Around The Garden

I finally put down the watering hose long enough to pick up the camera and take a few photos of the garden this week. I have had to water so much lately that I feel like I am permanently attached to the hose! We have soaker and drip hoses in some of the beds, but when I have plants that are so dry they’re wilted, I prefer to turn the hose on them. (Plus, hand watering gives me a chance to really see everything.) We are SO dry and in desperate need of rain! It hasn’t rained here in about three weeks, and we are HOT, very hot. The temperature was 96 today and we are supposed to go over one hundred degrees for the next few days, with no rain in sight. I’m watering just to keep things alive now. How’s your weather? Is it hot and dry where you are too? Anyone else feeling permanently attached to their watering hoses? :) Here are lots of photos I took this week, sorry for the poor quality of some, they were taken in late evening, click to enlarge.

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Petunia ‘Supertunia Vista Bubblegum’ in hanging baskets, Purple Angelonia and Petunia ‘Prism Sunshine’ in container, grown from seed

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Dwarf Pink Bee Balm (‘Grand Parade’), pink Double Delight Coneflowers, purple-leaved Red Shiso (Perilla Frutescens), and pink Polka Dot plants in the long border near the creek.

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‘Black Dragon’ Coleus, various types of salvia, marigolds in rock wall flower bed

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Pink Balloon Flowers, with ‘Laura Bush’ petunias and variegated Caryopteris divaricata ‘Snow Fairy’ shrub in the background. By the way, all my caryopteris shrubs are already in bloom. Everything is about a month ahead this year!

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Veronica

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Coneflowers

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An exceptionally pretty daylily :)

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Monarda ‘Grand Parade’

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White Swan Coneflowers and Agastache ‘Heat Wave’

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Zinnias and ‘Black Pearl’ peppers (at far left) with Echinacea Powwow White and PowWow Wild Berry coneflowers, ‘White Swan’ coneflowers in bed above gazebo

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Magellan™ Cherry Zinnias grown from seed

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Long creekside border near patio

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Closer View

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Container flowers with petunias, spike, verbena, bacopa, red geraniums, and dahlias in the background

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Dragonwing Begonias and Persian Shield in pots on the rock patio

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Annual Flowers

Here are some photos from the past couple of weeks of just a few of the many annual flowers I have in bloom right now:

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I was late getting this area around the patio planted this year, and there wasn’t much left to choose from. My local nurseries all seem to have the same supply of bedding plants— marigolds, ageratum, petunias, portulaca, and begonias… but, it’s filling in nicely now (photo taken in late May).

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I really love these bubblegum supertunias and have pots of them everywhere. It’s the best petunia I’ve ever grown.

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Purple Wave petunias

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Light yellow petunias I grew from seed, I have them in a container with purple angelonia (also grown from seed).

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Mixed color sunpatiens along the front of a long border, with Japanese Iris, Malva, Blazing Stars, Glads and more in the background. I have Scarlet Runners on the obelisk now. Also, in this photo, notice the purple asters blooming — I had mums and asters in bloom in May!

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Mixed annuals, including coleus grown from seed, pinks, Persian Shield, petunias, fuchsia, begonias.

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Sunpatiens

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Verbena and purple Waves

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Late Summer Garden

Some areas of my garden are definitely suffering right now as we are in desperate need of rain. I love summer, but even I am tired of the heat this year. Months of mid- to upper-90s, not to mention the constant high humidity which puts the heat index well over a hundred most every day, and very little rain have taken a toll this summer but there are a few areas that I have managed to keep watered, including a lot of containers. (I’ll be rethinking just how many containers I have next year.) Click photos to enlarge.

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^ A grouping of containers. Look how big the purple fountain grass is! I have it in a large container underplanted with silver dichondra. The other containers have annuals including verbena, marigolds, african daisy, angelina, bubble gum supertunias, dusty miller and black pearl pepper.

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^ Flower bed above gazebo (Ignore the crispy sparse grass)

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^ More containers on the patio, including fuchsia,
coleus, petunias, wandering jew and impatiens.

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^ Spring bulb bed overplanted with annuals and containers, including elephant ears, dark purple alternanthera, red sunpatiens, red dragonwing begonias.

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^ Gorgeous Persian Shield plant with impatiens in the secret garden. This one gets partial sun and the color is much more intense than the ones that get more sun in the patio and gazebo flower beds.

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Agastache Heatwave
^ Love this plant, except that it is almost SIX’ TALL! I am definitely going to have to cut this clump back earlier next year, or move it to another area. I had no idea it got this tall. I have it tied up after it flopped during a storm.

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^ Edge of patio and tiered container, includes perilla magilla, persian shield, impatiens, ferns, wandering jew.

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^ The garden arch on the bridge over the creek is new this year. I wanted something (besides morning glory) that would cover the arch quickly and planted scarlet runner beans here in early July. The vines have already covered the arch. Creekside plantings include profusion zinnias, begonias, torenia, marigolds, coneflowers and more.

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^ Gazebo bed with varieaged caryopteris, black pearl peppers, dusty miller and marigolds. The black pearl peppers are ripening to a bright red now. I’ll have plenty of seeds this fall!

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^ (L to R) Creekside planting with lantana and profusion zinnias, torenia, forget me nots, black eyed susans, daylilies – Another view of the gazebo and slope bed – Perilla Magilla, one plant fills a huge space

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^ (L to R) Crape Myrtle still blooming – new small water feature bought on clearance recently, to be used in flower bed next year with seating area – hanging baskets of petunias and supertunias in the August heat

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How’s your garden doing during these hot days of August?

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Elephant Ears

We have lots of Elephant Ears (Colocasia esculenta), and every year they get bigger and bigger. It has been hard to keep them watered during this hot and dry summer, but most of them are still thriving. I love the big tropical looking leaves and use them throughout the garden. Last year, one of the largest clumps had blooms during the first week of October. (I didn’t know until then that they even bloomed!) Below are just two of the many bulbs we have. Click photos to view larger.

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^ This one has huge leaves and is near the bench
in a shady spot in the secret garden.

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^ One elephant ear bulb in a container with caladiums.

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