Today is the day when Garden bloggers all over the world share what is flowering in their gardens. To see what’s happening in other climates and even different seasons visit Carol at MayDreams. She is our host for this fascinating view of what’s happening; thank you Carol. It is also a holiday here in Italy, the last of summer and for some reason always makes me feel a bit sad – strange as usually the warm days continue until the end of October or even longer if we’re lucky. Actually this year the hot weather is forecast to begin again this week so who knows what is going to happen.
How quickly another GBBD is upon us! It seems only yesterday that I was posting for July. This year has been very different in the garden. April, May and June were unseasonably hot; but during July and August the temperatures have been significantly lower than most years AND there has been rain. Very heavy rain during the first week of July and at the end and even August has also had some rain. Maybe even more significant has been that the night-time temperatures have been about 10°C lower than the norm. The garden has loved it. There are far more flowers for this GBBD than last. The garden is full of colour and texture.
I love al the textures woven together
I suppose I am slightly surprised that even the plants chosen for their drought tolerance are actually far happier with some rain and cooler weather. I’m not sure why I should be so surprised; many of these plants also grow well in the UK with even more rain and lower temperatures. Roses have flowered for much of July and some are continuing now as you can see in the slideshow.
Rosa Sally Holmes
Roses in flower now include: R. Westerland, R. Clair Matin, R. William Shakespeare, R. Tradescant, R. Queen of Sweden, R. Gertrude Jekyll, R. Sophie’s Perpetual, R. Molineux, R Rush, R. Mutabilis (this hasn’t been without flowers since April), R. Scepter’d Isle, R Stanwell Perpetual and the beautiful R. Sally Holmes whose flowers form a bouquet all on their own.
The formal beds of Perovskia have remained a cloud of blue; in the past they have lost their intensity of colour during August only to re-flower with the rains that usually come in September.
The blue haze of the Perovskia
. The surrounding lavender was cut back at the end of July and is already sending out new growth. I know is going to sound crazy but I actually prefer the lavender when it is pruned into a neat hedge than when it full of flower and bees. I am considering removing the Lavender and putting in Myrtle but they are expensive so I would need to produce them myself from cuttings. Knowing how slowly they grow this just might take too long!
All the grasses are looking lovely, I may have said it before but it remains true that I think I could be happy just gardening with grasses.
In the Small Island I added two more Penisetum villosum to the one existing plant; last year this formed a very beautiful mound and I thought that three would make a good statement – I acted without knowing the this Penestum was obviously very happy in this particular spot and this year is huge almost filling the space I envisaged for three plants; I’m happy though because they have all been in flower for a while now and I love the soft bottlebrush heads especially in the evening light with the fading sun behind them.
Evening light catching Penestum villosa
I am amazed that the Abutilon that was dead to the ground from the cold winter (it had been a large bush of about 1.8 m by 1.8 m) has grown from the base and is now about 1.5 m high although of course not such a large spread yet but it is flowering!
Click here to see a slideshow of all that is flowering in my Hesperides Garden.
Happy GBBD to everyone who shares the blooms in their garden today.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
The light through those penesetum is extraordinary Christina, and I love the foliage tapestries almost more than the flowers. Its clear that your garden has flourished in the cooler, wetter weather, I guess you have to enjoy it while you can, who knows what it will be like next year. Weather patterns seem to have become so much more variable, I think we gardeners are going to have to rise to a whole new set of challenges.
Yes, I think you are right! I chose plants that would tolerate or even need drought conditions but they still look better after this cooler, wetter summer! Christina
Your post reminds me how lazy I am about cutting plants back and ho so often there is a new flush of leaves and often flowers as well. I only remember to do it to the salvia because it looks so tatty and reminds me!
The grasses look tremendous and do add so much to a garden, especially when the sun shines on them. I can never understand the visitors to our garden who dismiss them as they have so much to offer.
I forget other things too, the golden Achelia which has been flowering since April or May needs cutting right back but while it is still producing flowers it’s hard to do.
Dear Christina, that Perovskia cloud is amazing just like a long summer until end of October!
