August in Bloom: Vibrant Flowers, Foliage, and Hints of Autumn

Let's take a look at what's blooming in August. Welcome to Joy in the Garden. The pinnacle hydrangeas are absolutely in full bloom. In the July garden tour, they were just starting to bloom. This one right in front of me right here is a little lime hydrangea. It's my oldest hydrangea, over 15 years old. It is starting to get some of the beautiful fall color, which is little tints of pink and red and mauve. And that starts to happen when our evenings and nights get cooler. And across the way are five boba hydrangeas. And I would consider this area to be part sun. They're actually definitely at their, you know, the largest that they actually will get. This one on the end doesn't get quite as big as the others because it actually gets more shade. So it grows a little different. Now in this little corner over here, we have a green velvet boxwood on that side of the boba hydrangea. And we have a green velvet on this side as well. I have quite a few of the Helen von Stein lambs here, which is kind of the green grayish color. Even though that loves full sun, it does great in part shade with a guacamole hosta and the annual mini-me watermelon coleus there. With an autumn frost hosta and the beautiful caladiums there are fancy white queen. Now I've actually got this fancy white queen caladium in three different spots in this circle garden, just trying to really kind of create some, I don't know, continuity. So this is also a fancy white queen caladium. Now what's interesting is that coloring this in, this has more sun over here and it actually gets more red. But here you certainly see the veins, but they aren't quite as red. I have added the adjuga burgundy glow in this pathway here and hoping that that grows and helps me not have to put so much mulch down. That'd be great. And there we have the millennium allium. That's actually in a few places here, kind of along this path. This is part shade and these alliums, even though they're full sun, they love it. They're very, very happy here. This is some brunnera jackfrost. I have quite a few of the jackfrost variety and the curlicue fries with their beautiful blooms. I think look great with the alliums there. So let's make our way down this path. I do love how the purple in the millennium allium really blends beautifully with the adjuga down there. And there's the autumn frost hosta next to the curly fries hosta. And the fact that those blooms also have beautiful purple tints, I think is really pretty. Now, right here is the sweet autumn clematis. Not blooming yet, not blooming yet. That'll be really towards the end of August when that blooms. So I made my way to the other side of the arbor and you see the millennium allium across the way. And this right here is bubblebap allium, which starts blooming in July. Those two bumblebees are just loving their life right now. So some of the blooms on the bubblebap are spent, but it continues to put out more blooms and the blooms are definitely larger than the millennium allium. And then here is the last summer allium I have to bloom. And this is lavender bubbles. So that will be blooming nicely pretty soon. There's a stained glass hosta, really pretty, next to diamond lake hosta. And there is some more of that ajuga with the brunnera, jackfrost. This is a dragon winged pink begonia. It's an annual. The creeping fox here that blooms in the spring, but it's just a green mat the rest of the season. So I met a hydrangea. And here we have some more of the autumn frost hostas with the diamond lake in the middle. Another one of those dragon winged pink begonias. A little ruby smooth hydrangea. And then the sun king aurelia. Pretty new, but looking great. Great, great pop of chartreuse there. So let's make our way to a different part of the garden here. This little kind of vignette here. It's always looking pretty. So that is a copper king puccarella there. And this is where I really started adding the surefire rose begonia. And it has done just magnificently in the full sun. It's also a trailblazer road trip coleus there. Looking really pretty. So let's head over here. I do have some bundle of joy sedum. It's just a low going sedum there. Starting to put some white blooms on. The green velvet boxwood right there next to the wall. This is an incredible smooth hydrangea. Now notice it is getting some burned areas. So we've had a lot of high, high heat for a lot of days in a row with a lot of rain. So, you know, I don't blame them. They'd be hot too. That's the midnight sun ujila, which is absolutely one of my favorites with coral sedum, which is an annual for me right in front. Ladies mantle gold strike. And behind that, I think this is such pretty foliage. So I cut back the yarrow here. It was the milly rock yellow terracotta. And it has not tried to rebloom, which is kind of a bummer. But the foliage itself is really, really pretty. So I think next year I just need to figure out, you know, what to put right here. That is a ruby smooth hydrangea, but that struggled a little bit because that yarrow was too tall. And there's another one of those orange skyscraper salvias. Some more millennium allium back there. That is a firelight hydrangea back there. Look at those beautiful colors. Pinky winky right here. This is in a standard format. I guess grown to be a standard tree is what I should really say. Then my wee whites are looking very, very sad. This kind of last two days, they have really ground up. So I am going to come in here, cut the blooms off that are dead. And I will get some new blooms. Like that's a new bloom. That's a new bloom. Some new blooms down there. So I will get some more blooms, not a ton more. But they will definitely look better than, you know, the crispy brown. But let's just get a little bit closer. Look at that beautiful color on the firelight hydrangea. Isn't that just gorgeous? Behind the firelight is another one of the same Sun Kings Aurelias. And I said that three times, Sun