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Morning Glory

Morning glory can bloom until winter.

Popular garden varieties of morning glory are descendants of various species of Ipomea. Too many species are involved to classify such varieties briefly. Perennial morning glory, particularly the blue dawn flower, can be invasive. Most others perform as annuals, so do not grow long enough to be invasive. However, they can self sow to become numerous.

Although it might self sow and grow in any soil, morning glory prefers rich and loose soil. It also prefers regular irrigation, and will wilt if its soil gets too dry. Roots disperse deeply, so dislike pots. Morning glory in pots typically stays smaller than the same in the ground. Morning glory grows best from seed, which should go into its garden at the end of winter.

Some annual varieties of morning glory can climb ten feet high. Some grow only four feet high. They are delightful on picket fences. Their cordate or lobed leaves are about two or three inches wide. Their simple circular flowers are about the same width. They bloom in rich hues of blue, purple, red, pink and white. Some types have stripes, streaks or spots. Several exhibit central star patterns.

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Flowers For Late Summer Bloom

There are plenty of late flowers.

Most flowers bloom within their particular seasons. Many bloom for spring. Fewer bloom for winter. Only a few bloom randomly throughout the year, generally while the weather is warm. Several bloom specifically for late summer or into autumn. All have their particular reasons for blooming when they do. It is all about pollination and dispersal of their seed.

Most flowers bloom in spring to maximize the time for their seed to develop before winter. Some of these may begin to bloom even before early spring, in late winter. Many rely on wind for pollination, so are unconcerned about pollinators. Those that attract pollinators are bigger, more colorful, or perhaps fragrant. They wait for pollinators to become active.

Many flowers that bloom randomly throughout the year are actually from milder climates. Some are from tropical climates. Within their native ecosystems, they can disperse seed at any time. Also, their pollinators are as perpetually active as they are. Angel’s trumpet, for example, only stops blooming for cool winter weather. it is presently blooming nicely.

Canna similarly begins to bloom for late spring, and continues to bloom until autumn. It is from a tropical climate, so is more responsive to weather than to seasons. It could bloom as long as the weather is warm enough for it to do so. Like angel’s trumpet, it is presently blooming nicely. Several popular sages are likewise naturally native to tropical climates.

Several late summer flowers happen to be of the ‘Compositae’ Family. Their flowers are actually composite blooms of many tiny flowers. These include confelower, zinnia, aster, cosmos, blanket flower and black eyed Susan. Coreopsis, sneezeweed, cosmos, dahlia and sunflower are more examples. Chrysanthemum will become more seasonable later.

To be enjoying these flowers now, it would have been better to plant them earlier. Some are still available in bloom from nurseries. Potted dahlias are particularly nice. However, most perform best if they can grow into their situations prior to blooming. Sunflower grow best from seed sown immediately after winter. Those with big flowers need time to grow.

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Night Blooming Jasmine

Night blooming jasmine is sweetly fragrant.

Looks can be deceiving. Night blooming jasmine, Cestrum nocturnum, does not look like much. It looks even less interesting in the darkness of night. However, its floral fragrance on warm summer nights is famously sugary and intense. Some might find it too intense. Nocturnal moths and bats are its preferred pollinators, so it is not fragrant during the day.

Because of its mundane appearance, night blooming jasmine is good in the background. It tolerates a bit of partial shade, so can be happy close to fences and buildings. It works well witin narrow spaces between houses and below high windows. Where winters are cool, it needs shelter from frost. It appreciates somewhat regular watering and rich soils.

Mature night blooming jasmine rarely grows higher than first floor eaves. It is quite easy to maintain lower, particularly if pruned aggressively after winter. Its narrow floral trusses suspend several small and narrowly tubular flowers. Individual flowers are about an inch long, and greenish white or pale yellow. Simple evergreen leaves are a few inches long, and narrow.

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Fragrance Is Really For Pollinators

Angel’s trumpet is fragrant but prominent.

Many flowers are fragrant. Many are colorful. Several are both. The majority, though, are neither. That is because flowers use fragrance and color only to attract pollinators. Most flowers rely on wind for pollination, so do not need to attract pollinators. Such flowers are not so conspicuous, though. Fragrance and color are much more prominent and popular.

Most prominently colorful flowers are not very fragrant. They do not need to be. Flowers can use one technique or the other, fragrance or color, to attract pollinators. They do not need to waste resources on redundancy. Hibiscus, dahlia, sunflower, daisy, camellia and canna all lack floral fragrance. Yet, they efficiently attract pollinators with their floral color.

Most prominently fragrant flowers are similarly not very colorful. Night blooming jasmine, sweet box and sweet osmanthus produce small white flowers. Yet, they efficiently attract pollinators with their floral fragrance. Gardenia is more colorful only because its blooms are larger. Star jasmine is more colorful only because its blooms are much more profuse.

Victorian box and mock orange also bloom with fragrant but subdued flowers about now. Most angel’s trumpet blooms with fragrant but impressively large flowers in pastel colors. Hyacinth, narcissus, freesia and lily flowered both fragrantly and colorfully last spring. So did wisteria and pink jasmine. Daphne flowers are diminutive but fragrant for next winter.

Modern roses and some bearded iris are not as fragrant as some old cultivars. Many lack fragrance altogether. This is generally because fragrance had not been a priority of their breeding. Both roses and bearded iris now bloom with bolder flowers, which last longer. Roses bloom for a longer season, instead of only once. Fragrance was the compromise.

Floral fragrances are as diverse as the pollinators that they attract. This is because, like floral color, they appeal to particular pollinators. A few appeal to a single specific species of pollinator. Several flowers disperse their fragrance at night for nocturnal moths or bats. Most flowers, though, are receptive to pollinators that they do not intentionally appeal to.

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Six on Saturday: New Shears

Purchases are very rare in my garden. I acquire just about anything I want from friends and neighbors. However, I really wanted a particular brand and style of pruning shears.

1. Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’, bronze fennel is one of very few trendy plants in my garden. I dislike fads. It was infested with aphid earlier, but recovered enough to bloom.

2. Canna X generalis, canna is one of very few here that has not yet been featured on Six on Saturday. It is more of a vegetable than an ornamental, but its flowers are pretty also.

3. Canna X generalis ‘Alaska’ canna is a rare white canna, although it is really very pale yellow. I purchase almost nothing for my garden, but I coveted it enough to purchase it.

4. Amaryllis belladonna, naked lady is blooming splendidly, but not quite as abundantly as it did last year. I watch for white flowers so that I can relocate their bulbs after bloom.

5. New shears are the piece de resistance of my Six this week. They are not actually new, since I bought them used on eBay, in order to get the old style. Only their holster is new.

6. Rhody, who is as unimpressed as usual, has been absent from my Six on Saturdays for quite a while. Weekly, this really should be ‘Five and Rhody on Saturday’. Oh, priorities.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.