Its Garden Bloggers bloom day so I thought I would update how my garden is doing. Even though we are at stage three water restrictions I can water the garden using a hose and nozzle with a shut off. It takes two hours to water just half of the garden so I concentrate on the new plantings, large shrubs and trees. Of course, the vegetable garden is a high priority since we grow a fair amount of food. This week I am up to ny ears in cucumbers. That’s okay as I am making greek salads and we love cucumber water.

In the spring I grew Love Lies Bleeding or Amaranth caudatus. The long pinkish red tassel like flowers hang in clusters. This annual flower is easy to grow from seed and reaches a  height of about four feet in my garden.

Nicotiana is another annual flower that I grew from seed this year. I had hoped to have success growing it in partial shade but the plants are sitting there sulking. This plant is in full sun and obviously loves its location. This plant is known to self sow so I may not be happy if I have too many of these next year. This plant easily grows to six feet but so far it hasn’t needed staking.

Dahlia ‘Ferncliff Duo’ is out this week. The Dahlias love their new spot near the kitchen garden.

Snapdragon ‘Purple Prince’ is making a wonderful border plant in front of the Dahlias. It’s a rich deep reddish-purple although it looks more red in this photo. The growth of this plant is taking off and it should have masses of flowers soon. This is definitely a plant I will save seed from.

Dahlia ‘Wheels’ is out but I have some concerns about the streaks of yellow I see in the one petal. Each year I get some changes happening even though it’s still the original tuber. This is one of its better years having solid red petals on the outside as expected. Some years I have very mottled red and yellow petals.

Dahlia ‘Mango Sunset’ is still my favourite to date. I am glad I placed the supports around the Dahlias at planting time. With the large flowers they definitely need support.

Here is a photo of the Dahlia  garden. Its full, that’s for sure. I am not sure if the Artemisia ‘Silver Brocade’ has a chance. It is getting crowded out.

One of the best annual flowers I have grown this year is Marigold ‘Bonanza Mix’. I planted one plant every foot around this bed of pepper plants and look how they have grown. I have not had to deadhead one plant since they went in. I will save seeds from this Marigold to grow again next season.

This is a new plant to me. Its called Berlandiera lyrata or chocolate flower. This is a temporary home for it so I can see how it does. Hopefully it makes through the winter. It’s cute how the flower fades to the light green after its petals fall. Its said the blooms smell like chocolate but I haven’t checked. I know, I need to slow down and smell the flowers.

Its been the best year for roses. I can see this new cluster of blooms from my family room window. They would make a wonderful fragrant bouquet. This rose tends to bloom on and off until late October.

The Coreopsis I grew from seed is still in bloom. I have it in partial shade and it does well there.

That’s about it for this garden bloggers bloom day. I am linking over at May Dreams Gardens.