Monday, September 15, 2008

Bloom Day September!

It's bloom day again! Every 15th of the month it comes around. I love looking at other bloom day posts to see what's blooming in other people's gardens the world over. If you would like to see these posts, or if you would like to share what's blooming in your garden, head over to the May Dreams Gardens blog. To share pictures of your garden, leave a link to your blog in the comments section. Or simply follow the links already there to see some truly beautiful pictures from gardens the world over.

I'm located up here in northeast Ohio. This morning when I went out to capture what was blooming, I was met with a lot of debris from the stormy winds we had yesterday. The remnants of Ike blew through. I'm thankful that we only had to put up with gusts of around 60mph - they were potent enough for me. My heart goes out to all of those in Texas and in the Caribbean who bore the brunt of the storm.

A wasp's [edit here: this is a hornet's nest, which I knew, but typed 'wasp'. Carol pointed out the error of my ways - thanks!] nest had blown from a maple tree in my yard. See how some of the leaves have been incorporated into the nest?


Even a 'helicopter' seed from the tree became part of the nest:

Here's the entrance to the nest - there were still a few wasps [hornets] flying around:


Some debris from trees:


Sadly, my sunflowers didn't hold up well in the winds. I had eleven and now I have just three remaining:


Here's a sunflower that was going to seed that was blown down and landed amongst the zucchini. Apparently I have a slug problem too:





Here are some calendula that I haven't harvested yet to dry:



Ground cover showing some color:

A buggie in my Autumn Joy sedum:

In The Park Next Door
These pictures are not in my yard, they are from the park right next door. I always enjoy the wildflowers found on the untamed fringes.
The chicory is so resilient that even when it's mowed to a nub, it still blooms:

I have no idea what this wildflower is. It was about 3 or 4 inches high, and it was the only one I saw:

These flowers were blooming along the edge of the pond in the park. I thought at first that they were marsh marigolds, but the foliage isn't quite right. Does anyone know what they are?:


And of course there was lots and lots of goldenrod in bloom. The asters are just starting to bloom here in northeast Ohio and sometimes they mix in with the goldenrod. It was still a tad windy this morning so my goldenrod-aster mix picture shows the motion. The asters on the right are still a bit storm-worn:



That's all I have for bloom day September - thanks for stopping by!

If you want to take a look at a little post I did about a bog walk I went on a couple of weeks ago, just click here. You'll see a couple of carnivorous plants, some cranberries, and a few other things - yes, all of it here in Ohio!

7 comments:

Carol Michel said...

Are you sure that's a wasp's nest? It looks more like a hornet's nest to me, but I'll admit I'm no expert.

Those winds were fierce here, too. My sunflowers look a bit beat up, but I don't think any snapped off.

Thanks for joining in for bloom day.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

ICQB said...

Hi Carol,

Yes, it is a hornet's nest. My hubby and I were talking about it and the last thing that was said was something about wasps, so of course that's what I typed in my blog ;-)

Thank you so much for hosting Bloom Day, and for stopping by!

ICQB

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Aagh! Nasty hornet nest! At least those winds did a bit of good. Sorry about your Sunflowers. The Calendulas are so cheery & the appears to have weathered the wind well. (This sentence brought to you by the letter "W.") Here' a stab at a plant ID for the 1st one - could that be an Allium? Crush a stem, if it smells like onions, it is. The second plant might be a Helianthus or Heliopsis. Marsh Marigolds bloom early in spring & are very short.

ICQB said...

Hi Mr. mcgregor's daughter,

I don't think the first flower is allium because it has a spikey stem. I think you may be right on the second one, I think it may be some type of Helianthus. The only other thing I can find that it looks like is some type of Bidens.

Thanks for stopping by and helping me track down flower IDs!
ICQB

Q said...

Dear Icqb,
I think the Hornet's nest is incredible. Wow!
So sorry about the wind snapping the sunflowers. I do understand since it has happpened in my gardens before. I now grow my sun flowers in a proteced enclousure. The deer stay away too.
Lovely Calendulas.
Thank you for sharing your blooms.
Sherry

ICQB said...

Hi Sherry,

Thanks for stopping by. Next year if I grow sunflowers again I'll make sure they're better protected when they begin to grow top heavy with seed.

They were such a wonder - so tall! I'm glad I still have a few left.

ICQB

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Nice blooms. I love finding that style of hornets nest. I probably would have brought it inside until it collected too much dust then put it back outside. They are so amazing.