GBBD LIST for August 16, 2011

For this Hot August GBBD list, the blooms in my garden may be few and small, but bees and birds and insects can still find a little pollen and nectar if they look hard enough. And since this Stapelia produces an aged-meat scent to attract its pollinators, even flies have their own flower:
What's happening:

Abelia chinensis - a few random flowers on the shrubs near the secret garden

Abutilon hybridum 'Patrick's' - just 1 stunted flower - plant is in a container in secret garden

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii - Flame acanthus flowers don't last long so hope hummingbirds work fast

Asclepias curassavica Tropical milkweed - half-a-dozen plants in various stages of bloom. No monarch cats - but the bees & milkweed aphids like them

Buddleja lindleyana - still making flowers in shade where live oak gets watered

Calibrachoa hybrids - very stressed, with pale leaves, but both plants have a few flowers

Clerodendrum ugandense Blue Butterfly clerodendron - in patio container. Runoff goes through gravel to roots of pecan tree.

Coreopsis 'Creme Brulee' - didn't bloom last year - moved a chunk to new back wall bed.

Cosmos sulphureus? Orange reseeding cosmos - the birds eat the seeds as soon as they form

Cuphea llaeva Batfaced cuphea - one plant died, one blooming OK

Cuphea llaeva pink & lavender - bees love it so I soak it to keep the tiny flowers coming.

Cuphea ignea Cigar plant - just a few flowers

Datura inoxia? In container - one flower

Dianthus - this container with a couple of plants of red 'Telstar' hybrids is hanging on! (Other plants had lasted for several years in hanging baskets but they gave up this summer.)

Dicliptera suberecta, Uraguayan firecracker plant- tired but still blooming

Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' - some tiny flowers but very stunted plants compared to last year

Evolvolus 'Blue Daze' - one plant almost dead, one near birdbath very happy

Helianthus spp Native sunflower - buds, blooms & seedheads in all stages of development. Finch haven.

Justicia spicigera/ Mexican Honeysuckle - wasn't blooming last month. Blue salvias not flowering and the Mexican Honeysuckle is a hummingbird plant so I started watering it regularly - now many orange, tubular blooms

Lagerstroemia - most of the crepe myrtles have at least a few flowers. Ordinarily I would dead head, but some birds eat the seeds so I've left the seed pods develop this year.

Lantana, unknown varieties upright lavender and trailing white in front hanging on

Lycopersicon lycopersicum, tomato flowers - a couple of flowers on 'Mexico Midget'

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii/Turkscap or Red Wax Mallow - not great but has flowers

Melampodium leucanthum / Blackfoot daisy some flowers

Pelargonium 'Fantasia Salmon', grown as houseplant in breakfast room window - always in flower

Perovskia atriplicifolia - Russian sage - most bloom is like dried flowers, but a few wands fresher

Plumbago auriculata - the two Blue Plumbago plants have flowers also have some brown branches

Poliomintha bustamanta, Mexican Oregano - one of three has flowers. Alive but even this tough plant is battered

Rosa 'Mutabilis' - looks like a couple of buds forming on the one in patio pot; one in front very stressed.

Rosa 'Red Cascade'- One spray of flowers near bird bath where it gets water and afternoon shade.

Rudbeckia 'Irish Eyes' - the flowers are small but still coming because I soak it - birds need seedy plants

Russelia equisetiformis, Firecracker plant - one plant new buds opening

Salvia coccinea - buds on patio plants.

Salvia farinacea, a few flowers

Salvia greggii, there are some flowers on the plants in the triangle bed with the cosmos. The other greggiis just surviving

Scutellaria suffrutescens - only one of the cherry skullcaps has a few tiny flowers. The other skullcaps in blue, white and pink are not blooming, but at least seem to be alive

Stapelia - there is one open flower & 2 buds on one of the plants

Tetraneuris scaposa, four nerve daisy Hymenoxys a couple of flowers on plant near bird bath

Torenia fournieri hybrids - lost one plant, surviving Wishbone Flower has a couple of flowers

Vitex agnus-castus - 3 little flower heads


Zephyranthes 'La Bufa Rosa' above - I have them in beds and tucked into containers all over the place so a couple of flowers appear somewhere each day

Zinnia linearis alba not bouncy but alive & with flowers.

ENDANGERED STATUS

The "Vegetable garden" is down to a couple of containers with peppers & cherry tomatoes

The vintage 'Provence' Lavender plant that grew in a patio pot for at least 8-years looks dead

Pineapple sages not happy - one looks alive, one stressed, one dead

Most salvias barely alive or else looking dormant, including Salvias guaranitica, ''Black and Blue', 'Hot Lips', 'Coral Nymph', 'Nuevo Leon'

Cooking Sage/Salvia ready to croak any minute

Cercis- Texas Whitebud in front down to a few yellowed leaves... poor tree may not make it.

Scaevola - Fan Flower was torn to pieces by squirrels

Brugmansia looks dead - it was already stressed from record cold temps last winter

Gulf Penstemon looks dead - Hellstrip is living up to its name

Monarda disappeared

Pink Gaura lindheimeri disappeared

Columbines looking bad

Fan palm looks dead

Palmetto fading fast

Native & Japanese painted ferns disappeared - hope they are "Aestivating"!

A summer without moonflowers - planted 4 times since early spring - never germinated

Cypress vine grows, but there are never any flowers. Now wondering if the finches are eating the buds ... I have seen them snacking on the buds of a Salvia coccinea

With the August 2011 list now on record - now off to post at The Transplantable Rose, my main blog.