Yes it is like a water parterre, a blue haze. thank you Eszter.
Christina,
thanks for participating Blogger Blüten!
What a nice garden you have! Gorgeous!
I really like the picture with the penestum, but the others look also great!
You are blessed, to live in such a nice climate!
Thank you, I will try to add my bloomday to your meme every month. I can enjoy looking at your blog even if I don’t understand what you write! Christina
I love the use of ornamental grasses in your garden ~ and you have so many flowers blooming now! I am envious!
Thank you sweetbay, as I said there aren’t usually so many flowers in August. Christina
E’ un blog molto bello e interessante!Ho visitato i fiori del tuo giardino.Sono meravigliosi!Grazie cara Christina per il gradito pensiero che hai lasciato sul mio blog.Abbraccio. LUCI@
Your garden looks wonderful. I am also a bit sad that summer is coming to an end, but at least our winters are mild enough that I still can garden. I love the ornamental grasses in your garden, they are lovely.
Beautiful post…and you’ve made me scamper off to Google to find a supplier for the Pennisetum…it’s astounding!
Hello Christina, I absolutely agree, I too love all the textures in your garden . I love the colour pallet you are using too. A great job you are doing there 🙂
That Penestum villosa is doing a fantastic job in the border too – what a special light and mood it brings there. Just magical 🙂
I think all grasses with the light behind them are the most beautiful thing in my garden. Christina
Your lovely grasses and perovskia add so much texture and movement at this time of year, beautiful.
Thanks Pauline and thanks for subscribing, Christina
So much going on. I especially love all the orange flowers.
Thanks, Carolyn. The orange flowers are a strange addition for me; I also thought I didn’t like orange – then a friend gave me the Abutilon, which I thought had died this winter; and I began serching for other flowers thatwere the same burnt orange, the collection continues to grow and I enjoy them more and more. Christina
It is lovely to walk through your garden Christina. I envy you the penisetum – not hardy here sadly. The perovskia is wonderful.
Thanks Linda, Penisetum villosa is pretty hardy (although, I know the beautiful purple leaved one isn’t) our temperatures last winter were down to minus 8 or 9. Christina
I gasped when I read that you were thinking of taking out the lavender! I’m in love with the idea of lavender. I have one pitiful plant which has not yet succumded to our humidity and heat. I dream of fields of it – only a dream! But you are blessed with the reality! You do have a wonderful place. Your grasses are beautiful, but I am afraid to let one loose in my garden, where I think they could easily become invasive. This is based on prejudice and not experience. I will see how yours grow!
Don’t worry it will be a long time before I have enough myrtle plants to be able to pull out the lavender so it may never happen. Grasses need not be invasive at all. In my garden only the Stipa tenuissima seeds itself every where, but even that is not invasive as it is very easy to pull it out. Do try some grasses they add so much to a garden.
Hi Christinia, I saw Perovskia yesterday for the first time at RHS Harlow Carr and was smitten. The colour is great they look wonderful en masse, though I must say that the display at Harlow Carr wasn’t a patch on yours! And what do you have growing next to the Pennisetum? Is at a Eupatorium? Whatever it is I like the combo.
Hi Jason, I wish there was enough water for a Eupatorium, wild ones do grow in the irrigation ditches that edge the fields but no, not in my garden. I think you mean the purple sedum which from the angle I took the photo could look like that. Christina
Thanks for identifying that for me, What kind of sedum is it? It would be good to have one that grows so tall.
The Sedum right next to the pennistum in the photo is Purple Emperor. It is about 60 – 70 cm tall; most things grow tall in my garden because of the volcanic soil. Christina
Hey that garden is really fantastic! I like the textures you use and I love p. villosum. They always sell me pennisetum viridescens because they say the villosum isn’t hardy enough for here. I love pennisetums in general and I really miss it… Which sedum is growing with your villosum? Matrona maybe? It looks thinner than standard ones…
Hi Alberto, there is a Sedum matrona in the small island bed next to the pennisetum but there is also S. Purple Emperor which does have thinner stems. Christina
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