My garden in mid-summer

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As I write this, it’s the last day of summer, although it feels like we have not had much summer! I am only now getting around to posting some general views around the garden from mid-summer.

This area along the driveway was very dry, yet when it rained it flooded. Even grass was hard to grow. I dug ditches through the area to collect rain water that ran down the driveway. I had some deeper areas, but still dug an overflow to the main ditch along the road. After several years the area became a jungle. I like the concept of controlled jungle.

I combine some geraniums with other perennials. We grow a lot of daylilies and in this area they are situated behind some geraniums… This is where I work in the geraniums!

Just a sampling of the close to 100 varieties of daylilies we grow.

I really love tall plants!

Prairie Dock and Compass Plant are close relatives of the Cup Plant. Their flowers are the same, but the leaf shape is quite different.

Great for butterflies!

You can’t tell in the photos, but this butterfly garden is in the shape of a butterfly. The back wings have the tall plants, some Cup Plant at back, Lupins in middle with Blazing Star in front. The front wings have Globe Thistle, Echinacia, Daisies, etc.

This is an interesting rockery plant.

I know many see this as an invaisive alien, but I like it, and the bees love it. It is like a giant jewelweed.

I used to grow a lot of cannas. I got up to harvesting 5 bushels of rhizomes to bring in for the winter. All from a few rhizomes given to me by a member of the local hort club, Lorna Webb. There were regular green and red foliage. That was fine when I needed plants to fill gardens, but that is not the case now, so I bring in only enough to keep my canna circle planted.

We have picked up a few new varieties this year. I’m hoping they are as easy to over-winter as the old varieties.

Lupines

There are a few hanging baskets and planters with pelargoniums. Don’t call them geraniums!

Erodiums are in the rockery areas.

The ‘Bidderi’ selection has very variable flowers. Sometimes extra petals, sometimes with dark blotches and sometimes without. All these were on the same plant. This variety is often sold under the name ‘Purple Haze’ or ‘Natascha’.

2016 EDIT: It is quite common for this Erodium to be wrongly named… It is NOT crispum (the real crispum is a much different pink flowered species)… This plant is Erodium cheilanthifolium ‘Album’. Very similar to the E. cheilanthifolium (previous photo) but the lower leaves are pure white, lacking the veining.

I think I need to do a separate blog on the rockery areas.

Last but not least (maybe it is least – it’s small enough)…

Some non-hardy erodiums are grown in pots placed around the rockery, and brought in for the winter.

• 22 Sep, 2014
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