The hibiscus are finally blooming. I put them out in the garden in the last week of June, and they usually begin blooming by mid-July. This year, however, its been too rainy and cloudy and they just started producing buds at the end of July. They were well worth the wait though. This blossom is nearly six inches across.


This one too, and I can't wait to see if the red, yellow, and white ones produce the same size blooms. They usually bloom through the winter in the house, but the blossoms are not quite as big indoors.

This is called a balloon flower. It is so named because the bud swells just like an expanding balloon which pops open. It is a member of the campanula family and is also known as Chinese bellflower. I'll try and get some pics of a bud as it comes on. It's been in place for a year and this is the first flower.

I seeded some nasturtiums for the first time last year. They did well, but for some reason I didn't put any in this year. It turns out I didn't have to because they self seeded. It is unusual that they did so because we're zone four here and the seed shouldn't survive the winter on the ground. I'm glad they did.

I also seeded Malva Zebrina last spring. It didn't do well. It only started blooming in the late fall, but since I was under the impression it was a perennial I assumed it would come back this year. The original plants never came back this spring, and I forgot about it, but here they are. They self-seeded and have just begun to bloom. I'll collect some seed this fall and try and start them in their own bed and see what happens.