Late Bloom Day - Part 1

It doesn't take much imagination to figure out what I was doing on Bloom Day. Let's just say it has been making me a little restless, irritable and discontent. I thought it would be a good idea to make a date and go away.



An evening in Asheville was planned with a good friend. We met at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville for an evening stroll to start off our night on the town. Blooms for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day headquartered in a place called May Dreams were going to be found for this month's post in Asheville.

The Botanical Garden is a strictly native plant garden tended solely by volunteers. It also functions quite well as an urban park adjacent to the campus of UNCA. What would be blooming here in mid July?

Phlox and Monarda.



Rudbeckia



A late blooming azalea with a wonderful honeysuckle scent.



Liatris and Rattlesnake Master, Eryngium yuccifolium.



Cup Plant, Silphium perfoliatum. The large opposite leaves of this aster relative join and completely surround the stem.



New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae. This looks like the variety Frances recently gave me on my visit to Faire Garden Tennessee. It is shorter in stature and a much earlier bloomer than the giant thing here I call New England Aster. Aster confusion reigns.



And one water lily in a small formal pond.



Then it was time for dinner at a nice Thai restaurant where I had to be sure and order medium spicy which was like regular mild spicy in Hawaii. If you don't ask they serve it mild, as in bland for American palates which I discovered the first time I ate there. Who ever heard of bland Thai cooking?

Bloom Day - Part 2 coming up next. Our evening in Asheville continues.