It's so nice, mstywoods. I am now in love with them.

You've now motivated me to take some pictures to share..

Crocosmia Lucifer - hummingbirds love it.

Gold Zebra Foamy Bells - just bought this last week. I really love the foliage. It prefers a shade area which I don't have. I hope it makes it.

A Hyssop that we got from the trip to Liz's house. Isn't she the best? Can't wait for it to bloom.

Honeysuckle - this has been blooming since early June. My backyard smells amazing.

Lord Baltimore hardy hibiscus with tons and tons of buds.

Lady Baltimore hardy hibiscus with tons of buds too

Bought these two hardy hibiscus this year. The one on the far right is Turn of Century. The one with darker foliage is Kopper King.

Sunset Hyssop that I started from seeds few years ago

Dwarf Shasta Daisy

Pots - I have two white ones and two with blue and purple. One thing I've learned this year is that I should have planted white flowers in the darker pots and purple flowers in the white pots so they have prettier contrast. Something to improve for next season.

Veronica Royal Candle from Skybird this past spring swap. The Day Lily in the background is from Liz from the same swap.

Red cone flower

Everything out here is SSSSOOOOOO DDDRRRRYYYYYY! Have drip lines going but that's just barely survive mode. It's looking like rain out there today, though; sure hope it doesn't pass us by.

Contrats on the blackberry lily, mstywoods! Don't they look so exotic with the speckled blooms? And they're equally as cool when the bloom dies and curls up to form the seed pod....

Gardenchloe, can't wait to see those hibiscus blooming, one of my favorite flowers. I've killed so many of them since moving to Elizabeth, just a bit too cold for them to make it through the winter, I guess. And the Crocosmia Lucifer as well--I've killed a few stands of it already.

So here's what's blooming in my garden today (except the first pic, taken last week)

Can't remember what this one is. The plant is around 4' tall now and was covered with these pretty purple flowers. Know it's something I wintersowed a few years ago but the tag is gone, will have to go back through my records to see if I can id it. Anyone have a guess?

It was super windy today, hard to take pictures of the daisies since the petals were moving so much!The foxtail lily in the upper right looks weird, huh? Didn't notice until I was cropping the pic that my metal bird lined up exactly with the bloom...

Everything out here is SSSSOOOOOO DDDRRRRYYYYYY! Have drip lines going but that's just barely survive mode. It's looking like rain out there today, though; sure hope it doesn't pass us by.

Contrats on the blackberry lily, mstywoods! Don't they look so exotic with the speckled blooms? And they're equally as cool when the bloom dies and curls up to form the seed pod....

Gardenchloe, can't wait to see those hibiscus blooming, one of my favorite flowers. I've killed so many of them since moving to Elizabeth, just a bit too cold for them to make it through the winter, I guess. And the Crocosmia Lucifer as well--I've killed a few stands of it already.

So here's what's blooming in my garden today (except the first pic, taken last week)

Can't remember what this one is. The plant is around 4' tall now and was covered with these pretty purple flowers. Know it's something I wintersowed a few years ago but the tag is gone, will have to go back through my records to see if I can id it. Anyone have a guess?

It was super windy today, hard to take pictures of the daisies since the petals were moving so much!The foxtail lily in the upper right looks weird, huh? Didn't notice until I was cropping the pic that my metal bird lined up exactly with the bloom...

Last but most surprising, one final peony! Suzanne Kreckler surprised me and actually opened. Thought it'd gotten far to hot for any buds to make it to bloom; Suzanne proved me wrong!

The 4' purple ones you winter sowed look like a Campanula, but I don't know what one.

Great looking gardens everyone!

That's exactly it, Zach. Campanula Latifolia Brantwood. Wintersowed 2014 for the 2015 growing season.

Love the pics!

Here' a few more of mine:

Daylilies - Golden Compus, Persimmon, and one I'm calling Sunburst (don't remember the name, or it's a cross breed!)

Larkspur and purple cone flower in the shade garden - the one Larkspur got huge! You can't quite see my Meadow Rue in the pic because came out to bright from the sun, but it's really tall as well and full of seeds. Will try to germinate some.

Ajuga has spread really nicely among the Pulmonaria, Astilbe and pond grass.

My nine bark has more than doubled in size this year!

Gardenchloe - love the honeysuckle! And so many hardy hibiscus! Mine doesn't have any buds yet, but is growing nicely.

Popmama - those potted gardens look terrific!! Your color contrast idea would be nice, but they are doing so well might not be worth redoing!

