Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - August 2013

The Dog Days are definitely here. July 27 through August 20 is historically the hottest period in our part of the world, so we are well into that period. It is a time that wilts both gardens and gardeners. Still, there are a few blooms that hold up to the heat. I've shown you many of them many times before. Things like...

 Hamelia patens. You can see why one of its common names is "Mexican firebush."

Another of Hamelia's common names is "hummingbird bush." It's very popular with those little birds at this time of year.

 The swamp hibiscus known as "Texas Star" continues its summer-long bloom in both red stars...

...and white stars.

The Anisacanthus wrightii or "flame acanthus" had mostly finished its latest bloom cycle and, since it had gotten so big and sprawling, I cut it back about one-third in order to encourage more fall blooms. There are still a few stray blossoms left and they still attract butterflies like this beautiful Giant Swallowtail.

Water lilies in the little goldfish pond are still blooming and their "pads" now shade most of the pond.

The warm - make that hot - summer sun has enticed these goldfish out from the shade provided by the lilypads to bask.

The weird and wonderful blossoms of the Dutchman's pipe vine are almost open.

This pink purslane positively loves the sun.

The blue blossoms of Cape plumbago seem particularly attractive to sulphur butterflies of all kinds. Do they realize how pretty their yellow looks against the blue?

I'm not entirely sure what this plant is. It was a "volunteer" in a pot that I brought home from the nursery. It looked interesting so I dug it out and planted it in the garden and found that butterflies, particularly the Gray Hairstreaks like this one, just love it. Possibilities for the plant's identity include marsh fleabane or camphor weed.

Thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for again hosting this monthly meme and thank you for visiting my garden. Happy Bloom Day!