What is looking good in July 2025

@fairygirl I agree they are lily beetle resistant, not immune to them. I have found that a number of other species lilium are more resistant to the lily beetle than the hybrids.

 

Got a few hibiscus syriacus flowering now, they are all just seed grown plants.



Canna cleopatra.


Agapanthus.


Lophospermum I think,


Butia palm has just opened the first of 4 flowers this year.

 

Clematis I Am LadyJ Viticella
Coreopsis untick cream
Lythrum Salicaria
Sarracenia seedlings

 

I decided to try that Grazers stuff last year @NigelJ , just to see if it made any difference to the lily beetle problem - which we never used to have here, but has become a big problem in recent years. The other lilies have been fairly trouble free [apart from the inevitable slug ravaging]- just a few on the white ones I have, but largely clear.
I don't grow anything fancy as far as lilies are concerned, and I don't like the scent either so I don't grow any of those, but I loved the strong orange of those L. henryiis, and the lily beetle resistance definitely attracted me! I was on the point of giving up on lilies completely.

 

A few overgrown photos

 

I might be needing a machete to get down the steps soon.

 

The first successful flower of my "James Brydon" water lily. There are three more but haven't opened yet.



Bee on cosmos

 

Agastache. Another of those plants that's supposed to be so easy to grow from seed, well I had one survivor out of a trayful last year. It's grown into a decent plant this year though.

 

I love Agastache @Escarpment but very difficult to get them through the winter here. I've bought two varieties this year - Blue Boa that I've planted in a very well-drained spot in full sun, and Black Adder which I've put in a pot for its first year and I'll bring it inside for the winter. The bees just love them.

 

@fairygirl, love your Calendula porcupine, never seen that before, do you know whether it self seeds as well as the 'common' one ? (which I have)

 

A visitor has popped in for a snooze on my curtain ...

 

A couple of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis this morning ...

 

A night flox. I discovered it for myself last year, and repeated this season in a low pot on the patio table. Those star flowers open in the evening and are closed during the day. I enjoy the fragrance, some lemonade, sweets...

 

Zaluzianskya capensis, I used to grow it from seed, nice evening scent of Vanilla???

 

Can't smell vanilla, more like lemony candy or lemonade for me. Very light and pleasant.