July Bloom Day!

It's Bloom Day! This is my very first Bloom Day post. On the 15th of each month, people around the world post pictures of what's blooming in their gardens. To see all of these posts, or to leave a link to a post of what's blooming in your garden, go here. Below is my Bloom Day contribution for July. Here's what's blooming in my garden in northeast Ohio, USA:

The zucchini are blooming in my vegetable garden:


I was given this plant in its pot, It's a balloon flower (which I learned from one of the other bloom day post-ers), not a moonflower which my husband thought the previous owners called it when they handed it to him. It comes back every year with its beautiful purple blooms:

The day lilies are in bloom around the mailbox:

And other lilies of which the name escapes me:

This is wonderful groundcover for shady spots, but beware! It tends to want to take over! I'm very sorry that I've forgotten its name - I'm very bad at names:

The next two pictures are of a variety of viola that are supposed to be perennial. I just put them in this spring, so I'll see how they overwinter:

Okay, that's all for what's in bloom in my yard right now, except for things like impatiens and hanging pots, etc., which are always in bloom. The next set of pictures is what I find in bloom in the park next door when I go for walkies with my doggy. Most of these pictures are on the wild fringes of the park, where things are left to themselves.

Here are some cattails. I've never seen them as tall as they are this year:

Here is some pretty, yellow bird's foot trefoil:

I'm not sure what variety of thistle this is, but it's in bloom and seeding at the same time! It's a smaller variety, the larger thistle blooms later:

Queen Anne's lace, with its pretty, dark-purple center:

These aren't blooming, but these ripening blackberries are as pretty as flowers:


I don't know the name of these flowers. They are smaller than daisies and begin to bloom when the daisies are finishing up:


There is a bumble bee on this milkweed blossom. There is a lot of milkweed this year, more than I've seen before. For some reason, I really like milkweed, and I'm very happy to see it:


And there are still a few daisies left to enjoy:


Here is some chicory:


I don't know the name of these thing-a-ma-bobs, but we've all seen them in dried flower arrangements. This is the first one to open its little, lavender colored blooms:

And finally, this is not a bloom, but an oddity. A bat caught out in the daytime! I've never seen that before, but then again, I've never looked! I saw it flying over the little pond in the park while I was out taking all of these pictures around noon-time today:


Have a nice bloom day! And don't forget to follow the links found in the comments section here to see what's in bloom today all over the world!