King Aurelia. Now this pinky winky here, this is its second full year in the ground. So the blooms are a little bigger, but they are definitely smaller than some of the pinky winky's I'm going to show you here. So let's just kind of turn around here. And you can really see the full circle garden there. Now in front here are a few more curly fries, ladies mantle, the gold strike variety. And then this red Kenya. I know I'm not saying that right. I'll put the right name. But isn't that beautiful? Absolutely beautiful. And it is these colors. That's what it looks like year round. It actually will get more red on it as we get more into fall. But a beautiful perennial. Let's head over to this newer garden, which I don't think I can call newer anymore. Someone gave me a recommendation to call it the Hope Garden, because it's a new garden that I hope will be beautiful. So let's take a look at this Hope Garden. So clearly you can see these are firelight tidbit hydrangeas. I have five of them there. A couple of the shrubs are already starting to turn pinky. That's really pretty. And this is the blue fortune agastache. That thing has been a rock star, an absolute rock star. Maybe five weeks at this point. It's been blooming that long. And this right here, I think this is supposed to bloom towards the beginning of the season. But Walter's Garden sent it to me and I had to cut it back. It was so hot and leaves are struggling. So I cut it back. This is the... I have a black tag here. That's why we put tags. Delphinium violets are blue. Isn't that going to be pretty when it... I actually just need to get a couple more of those as well. Makes a beautiful, beautiful color. More millennium allium. These are some gems up front. Not blooming, but looking fabulous. These are banana daiquiri. And in the spring, they have beautiful yellow flowers that dance above them. But what a beautiful foliage in front of the firelight tidbit hydrangea. And in the back, we have pinky winky. So I have six pinky winky hydrangeas in this garden bed. The burgundy you see popping there is a very fine wine. With some celosia I started from seed. So that's the rainbow sherbert celosia. That is my favorite of all the celosias that I started. Another one of the skyscraper orange. Salvias. And there's some Russian sage. Oh, baby, baby blue, baby blue jeans. I'm not sure. I'll put that name. But looking pretty good. I had some up front, but you know, it's rained a lot. And Russian sage likes drought. So they've done pretty good considering more of the lambs here. Hellebunstein. This is an annual. This is a lantana, lantana grape something. I don't, I don't like it. I won't plant it again. You know, lantanas are tough and can really handle, you know, tough conditions. But this just hasn't bloomed very much for me. And here we have the tall blue planet ageratum that has started from seed. I think that just kind of glows in the dark. That's just really pretty. And the millennium alliums that are kind of intertwined with them have just started to bloom. And right behind those tall blue planet ageratum, which will definitely be a repeat. I will absolutely start them from seed again next year. I have them everywhere. This is from Islay. This is the north wind maple and a type of tree that is supposed to be hardier in my zone five. So here we go. And I'll pull back a little bit here. Three more of the midnight sun. And I just have to call out a good for you dianthus. I can't believe some of this dianthus has actually been blooming all summer in high heat, lots of rain, though. I mean, just pretty impressive. I'm kind of excited for those to get a little bigger as well. I'm really working on figuring out the right ground cover for this space. I think that'll make a big difference. Less mulch isn't a bad thing. And the beautiful lemony chartreuse plant in the bottom left is lemon perfection. That will be in garden centers next year. This came from Walter's garden. But look at that. Look at how just that color. Well, actually, how much that color is needed in this entire bed. So those are looking really, really nice. And that's the Walker's Low catnip, which I did share back. I have a few blooms on them. Not a lot, though. Not a lot this year. More of the green velvet boxwood and Rays for Days heliopsis. Look at that. OK, no critters have bothered this the whole summer, and that's why it's getting an A plus for me. Give me more of that. That is also one that is going to be in garden centers next year. Just look at the color. I need more of that. Here's some celosia. This is the Flamingo variety. Really, really pretty. I just think I have to have the right places to put some of the celosia so I don't feel that it makes the garden messy. And these are beautiful right here. Now, I'm kind of walking in the back of the garden, which I don't typically do. But I wanted to really show you this stance of tall verbena here. This is what the butterflies, the bees, they love this verbena. They love that blue fortune agastache. So I think I will just every year have kind of this big area here. Really keep the tall verbena in that space. And they will they will recede. They receded everywhere. This is just the only place that I didn't pull them back. Again, there's more of the Pinky Winky. And this is also a Pinky Winky. So I should show you this in the back here. I have Pinky Winkies that were so little. I got them for like $13.99 last year. But look at that bloom on there already. And this is only it hasn't even been in the ground here a year yet. So that's pretty exciting. The bunnies ate all of my lilies. They ate all of the liatris. They tried to eat all the zinnias. But these lilac, the merry variety. I caught them before they ate them all. Put that fencing around them and they ate everything there. But that's pretty. And it's really pretty in the back of the garden. And then look at that stance of bubble bath allium. It's so huge. I definitely will be moving that more to the front of the