Also known as marsh rosemary and lavender thrift, sea lavender is a perennial coastal plant that can often be found growing in both salt marshes and along coastal sand dunes. Despite its name, it is not actually related to the lavender plant. The plant creates leathery, spoon-shaped leaves, red-tinted stems, and delicate purple blooms that appear in summer. Found these flowers in Santa Monica, California.
Lily of the Nile, with Latin name Agapanthus (African Lily), is a marvelous perennial that blooms from spring to summer, producing magnificent floral-scapes. The flowers are funnel-shaped and typically blue, purple, or white in color; the clusters are borne on long stalks. Found these in Santa Monica, California.
Ivy Geranium (Pelargonium peltatum) unfurls leaves that resemble ivy. The leaves are quite eye-catching and have a bright green hue. Ivy leaf geranium blooms have semi-double flowers in colors from white to red, and most pastels in every color except blue and yellow.
Mountain Hydrangea lives up to its name. It shares the showy blooms and beautiful pink or purple color of big-leaf hydrangeas, but because it grows wild on the chilly mountain tops instead of the mild seaside, it naturally developed substantially better cold tolerance. The sturdy lacecap blooms will be bright pink or deep purple-blue, depending on your soil pH, and the handsome dark green foliage resists wilting. Found these in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
The blooms of Bougainvillea aren’t actually blooms at all. The showy paper-like structures are a modified leaf called a bract. These bracts hide the actual flowers inside, which are small and trumpet-shaped in whites and yellows. The showy bracts are typically found on new growth, with the showiest display following their winter dormancy. Captured in Santa Monica, California.
The Fortnight lily goes by many names, including African iris, butterfly iris, Wood iris, and scientifically Dietes iridioides. The name Fortnight lily is based on the blooming cycle of the flowers, where new blooms come up approximately every two weeks. Spotted in Santa Monica, California.
From a bud to a beautiful rose about to fully bloom …..
Grevillea Moonlight, a stunning shrub blooms all year in some climates. A fast grower, its large, moonlight-colored flowers and finely divided, gray foliage are a must for any southern-temperate garden. Frost and drought tolerant once established, it attracts bees and hummingbirds. Captured in Santa Monica, California.
The cheerful Shasta daisy is a classic perennial. It looks similar to the familiar roadside daisy but has larger and more robust blooms. Here are some daisies from Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
A lonely blooming water lily at Bass Lake, North Carolina
Water lilies with blooming flowers floating at Bass Lake in a foggy environment
How can you ignore irises at Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumter, SC? While not completely in bloom in the gardens, there were sporadic signs of irises.
Blooming lilies with their pads covering the water at the The Highlands Biological Station, Nature Center, and Botanical Gardens, North Carolina
Every year around the middle of June, the grassy balds of Roan Mountain and Grassy Ridge come alive with vibrant blooms of Flame Azaleas.
A blooming Lily of the Nile ….
A beautiful Plumeria blooming against a blue sky …
Colorful Azaleas blooming in North Carolina
A butterfly chooses a blooming sunflower ignoring the one yet to bloom
Wait Till You Blossom
Not only bees and butterflies, but also people visit sunflowers.
First planted by the City of Raleigh’s public utilities department in 2010 along the Neuse River Greenway Trail, a beautiful five-acre batch of sunflowers blooms each year between early- and mid-July. For 2019, they once again called Dorothea Dix Park home.
The sunflowers serve a purpose beyond just acting as a fun summer photo hot-spot—the City harvests the sunflowers to create thousands of gallons of bio diesel, which is then processed into fuel to run tractors, trailers and farm equipment. The flowers are also excellent pollinators—the field serves as a massive pollinator habitat for bees and other species.
Visiting Sunflowers
Field of Sunflowers
Sunflower Field
Various colorful shades of azaleas in bloom in Spring
Azaleas in Bloom
Photos by Ravi 