Dahlia, Marigolds, Zinnia, Butterfly Bush and Friend

Skipper on red dahlia: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2015

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" It's been really hot but the flowers are still going strong, and I'm thankful.

Two bicolor marigolds: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2015

I love these bicolor French marigolds that I grew from seed. They are getting so large I might have to stake some of them.

Two pink zinnias: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2015

I've already had to stake a bunch of the giant zinnias (also grown from seed) and some of the plants are so tall they reach my shoulders. In the photo above you can see a giant bright pink zinnia just opening up and, in the background, a light pink that is fully open. I often see golden finches, butterflies, moths and bees enjoying the giant zinnias.

Bicolor butterfly bush flowers & buds: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2015

This is another potted butterfly bush (I featured a white one last week).  I love the bright orange centers and the lilac colored petals. We do plan to put them in the ground once things start cooling down so they have time to establish deeper roots before winter.

Large yellow marigold: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2015

Some of the African marigolds (also grown from seed) have grown nearly as tall as the giant zinnias. It's really exciting to see so many pretty flowers on plants I grew from seed. I love all flowers but the ones grown from seed are extra special.

Thank you for joining me on this week's mini garden tour! May God bless you!

Which photo(s) did you like best from today's post? Someone mentioned that she'd like to see the results posted and I thought it was a great idea. So I'm going to start listing the vote totals in the comments of the floral Friday posts and will count votes shared here, in Facebook and other forums. I'll aim to give the vote totals for the previous week on the same day I do the new week's post (for example, today I'll post the vote totals for last week's post in that post's comment section) so that gives you about a week to vote. I'd love to hear from you anytime though! Feel free to share! 

Related posts:
Raindrops on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/10/raindrops-on-roses-azalea-camellia.html
Marigolds and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/shasta-daisies-coreopsis-sweet-peas.html
Mystery flowers and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/sunflower-day-lilies-vinca-and-mystery.html