Liz - that is a funny shot with the foxtail lily, lol. Love that lily with the red tips and yellow center!

Gardenchloe, do you lift your crocosmia lucifer for the winter, or does it live through? Or do you treat it like an annual? It's so gorgeous but I've steered clear because I heard they were not hardy.

Faith,

Wow, wow, wow! I love your garden in July! Mine tends to be a spring and fall bloomer so this year I added a few things to have some color in the summer but I'll never achieve the magnificence that you have with yours!

Gardenchloe,

Love the Crocosmia Lucifer. I had just seen one of those for the first time and was in love with it. I was wondering what it was and then saw your post. Mystery solved! Same questions and Faith. Is it hard to grow here? Does it overwinter without any special care? Thanks!

Crocosmia is the most beautiful plant, isn't it? It's so exotic looking like a tropical island! It does not require any lifting. It can be "fussy" here. But I have it, Gardenchloe has it, and my aunt and my mom also have it. So it can't be that fussy.

I will say that I have one I planted about 15 years ago and it does well in a semi-shaded area hiding behind a rose-of-sharon and it gets a lot of water. I have tried to plant it in other places and it has failed. Last year I planted one more I got free from someone and it never did anything so I thought it was dead. This year, it came up. I doubt it will bloom but I was surprised enough by the appearance anyway.

I say go for it! But then again, I'm partial to it.

Faith, your garden looks even better now than it did at the swap. I love the larkspur and waves of daisies and rudbekia. And wow that pergola was quite a deal!

I remember when popmama and I went to buy my first crocosmia Lucifer and she told me it wasn't the easiest plant to grow here. The spot I have it have part shade and well drained soil. I have another one that's in full sun and mulched but it does not do as well. I will research some more and maybe move it if needed. I also have a yellow one that's doing really well. I will share pictures when it starts blooming.

Here are some pictures of my hardy hibiscus plants.

Turn of Century and Kopper King

Not sure if the one on the left is lady Baltimore or stardust. The red one is Lord Baltimore.

A few pictures from my over-zealous July gardens. A pretty peach daylily for whom I no longer have the name. I know it came from Catlady.

This bed has Redbirds in a Tree (hummingbirds' favorite), bee balm, delphinium, a mum, a hardy hibiscus that has yet to bloom, some sedums on a chair, a blanket flower, and a bunch of volunteer cosmos. If anyone needs any of those, let me know.

Another view of the same bed.

The "dahlia" garden. This bed is new this year. I have dahlias in the pot for the first time. They have not yet bloomed although they have buds. Also included is some hollyhock, one hardy hibiscus that just bloomed today, blanket flower blooming, purple mountain daisy in the lower right. There are a couple of things not blooming, an aster and campanula glomerata.

This is my oldest bed in the corner. It used to be under a tree that my neighbor cut down in the early spring. Now it's full sun. The beast in the back is what I refer to as the clematis that ate Arvada. It's invasive. It swallows everything in its path. I have also in that bed some daisies and other things that are done blooming, Siberian Iris, bearded iris, and Red-hot poker.

One more, this is my newest bed which is why it's so sparse. I'm sure that won't last! I have the hyssop that Liz gave me back in June, a lupine I am trying again, and some sedums. I got the rusty grate in the back for my birthday. I love it!

Popmama, I love all of the whimsy in your garden! And I'm jealous of your clematis that ate Arvada! I got three clematis plants this spring to cover my trellis archway, but so far they aren't doing much of anything. Hopefully next year they'll really take off.

Lovely popmama!!

Faith, if that clematis ever makes another baby (it has made one that I have on the other side of my yard), I will put you in line for it. It's very vigorous!

Turn of Century hibiscus

wheel of wonders ice plant

other purple ice plant

yellow crocosmia ready to bloom.

I did lots of work in my garden this morning. I was able to deadhead, remove all dead leaves, collect some seeds and divided some iris. I am pretty amazed how much time we spend in our yard.

Here are couple more pictures.

Hibiscus Lord Baltimore

Hibiscus Luna Red. I have a Luna Red and a Luna Pink. They are in a part shade spot. They don't thrive as others in my garden for that reason.

Here are some of my annual pots. Several of them are "self seeding". Three years ago, I planted some annual Black Eyed Susan and Cosmos. Every year they seed themselves. I get so many that I dig some up to share with neighbors and relatives when seeds start germinating. As you can see, I still have tons left in the pots. I typically don't purchase too many plants that seed a lot but certainly don't mind when they just seed in the pots.