Here are a few of my favorite flowers blooming in and around my garden this summer.
The flowers in the photo above include Salvia Blue, yellow Festival Gerbera Daisies, and pink Pentas. They rise from a small rectangle concrete planter outside a floor-to-ceiling window. Every season I fill the planter with colorful annuals, easily seen from inside the house. Normally, I choose flowers with a matching color in the petal or center. I have to say, I like the combination, especially the pop of yellow.
In my back patio, Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) adds a mix of leaf pattern and color. No need for anything else as it would be too busy. A shade-loving annual, mine, however, gets part-afternoon sun. Even on triple digit days, it does well as long as I keep it watered.
Above, in the perennial garden, a volunteer grapevine has popped up between the potato vines and the Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), also a volunteer. It will be interesting to see what type of grapevine this is, and if it will produce.
On the other side of the garden is another Black-Eyed Susan with yellow centers (above). Purchased last year at Lowe’s, I asked the nurseryman for the plant’s name. (I hate it when there’s no label.) He said, “It’s a new Black-Eyed Susan but with a yellow center.” Hoping to find a label, I looked for them this year in several nurseries. No luck. I searched the internet for information. No luck. Maybe it didn’t go over so well. Unlike its sister, the stems aren’t strong enough to hold up the flower heads, so staking is required.
Tomorrow, I’ll share an oversized plant and veggie you won’t want to miss.
THE PRIZE: My mint-conditioned copy (autographed to me) of The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms by Amy Stewart. Amy Stewart is a regular contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, Bird Watcher’s Digest, and Organic Gardening, and the author of From the Ground Up, Flower Confidential, and Wicked Plants. 
Problem #2: Ants have invaded my zucchini blossoms. Ants love sap; we all know this from their drunken parties with sugar in the pantry, chocolate cake on the counter, a breakfast plate in the sink still holding pancake syrup. In the garden, ants are usually a sign of aphids, but this is not the case with my zucchini plant. The ants are after the nectar, and there’s plenty in the depths of yellow zucchini blossoms. If left untreated, the ants can steal all the pollen and cause the blossoms to drop.
Problem #3: In the perennial garden, my snapdragons have Downy Mildew. I’ve posted a photo so you’ll know how to identify it in your garden. Mildew is common on snapdragons, and most of mine get it every year. Unless it’s necessary, I’m not one to spend money on products. The snapdragons have finished blooming, and are littering seeds for next spring’s generation. Eventually, as the mildew spreads and turns the plant ugly or threatens to infect neighbors I’ll pull up the plant.
In and Around the Garden 