Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ August GBBD 2012

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and Mandevilla 'Pretty Pink' in PA zone 5 for August.

Welcome to August in my Pennsylvania, zone 5 garden! It is not what I had hoped that it would be, but the garden is perking up after having some much needed rain in the past two weeks. I took these photos last night after another rain came.

Large-flowered hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos 'Pink Elephant') in our Driveway Garden is blooming away this month.

More in the Driveway Garden: Hibiscus 'Pink Elephant',white Miscanthus 'Dixieland',  a tall blue Buddleia and Agastache foeniculum 'Golden Jubilee'. The ground cover in front here is Sedum 'Acre' which is a much used cover plant in our gardens.

Purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) blooming away still from last month. Giving these the "Chelsea Chop" at the end of May helps to keep them blooming into August in zone 5.

Agastache foeniculum 'Golden Jubilee' competes well in this tightly planted succession in the Driveway Garden.

The Hill Garden is finally starting to freshen up a bit with Rosa 'The Fairy' coming back into bloom. The coneflowers on top of this planting are still going also.

Rain on Rosa 'The Fairy'.

Since buds count for something at the famous Chelsea Flower Show (see a photo of this years winningest garden), I decided to include the buds of Allium tuberosum which are also on the Hill Garden. They stand out here in front of gray lamb's ears (Stachys byzantine) and budded Sedum 'Autumn Joy'.

Annuals by the front steps this year include small pop pink begonias (which seem to be delectable to the pill bugs!), purple-pink New Guinea impatients, darker purple Angelonia,  the white froth of Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' (which deals well with drought) and the elephant ears (Colocasia).

The first blooms of pink Japanese Anemones are beginning on the Front Walk.

Another view of the front steps looking down to the curb strip, known as the Front Woodland. There has been sufficient rain recently to help the seedling forget-me-nots in this area to fill out a bit.

View of the Shade Path Garden in August. Red begonia 'Dragon Wings' is blooming away. New Guinea impatients fill out the rest of the annuals planting this year in the shade.

I tired of looking at the fading clematis foliage on our three trellises around the Circle Lawn, so I recently added a Mandevilla vine to each one. They are only hardy zones 9-11, so I will attempt to over winter them for next year as well. I like adding a white flowering vine to freshen the garden at this point in the season.

And I really like how this white Mandevilla looks flowering beside Sedum 'Frosty Morn' which is just in bud.

Photo of a stray black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) that seeded its self along the sidewalk in our Front Woodland curb. I moved this topiary pot up front to help gives this important corner view some interest while the flowers were all burnt to a crisp.

Along our back fence our purple flowering meadow rue, Thalictrum 'Splendide', is blooming away. It is over six feet tall and does not seem to mind the dry weather we have been having as much as some of the other shade plants.

Thalictrum 'Splendide' dancing on the breeze.

And behind the towering meadow rue are three white hydrangeas, Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'. It is hardy in zones 3-9 and its flowers increase in size as the bush grows larger.

Thanks for joining me in my August garden!
Check in at May Dreams for other beautiful flowers this month around the world.