GBBD | MissingHenryMitchell

Carol at May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.High summer means high heat and humidity. Water evaporates from the ground quickly, and mulch would be helpful but it’s too hot to move. Early mornings and short trips outside provide the means for a successful garden at this time of year.

Tough plants, too, are required. Crocosmia flowers better when there’s abundant water, but short thunderstorms suits it just fine.

The jewel of my July garden must be blackberry lilies, formerly Belamcanda chinensis, now Iris domestica. Looking like an iris only in its foliage, these orchid-like flowers provide delight in the hottest weather.

Blackberry lily, formerly Belamcanda chinensis, now Iris domestica.

Carol at May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day on the 15th of each month. I’m a little bit behind.

It’s starting to get hot, but the yarrow, daylilies, helianthus, and salvias shrug it off.

summer border daylilies yarrow iris tiger lilies

Lilium tigrinum, Hemerocallis ‘Grand Opera’ and ‘Prince Redbird,’ Iris sibirica ‘Caesar’s Brother’ and Achillea filipendulina ‘Cloth of Gold’ embrace the heat

In a shadier section of the garden, Hemerocallis ‘Chicago Royal’ has found an attractive companion in rose campion, Lychnis coronaria.

Hemerocallis ‘Chicago Royal’ and rose campion (Lychnis coronaria).

Fat gardenia buds unfurl overnight and release their rich perfume during the day.

And the deer visit. The area of the garden just beyond the gardenia hedge has been decimated: daylilies, lilacs, and hostas have been nibbled to sad little stalks. I need to spray the deer repellant, but it’s rained at night lately. I need to find a solution to make it stick for a week or so. Any suggestions?