Sunday, August 5, 2012

One-Hundred Three

THIS IS WHAT THE DIGITAL temperature sign read at approximately 6:15 yesterday evening as I drove past it. Tonight on the news, the weatherman said our humidity yesterday was 16%. Good thing because it was HOT! But it was a "dry heat." And it wasn't a surprise. The weather people let us know it was imminent and fortunately were also correct in forecasting a cool-down for today. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time with the hose Friday evening and Saturday morning, making sure my precious babies would be able to handle the day-long heatwave. And they did.  

Here's a little of what's going on in my garden.  

This is a Lobelia laxiflora blossom. 

And here is the entire plant in a container. It is one of my few new plants this year.
Apparently it's only marginally hardy in my Zone 8b garden so it might be a one-time
beauty. 

This is a third-generation Mimulus. I bought the plant two years ago.
It reseeded last year and then again this year. 

This little pink daisy is a miniature Dahlia.
The other pinky is Diascia integrima that has wintered-over for two years.  

This is Sedum 'October Daphne' in a hanging container.
It doesn't even need to bloom to make me happy. 

This particular clump of 'Firetail' Persicaria is huge, well over 6 feet tall. And the bees love it. 

In the photo below this one, the purply-mist towards the left is an
ornamental Oregano. Here is a close up. Bees love it too.  

This border is looking exceptionally nice with Verbena rigida in full regalia.
In front of the clump is a bunch of seedlings I need to dig up and replant.
This should give you a clue as to the conditions that please this plant.  

Phlox paniculata 'Bright Eyes.'  The scent is delicious.

Now we're on the opposite end of the garden. You can't see the pond but if you look closely
you can see the lily pads. The grass (Stipa gigantea) on the right,
is obstructing much of the view. 

This is the opposite side of the aforementioned pond.
In years past this area has gotten really dry by now. But this year,
thanks to all the rain in June, I've been able to keep it looking good.  

I almost forgot, again. (Sheesh!) The winner of the drawing for Ricki Grady's book, Bebop Garden was Jen of Muddy Boot Dreams.  Congrats Jen. If you haven't visited her blog, you can click on the link and be amazed.

Well, that's what's going on in my garden. I hope all of you have a wonderful week with friendly garden-puttering temperatures.  

18 comments:

  1. Grace, despite of the heat your plants look healthy! I love your sedum, it has leaves with pink edges.

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  2. What another delightful tour of your lovely gardens. So much to see and enjoy, and ooohh and aaahh over. I love it all.

    This morning we've already had rain with more expected through out today and over the next couple of days also. It is hard trying to keep up with certain vines that we DON'T want to take over the property.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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  3. I love that persicaria. I am not sure that I have seen one before!
    Try and survive this heat. Thankfully it isn't going to get that hot again this week, but high 80's is still pretty hot for us!

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  4. Things are looking beautiful......I have Lobelia laxiflora and I have discovered it does become quite large but the hummingbirds love it.

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  5. what zone are the phlox??beautiful

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  6. Beautiful gardens! Nice and full!

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  7. Some job you must have done wielding that hose...everything looks perfectly happy. I will be on the lookout for that sedum...one can never have too many sedums.

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  8. I would love less humidity. Your garden looks fabulous. You have so many plants that I never see around here. :o)

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  9. It's always delightful to tromp around in your stunning garden, Grace. Such wonderful combinations of texture, color, blooms and foliage! I'm with you... October Daphne is fabulous without flowers!
    Meems

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  10. Curious as to what caused just one day of extreme heat? How nuts. 17% humidity sounds like some sort o a fairy tale.

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  11. Yeesh I do not love the heat, sadly I've acclimated to the PNW! Your flowers and plants look amazing, I am loving the colors you have.
    I'm looking forward to a bit of a cool down although I think the tomatoes prefer the heat!

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  12. Grace, as usual your garden is beautiful. Gosh the heatwave we experience was awful, so energy sapping. Than goodness the temps have dropped back down into the 70's here.

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  13. Dear Grace! For me, your place is a botanical garden. It amazes me with its variety. I keep finding new plants (for me). I also love your garden's lushness. We were fortunate this summer - there were only two days with 85 degrees. I don't spend much time in my garden because of travels and guests that we have. Maybe, a garden does better when we don't disturb it with our everyday attention.
    All the best to you and your beautiful plants and THANK YOU SO MUCH for your kind comments on my blog!

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  14. Grace I am always in awe of your stunning gardens...so ful of colors and lush foliage no matter the weather!!

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  15. Your garden defies the heat, and looks beautiful doing it, Grace. I know you are out there ministering to it!

    Funnily enough, just yesterday a walking companion asked me about Persicaria 'Firetail' in a garden we passed. I didn't know what it was then; now I can tell her!

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  16. Everything is always so happy and beautiful in your garden... How is that?!I love that sedum.

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  17. Hi there Gracie girl !
    Your garden is huge and so full of gorgeous plants (and I am still green with envy with your ponds and paths!)
    This lobelia almost reminds me of that "lipstick" plant .. too cute!
    I have that middle plant(purple flowers) between the pots .. I can't remember the name,jeez!
    That miniature pink Dahlia is perfect! .. I would love having that: )
    Some of my sedum are gorgeous too .. they don't need to flower for me to love their look!
    I didn't know some persicaria could grow that tall ! wow factor for sure!
    I really want to get an ornamental oregano that a friend sent a picture of .. it was amazing .. this one looks gorgeous too : )
    I love the stones and verbena rigida is also a wow factor plant when happy : )
    I really have to try some phlox .. I have a phlox phobia because of powdery mildew .. BIG sigh !
    Bright Eyes looks gorgeous and I wish I knew what the scent is like.
    I have 4 major grasses to move .. I thought they would get enough sun under the grape arbor but that grap plant is much bigger this year so that was a bust! haha
    We have had an amazing soaking of rain ..I was out trimming up a few plants that were down trodden by it .. it was WONDERFUL !!! LOL
    Your garden is a beauty Gracie .. I love your plan on the side bar .. I want to plan mine out on paper so I can really think about how to place my plants better .. I wish you were here to help girl (not just the grunt labor , wink wink .. but an outside voice seeing it in another way from what I do ! LOL
    Joy

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  18. Your garden is looking great. Love that sedum, it would make me smile too. I planted Pink Elephant persicaria a couple of years ago. It's hanging in there but yours is really, really nice looking.

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