garden. And now let's head on up to this corner garden up here. Which I have traditionally called the clay garden. Because this was my very first garden that I dealt with clay. And yes, I did prune this smokebush hard. I had my last video was on pruning it. Now I have to show you. See if I can find a good one. See how that broke right here, here, here. That's in about a week. So have no fear. This baby will be back soon. Now in this garden bed here. That's a boba hydrangea in the front. This gets morning sun, afternoon shade. And that is a pinky winky in the back. Huge and beautiful guacamole hosta there. With another guacamole hosta right there. On the caramel corbels. With this beautiful pot here that you did not even see the pot. Three different varieties of caladiums in there. Just gorgeous how they're intertwining with the hydrangeas. Just love them. Those are more bulbs from Longfield Gardens. Fabulous. And I have tucked in here hydrangea, not hydrangeas, coleus. Coleus. So that one right there in the middle is dipped in wine. There's some dream coleus to the right. And then albrido. This just turned into a really, this container is just beautiful. Although I will say there is a hosta down there. Can't see it. But sometimes you have to put more plants in the ground or in containers. Because you need that interest in the beginning of the season. So it's not just beautiful. I don't know. The pinky winky I think is my favorite. I don't know. I really like bobo too. And limetta. Maybe I don't have a favorite. And now I'm in the front yard. And on this left side here is the golden spirit smokebush. I love this smokebush. I bought it already trained into a standard format. It's absolutely gorgeous. The newer leaves are the brighter chartreuse color. And the deeper green, I've just been there since the beginning of summer. And if we have it over here, this garden bed, the millennium alliums are putting on their show. So look right there. Beautiful. And here is a front view of the millennium alliums. Again with a repeated one back here. Just to create more of that continuity. In the front yard here, this is a full sun garden. It's full sun from early morning till the very end of the day at sunset. So on the right there is a glow girl spirea. That's repeated a couple other times in that landscape. The millennium allium right behind this mini vissa plum veined supertunia. This is a really pretty, pretty color. That's three plants there. And this is atomic purple gonfrina. I started from seed. It's looking great. That is one plant. And then there's one plant of the buddy variety. You can actually see that buddy variety a little better right here. It's kind of a deep, deep purple. And there's another atomic purple gonfrina. Again, one plant. They grow pretty big from one little seed. There's a bobo hydrangea. And in this little pathway area, I have more of that Helen von Stein lambs here. It just really works well in a path area where you might walk. You might carry hoses because it's just so tough. This is the bubble bath allium. You know, and there you can see quite a few of the newer blooms. Again, this has been blooming six weeks now. Looking great. So the glow girl spirea. And here we have the sweet heart, sweet caroline, sweet potato vine. That is one plant there. But I do love it. It really provides just a really nice just punch of chartreuse. You know, the glow girl spireas are really beautiful. Earlier in the season, they are more brilliant chartreuse and they turn a little bit. So I do actually like this combination. And there's some opalescence, the luminary series flocks back there. And a few of the wedgewood pink angelonia, which is a really, really sweet little annual. I will say, you know, it's not ever full of blooms. So it's more like a delicate bloom. And that is a bobo hydrangea behind there. That's about four years old. These in the front in this full sun area just do not get as big as the ones in the back. Now, even though we had a lot of rain this year, you know, we have been coming off two years of drought. So, you know, maybe they just haven't haven't matured. And right over here in front of these seedless concord barberry shrubs is the pink cashmere superbena urbina. Look at that color. It's so, so pretty. Now, I did think this was going to be a fuller stance of flowers, a little bit more like white out. That said, that color is so pretty. I mean, I put white out here, but I just think that color adds so much. So I have to think about that over the winter. And then here we have the Cleome. This is the Senorita Rosalita Cleome looking quite beautiful. We had some storms that kind of separated it in the middle, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who notices. And now, of course, all of you. Some more of that sweet potato vine here. I think we're writing a nice punch of chartreuse. And I love how that Cleome, the height of it just cuddles right up to this limelight panicle hydrangea that's in a standard form. So that's just perfect. And that's why I just love that Cleome. It's just a perfect spot. That's an annual salvia, some citron lantana there. I like that pop of yellow. And then a few more of the Millennium Alliums because you can't can't have too many of those with the bubble bath right behind it. So I love this combination. This is a good place to see, you know, the size of the bloom is just a little bigger on the bubble bath and that beautiful phlox back there. That's the ultraviolet. That's part of the luminary series as well. I just love it. I love it back there, but sometimes it gets hidden as the season progresses. Earlier in the season, you can see it. But then when everything else gets bigger, it's a little harder to see. So maybe I'll leave it, but I think I'll add it in some more places if I can find it. It's been a magnificent summer of learning so many new things, trying so many new plants, learning what works, what doesn't work. I hope you all are enjoying your gardens. Have a great day.