your house is the perfect blue. I bet when you looked at the paint chip it seemed quite gray, but on that large of a scale it definitely becomes blue. It's an optical phenomenon called metamerism. You managed to pull off something very difficult for most people – as evident when you see all of the failed blue houses around town. Trust me – I set architectural colors for a living. Well done! You hit the head of the nail with your hammer (pun intended).

    Reply
  25. Ricki Grady Avatar
    Ricki Grady

    So much to drool over here, and several things that have eluded my ministrations, like 'Black & Blue'. Oh, well…I'll just enjoy yours.

    Reply
  26. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I swear I thought I bought 'black and blue' because I saw it in your garden! I bought it for $1 at Viscaya. If they have it again this year it might be worth the money to try again. 🙂

    Reply

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