Nature - Summer Blooms
It’s been a super hot summer season but oh, the blooms have been gorgeous! Let’s hear it for the flowers of summer, as they begin to fade to make way for the pansies and violas of fall!
zinnias
They never disappoint. Their bright, cheery colors make me smile and I love to bring them inside to enjoy. The more you cut them, the more they’ll bloom. It’s amazing to me how such a tiny seed can produce such luscious shades and skinny stems that withstand the hardest rainfall.
sunflower
It just wouldn’t be summer without at least one sunflower, would it? This beauty was our one and only this summer. I think the birds and chipmunks helped themselves to many of the sunflower seeds I put out in the bed in May. This one was huge on a rather short stem and now offers plenty of yummy seeds for the wildlife.
vinca
Back when we had something called “rain”, I thought the raindrops on these pretty pink vinca petals was so sweet.
calibrachoa & petunia
The bumble bees, butterflies and hummingbirds loved these flowers! I adored this color combination of peachy pink, fuschia and magenta.
speaking of calibrachoa
How cute is this stripey one!? This yellow and white variety reminded me of the striped petunias that, for some reason, make me think of something old-fashioned. in the best way. And the flower shape within the flower….amazing.
don’t give up on it
It bloomed its head off when first planted in the beginning of summer. I had it in a mostly shaded spot. All of the sudden, it stopped blooming and looked pitiful. I moved it to a sunnier spot, fed it coffee grounds and found a worm or caterpillar on it. I liberated the critter and after a week or two, boy did the blooms return!
impatiens
These shade-loving flowers thrived in our pots and window boxes. I was surprised, however, to find that crows like to eat them. I had a pot on a table a little distance away from our house in our wooded area and the birds feasted on them. I moved the pot back down to the deck, closer to the house, and they left them alone. I loved this color combination of fuschia and red. Not pictured, but quite impressive, were our white impatiens in a window box. Still kicking myself for not taking a pic of these before we had to remove the box for house painting. Apparently, it was the perfect shady spot for them and they were so full and had a lovely arched shape to them.
petunia, calibrachoa & lantana aka the cat and the butterfly
Two creatures enjoying the flowers…our feline, Winnie, watching the butterfly collect nectar. She calmly spent a good few minutes observing her. I liked having a few all-white plantings this summer. Something about the color made my brain think “snow”, therefore, a cold feeling on a hot day. Also, I had never seen white lantana before.
lantana
I love this “firey” variety. I learned a great tip about lantana. To keep it blooming all summer, you must pinch off the green cone-shaped part after the petals fall off and the “balls” (seeds), too. That way, the plant knows to keep producing blooms instead of going to seed too early.
angelonia
This was a new one for me. I just loved the color and dainty flowers that looked kind of like miniature orchids. The stems grew tall and a bit floppy, which I found charming. It thrived in a part sun/shade area.
marigolds
One of the things I love about being able to pick my own flowers out of the flower bed is using them to add a little touch to cakes. This one was for our daughter, Hannah’s, 31st birthday! Marigolds are also edible and fun to sprinkle their petals on top of salads and other dishes (as long as no pesticides or other chemicals were used on or near the flowers).
zinnias
These pink blooms adorned my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday cake!