Each week it is getting harder to choose just six garden things to share on Saturday.  I admit some weeks, I have cheated and shown more than six photos, but today I’m trying to stick with the rules.

This may be a peak time for summer blooming plants on the Gulf coast since the hot, humid, heavy days haven’t set in yet. By August, many plants are exhausted, as are most gardeners. But I’ll show you the current beauties and save the long-season annuals for another day.

In the past week, the blossoms on my white althea have really popped out. I know I say everything is my favorite, but this is truly another favorite. It’s an extra-tall shrub that has a long blooming period, usually through August. It is officially hibiscus syriacus, sometimes called a rose of Sharon.

The picture collage above shows Mimosa trees which have been in full bloom for a couple of weeks. I don’t have these in my yard, but they are seen all over our area because they are prolific re-seeders. The unique pink flowers have a sweet aroma I remember from my childhood. I must confess I had to look up the botanical name for this weedy tree that I’ve always heard called a Mimosa. Never in my life have I heard anyone call it an Albizia julibrissin.

Back to my garden, my third type of daylily (hemerocallis) opened up this week. You can see the rusty-colored throat on this deep yellow flower. I wish I knew the name, but I don’t.

Speaking of yellow, I planted New Gold lantanas in this big barrel planter, and they’re coming along nicely. I planted a solid white lantana from the Bandana lantana collection in front of the two yellow ones. Cute name. These should bloom until fall.

My wonderful gardenia seems to be blooming all at once. Ordinarily, the blossoms open over two or three weeks, but they’re late this year.  Suddenly, the shrub is now covered in flowers. The scent is so strong I can smell it from the deck over a hundred feet away.

And from our deck, I can see the white althea to the left and white gardenia to the right of center. They’re too far apart for the same camera shot, unless I do a panoramic view. Maybe I’ll try that this week. But I love that they’re blooming at the same time.

 My sixth offering this week is hardy begonia or begonia grandis. It’s a perennial in my yard, and volunteers in better places than I could have intentionally selected. It can get to be two to three feet tall and has pink flowers all summer. The leaves alone are showy enough to make it worthwhile.

I’ve slowed down on the yard work in the past week. There is still plenty to do, but I’m taking it at a more leisurely pace.

Enjoy your week and the flowers you find along the way.

Shalom, Dottie

I want to give credit to the guy who founded this fun Six on Saturday idea. He lives in Great Britain, and his Twitter handle is @cavershamjj You can find his blog at:https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/