July and August bring a riot of color to the gardens, and a daily stroll around the yard to see the newest daylily offerings truly is a delight.
This past week we've been blessed with some very welcome blue skies and sunshine, although the previous 2 mornings were so chilly that I had wear socks and cool weather slippers to keep my frozen feet warm. Friday and Saturday temperatures hovered in the mid 70's and a cool wind blew, but it was good weather for weeding and other work in the gardens.
In the long shot above, "Ruffled Apricot" daylily is blooming profusely, now into its third week. There are several others keeping it company, but it's the standout.
This photo was taken on July 20th, the second day of its show, just as the red asiatics were finishing their bloom. The white "Centerfold" asiatic can be seen in the background, still going strong. 
And here it is, loaded with blooms on Friday, August 7th, just 2 days ago.
Just look at those lovely, plump buds. I think this one gets the prize for the most blooms this summer. To the left of the star an Easter Lily ( Lilium longiflorum) has just finished its bloom (click to enlarge and see the haywagon in the background),
...but 2 weeks ago it was in its glory.
Don't throw that potted lily away after Easter. Plant it in your garden when the soil warms up.
"White Temptation" is also part of this grouping, and if you enlarge for detail, you'll see it has 3 large blooms in the top photo.
A little lost amid the hot colors is "Catherine Woodbury", and to her left is the tiger lily I grew from seed, about to bloom for its second summer.
I'd really prefer fewer Gloriosa Daisies, which spread themselves a little too liberally for my taste, but I didn't get around to thinning them when I should've, and now they're blooming everywhere...madly! They do put on a bright show, and passersby seem to love them (so they tell me....which is very nice), but I find so many of them a bit overwhelming. But Catherine knows how to hold her own! I've divided this lily several times and she's in about 6 different places throughout the gardens.
Do you notice that little grey blob? It's Reuben waiting patiently in the driveway for me to come and feed him (and there were others out of the picture).
"Mary's Gold" has huge 9 inch blooms. I like her surrounded by those pretty pink and red Phlox and the Monarda (Bee Balm).
She manages to stand tall above them.
My favorite spider daylily, "Cleo" is on the lower end of the Driveway Garden, shown here in bright morning light.
Now if I point the camera away from the sun a little you can see her color better.
And a long shot in afternoon light, with those peacefully grazing cows in the background.
She's surrounded by "Cerise Queen" Yarrow, among other things.
"Dallas Star" needs to have the perennials around her thinned, to give her more room to grow, poor thing.
"Janice Brown" is up near the top, but she's short and not visible in the long shots.
Over in the Lilac Garden, "Chicago Star" is another one with huge, showy blooms.
And "Catherine Woodbury" can be found here too, among the daisies.
Molly was keeping me company down at the Fence Garden on this day, a week ago. Behind her we see "Atlanta Moonlight" and the peach, "Abstract Art". The red is "Ellen's Lily", a passalong from my blog friend, Ellen. It had loads of blooms this summer. The beautiful "Atlanta Moonlight".
"Abstract Art"
Along the front, between the peonies, and new last year: "Chamber Music".....
"Lady Fingers", another spider....
And Bama Music.
It takes about 3 years for them to reach their full height and become well established.
Also by the peonies, "Flore Pleno", a passalong from my gardening friend, Jean.
We're skipping right past the Lily Garden, and heading over to the Phlox garden, as this post is becoming too long. I really must try to do shorter posts more often! The Lily Garden will have a post of its own.
Here we have the bright and charming "By Myself" amid the Phlox, but she is not alone....
The diminutive "Bali Hai" resides here too.
Speaking of diminutive.....poor little "Butterpat", in the Fence Garden, had its buds eaten by a deer!
This is a first for us, amazingly. I'm not sure why they don't bother my gardens more (they did eat the 2 apple trees we planted a few years ago), but I assume it's because they have plenty to eat in the surrounding fields and woods. This was an awful scare though, and we promptly applied a deer repellant around the gardens. Luckily, so far they haven't been back.
We saw one wander into the field of sweet corn one morning recently, so they're probably snacking over there, along with the raccoons. The wildlife are well fed around here!
We had our first taste of sweet corn for dinner tonight (yum!). It's good of them to share :)
Wandering up to the Coneflower Garden we find "Unknown Purple" (no tag on it when we bought it)...this one has such gorgeous color and form.
And "Charles Johnston", which was the first bloomer this summer....a wonderful cherry red.
Further up, in the Top Driveway Garden, is "Strutter's Ball". Still quite new, and not very tall yet, it had just a few lovely blooms this summer.
Some of you will remember the original "Janice Brown", which turned out not to be "Janice". I now think of her as "Heart of Sunshine", thanks to my dear friend Annie in Austin.
Up by the house, sitting pretty below Clematis Jackmanii, is "Joan Senior", a passalong from my dear gardening friend, Marie.
This day she had a tiny friend. "Summerwine" is also in this Sideporch Garden.
Her color is one of my favorites. This pretty creamy yellow (no name) is up by the big machinery shed, towards the barn. Do you see the double yellow Gloriosa Daisy behind it? We have a few of those happy accidents, compliments of the bees.
This is one of the original daylilies, divided many times, shared with friends, and planted in several beds throughout the garden.
"Catherine Woodbury" (another original...and "Summerwine" is the third...all 3 planted about 18 years ago), is also found in this garden, just around the corner.
Now, if you haven't fallen asleep, have a quick look back before you go. There's Clematis Jackmanii, still blooming by the side porch, but winding down now. It seems to have enjoyed all the rain, and has rewarded us with a vigorous and long bloom (click for a better look). Thunder is booming, lightning is flashing, and rain is falling once again as I type. Hoping for sunshine tomorrow!
Happy August, everyone!
