Just the beginning....

'Rose à Parfum de l'Hay' is giving me another bloom in spite of all this heat. One of the other branches had some blooms. Some opened and some suffered with a lack of regular watering:

Just snip off the dried buds and hope for a little rain shower.

The bee balm in the garden has finished blooming, has become very leggy and has covered some of the verbena planted next to it. I have since cut it down to the ground to reveal new growth down at mulch level:

Removing the top growth cleans up the look of the plant and reduces (somewhat) the moisture the plant will need to support itself through the drought.

Salvia farinacea here is going through the same cut back.

I could leave half of the plant cut back so the area did not look so barren. I could come back in a few weeks and cut the rest back as the new growth fills in the area.

But I chose to cut back all the thicker leggy branches to leave young tender sprouts to fill in for now.

Perennial Pruning 101

This Salvia Leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage) has some straggly growth that be thinned out. Removed the older branches down to the ground level. (Click on photos to get a closer look.)

These younger branches full of leaves will provide a bountiful display of blooms this fall.

This is Salvia greggii 'Raspberry'. Your "greggiis" may be really big and full of blooms as well as full of these spent blossom stems. They also may be really woody looking with no leaves closer to the ground. Now is the time of year to really cut them back.

Basically, the best (and easist) way it to just take your hedge shears and lop them off straight across the top. If yours are taller and woodier, take them back 1/3 or even 1/2.

This is one of the Bat-faced Cuphea I trimmed in May. Many more branches and all about to bloom.

Movies?

This video is for Tim. He is my best critic and the leader of the "The Antique Rose Emporium Blogspot Fan Club".

Tim was disappointed with my blog of the White Mistflower taken from my cell phone. I am pleased to hear someone is actually viewing these various ramblings I enter here. But when Tim said he was disappointed with the quality of the video.... I vow to do better!

So I tried the video function of my original Olympus camera and found a subject.... I will tell you this is video competes with ice melting (with ice melting as the winner). The quality is much improved, though!

Thank you. Tim!

Red Firespike

Odontonema strictum

Of the Acanthaceae family, this specimen would be like to live in Zone 8 - 11. Evergreen in the warmer zones, this fall to winter bloomer is an excellent nectar source for the migrating hummingbirds and butterflies.

Grow the red firespike in summer shade on the warmer side of the house so you can enjoy the blooms well past Christmas. Or use it instead of the regular poinsettia in your holiday decorations.

Phlox (plural)

Many folks enjoyed viewing the phlox blooming in our garden and bought all the plants we had for sale. Just got in some 4" plants of all of our favorites: John Fanick, Texas Pink, Nikki, Bright Eyes. (The blue on the far left is plumbago.)

See you soon. These guys will not last long. (Remember - click on the photo to get a closer look.)

Perennial Color

Robbi says right now this is her favorite view across the nursery. Perennials with lots of color.