Thursday, July 14, 2011

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day-July Heat

It's that time of the month again. Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, where gardeners from all over the world share what's blooming in their garden. Go to May Dream Gardens, and join Gail and links to gardens sharing their treasures! 
While your here, enjoy my Hot July Garden Photos.

Alcea rosea 'Summer Carnival'
First year in the cottage gardens for Hollyhocks. Planted these from seed this winter in jiffy pots under lights. Always like the hocks in my grandmothers and mothers garden. I respect their height and large leaf texture contrast. The Summer Carnival variety pictured above is a frilled double bloom variety I purchased at a big box last winter. Along with the pink variety, a few old fashioned single bloom yellow varieties came along for the ride.
I prefer the single bloom. How about you?
Street Entry Garden-Gladiolus, Achillea Terra Cotta, Echinacea purpurea, and Salvia farinacea.
Hell Strip 2

Gallardia in Hell Strip
Hell Strip 1 and end of Meadow Garden
Meadow Garden fillers, Little Bluestem, Prairie Splendor Coneflower and annual fanflower.

38 comments:

  1. Hi Greggo,
    Love the scene in Hell strip 2... Hell never looked so good!
    After having grown single and double Hollyhocks, I much prefer the singles, the doubles remind me of a non-favorite, the carnation.

    glimpsesofglory-karen.blogspot.com/

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  2. Hollyhocks have such a rich history in the deep south. Folks would plant them around their outhouses and genteel folk would excuse themselves by saying "I believe i'll go out and look at your hollyhocks".... Strange, but true.

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  3. Beautiful! Your garden in looking stunning! Love the use of Ecinachea and grasses. Happy GBBD xx

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  4. One of the prettiest Hell strips ever! Love that combo of yarrow and Mexican feather grass.

    On the 'update' - go to your post link and you'll see the 'edit posts' tab - all your previous posts are listed here. You can then select the 'edit' button and make changes as you'd like.

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  5. Those Hell strips sure look heavenly to me :-) Beautiful. They would fit right into a Texas garden with ease.

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  6. Beautiful! I covet that cone flower and the photo of it too.

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  7. Greggo you have so many pretty things going on in your gardens. Lovely shots.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  8. Just beautiful. Love your meadow garden. Your combinations of color and texture are perfect! Happy GBBD!

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  9. I prefer the single hollyhocks - double flowers look unnatural to me. Also, I believe I've read that pollinators prefer single blooms because it's easier to get to the nectar. I like your gardens very much. Your combinations look like they should be in a magazine!

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  10. I love all your combinations! The rudbeckia and grasses in Hellstrip 2 literally glow in the sunshine. Lovely!

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  11. Splendid blooms! I went through this twice to really get a look at all of the blooms in your mixed beds....so lovely! Happy GBBD!

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  12. Greggo, Your garden is looking great. Love that pink hollyhock!

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  13. Strangely, I don't have a bias for hollyhocks; double or single are both okay with me and that pink is bee-u-ti-ful.

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  14. Everything looks good for July. Any hollyhock is great. They don't grow so well for me.

    Your little bluestem looks good in that setting. I have difficulty planting grasses on purpose because of my rural heritage: grass is 'weedy' in this world. I'm slowly overcoming it by planting great big grasses like Vetiver and Gulf Muhly, non-natives like Lemongrass and natives that are not really grasses like Silk Grass.

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  15. Agreed! I think I also prefer the single hollyhock.

    And the view of "Hell Strip 1 and end of Meadow Garden" is spectacular. I really like the variety and tight clusters of plants. Very inspiring!

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  16. Greggo, I'm starting to wonder how hot can it get? Ugh. Your gardens and hell strips look wonderful in spite of it. I like any type of Hollyhock. Love them in fact. Wonderful plants. Keep on keepin' on my friend.~~Dee

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  17. Your Hell strip is heavenly and your gladiolus are gorgeous!! Thank you for the tour.

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  18. I too prefer single hollyhocks. Unfortunately mine get rust so bad that I threaten to pull them out every year but I always give in and let them stay.
    All of your flowers are lovely. Happy July Bloom Day!

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  19. aloha,
    i love the front yard and colors in the garden...the hollyhocks are my favorites

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  20. I have to say I am a sucker for the doubles! I've never grown HH but am definitely going to get some next year. Maybe I'll even try by seed. I love the photo of Hell Strip 2, so lush looking for Hell! LOL! Always love your beautiful photos...

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  21. Such a lovely garden with a mixed of bright beautiful colours and blooms especially hollyhocks, love the double layered ones!

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  22. Hi Greggo! Your July garden is so colorful and beautiful!
    P.S.: Google translator widget starts automatically, detecting by itself current visitor's language.

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  23. That photo of the hell strip is an award winner. Bet people are always stopping by to look at it. I would give anything for that hollyhock- Alas, I've tried too many times and given up. Rust.

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  24. Those Hell strips sure look heavenly to me Beautiful. They would fit right into a Texas garden with ease.

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  25. Your garden is stunning!...even the hell strips look fab. The hollyhocks are gorgeous, they always remind me of my dad.

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  26. Single hollyhocks vote here. Looking great in your gardens, hell and otherwise Greggo. Rain is pouring down outside this morning in Oregon... Hollyhocks are waiting for sun to open.

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  27. Your garden is looking amazing...the shot of the Echinacea with the grass in the background (I'm guessing Mexican Feather Grass) is so lovely!

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  28. Everything looks great, so colorful!

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  29. That is one great looking Hell Strip. I love Hollyhocks and they do bring back memories of my Grandmother. She always grew them beside the outhouse. LOL! So I grow a few just because of her.

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  30. Love your hollyhocks, Greggo! I don't see any rust on their leaves. This is the issue with my plants. Some time after blooming starts, the leaves gets 'rusty'.

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  31. Put me down for the singel Hollyhocks as well. Your hell strip needs a new name as there is nothing hellish about it.

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  32. Your garden is looking lovely. I think I prefer the double flowered Hollyhocks. I'm not usually a fan of Gladioli but I do like that palest pinky one.

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  33. Wow, so many blooms! Even your hell strip looks like a piece of Eden.

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  34. Greggo, great shots of the plants in your garden and if that's your hell strip please show me your paradise patch. Your cone flowers look fantastic, and Karen why on earth did the carnation become a non favourite,true enough you never see them in gardens these days.

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  35. Beautiful! Your flowers seem to be enjoying the warm weather. I especially love your Hell Strip 2. It's devine!

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  36. Everything looks great!! What's in your hell strip? Plant list, please!! To reference Dante, which layer of hell is it? The top layer (I've overslept, am out of coffee, dog peed on the floor) or the very bottom (French airports shaped like giant screws with elusive exits, DC rush hour traffic).

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  37. One more thing - my gaillardia are big whiney babies. What variety are you growing?

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  38. It's good to see your gardens are surviving the heat, too. Your plants all look so great together. I was glad to see the little bluestem. I planted a few clumps.

    I hope we get some relief from all of this heat soon. I am getting some wilting of plants in the middle of the day. It makes me so sad, but they are coming out of it in the evenings or by morning.

    I don't think I have a preference between single and double hollyhock blooms.

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Thanks for leaving any comments, they are always welcomed. Sorry I had to add word verification as spam was becoming a huge problem. Greggo,