Summer's Early Arrival

It's not even official yet, but the mercury has sure said, "Summer" the past few days.

The shade thermometer at 4:30 PM, today.

We have two window AC units to keep us comfy and while we know our cats are also not fans of the heat, for some reason, they prefer to stretch out on the floor in the warmer parts of the house.

Taz being silly

We had rain just one day before the heat wave so the garden is handling the heat better than the humans, or the cats. And now I'll prove it. 

I found this little Blue Pimpernel at a variety store for cheap and decided I needed to have it. It just started blooming.

Blue Pimpernel Anagallis monellii

Another little flower, Talinum calycinum just started blooming. I had it in a bed last year but it got smothered by its neighbors so I dug up all the seedlings (it reseeds beautifully) and planted them in a pot. The flowers are no bigger than a half inch in diameter, but so pretty!

Talinum calycinum

It's easy to see the male and female flower parts. No wonder they reseed so well.

This 'Double Delight' rose bush has been struggling for years under the shade of neighboring trees. I think maybe it has adapted to the low light because this is the second blossom this year. Not a bumper crop by any means but I'll take what I can get.

The uber fragrant, Rosa 'Double Delight'

While nursery hopping with my garden buddy Heather last week, I couldn't pass up getting two pots of bargain-priced hardy orchids (Bletilla ochracea). Aren't those the cutest faces?

Bletilla ochracea

I was also unable to resist two pots of Lewis Monkeyflower I recently spied. It's been on my wish list forever. I love that flower.

Lewis Monkeyflower (Mimulus lewisii) going "ahh!"

Astrantia maxima

Cool pink flowers on Rodgersia 'Bronze Peacock'

 I sowed Salvia viscosa seed in early 2015. One plant made it. And now it's blooming! 

Salvia viscosa

I'm happy that all of my little Chinese Foxglove survived.

Chinese Foxglove Rehmannia elata

The annual Rhodochiton is blooming like crazy!

Rhodochiton 'Purple Bells'

Rosa 'Lyda' survived its transplant last year.

Japanese Iris Iris ensata 'Variegata'

The first bloom on Scabiosa caucasica 'Fama' with lots more to come

Alstroemeria 'Tri-Color'

Brachyscome 'Magenta Bliss' with variegated Ivy

Rosa glauca

Rosa glauca

Clematis viticella 'Confetti'

My night-blooming phlox is doing great this year. 

Here is super sweetly fragrant Night-Blooming Phlox after 4 PM
(Zaluziankya capensis 'Midnight Candy')

And here it is before 4 PM.

And now presenting a 

Before 

& 

After 

Here is an area right by the covered patio that was terribly overgrown and messy. I had mistakenly planted my (huge) Indigofera heterantha here. Then to add insult to injury, I underplanted the area with a spreading Japanese anemone and ... (wait for it) Bishop's Weed. Yes. That was almost twenty years ago. I was dumb. There was also a hardy fuchsia squeezed in there. 

Before

In February I started digging on the dormant Indigofera and with much determination I was able to get it out of the ground and relocated to a spot where it can stretch out. The Japanese Anemones and Bishop's Weed are an ongoing chore. The hardy fuchsia wasn't nearly as difficult to relocate.

After

The focal point of the area is a comparatively compact and well-behaved 'Ruby Slippers' Hydrangea quercifolia with a few smaller edging plants.   

Here's a look from the patio. The gravel channel is for rainwater run-off from the patio roof,

And another vantage point, to the right of the area, looking out into part of the garden.

I'll probably add a few more ground covers to the area but first I want to make sure there aren't any more Japanese anemone or Bishop's Weed roots threatening to come back. 

And finally, some wide shots.

The Mock Orange, Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile' in the background.
Wow did the warm temperatures bring out its fragrance. 

You can see the aforementioned redux in the very back of this photo.
The little Thyme carpet is getting ready to bloom.
The bees are going to be so happy.

These Dianthus are not terribly thrilled with getting so much shade from the tree above them.
I might have to do some relocating this fall.

It's getting a little chaotic.

Rosa 'William Baffin' and boy have those Boxwood balls really grown!

The glorious Clematis viticella 'Madame Julia Correvon'
Not the best photo, unfortunately.

Finally:

The resident spotted towhees have abandoned not one but two nests so far this year.
This one had eggs.

Thanks for visiting, everyone. Enjoy your gardens.

It's Like A Heatwave!

If YOU'VE WATCHED THE NEWS the last few days, you know that the western half of the U. S. is in the throes of a monstrous heatwave. It's a little cooler right now because it's 9:30 at night. 

The thermometer in my shady pavilion. Argh! 

Are you one of those gardeners who likes to try at least one (or ten) new plants each year? What am I saying? Of course you are. It's one of the highlights of gardening, right? Anyway, one of this year's newbies for me actually began when I saw it in bloom at a nursery a few years ago. It wasn't for sale, just off in one corner looking pretty. I didn't give it much thought at first but you know how something just plants (pun intended) itself in your head and won't leave? Well this, my friends is what Impatiens glandulifera did for me. It's a rare plant, at least in my world and I wasn't even sure what it was called so how was I to investigate? But then last summer while I was at a park in Salem I spotted it growing! 

Impatiens glandulifera or "Ornamental Jewelweed"  

I collected seed and tossed it in my purse and hoped I could get it to germinate. Meanwhile my four-hundred or so Impatiens balfouri plants continued to scatter their seed all over the garden. Nice, but you know how it is when you want what you don't have. Human nature is such a silly thing.

Impatiens balfouri or "Poor Man's Orchid" nice but I want more. 

And I continued my infatuation with this lovely specimen from Fry Road Nursery.

Impatiens auricoma I think. Nice but not enough.

In April it became apparent that my collected seed was not going to germinate so I got on the horn which is code for Internet and started searching for seed, eventually finding a source and buying and waiting. Three packets of trial and error has netted me a total of seven plants. And below is a photo of the first bud just about to burst. 

Look closely at the pre-born flowers. 

Impatiens glandulifera can get quite tall, up to six and a half feet. I like tall plants. And now that the weather has warmed (understatement) the plants are growing at least a few inches every day. Below are a two photos. 

There are naysayers out there who will probably scorn me for growing species Impatiens because "it's a noxious weed" but that's a bunch of hooey. I'm too anal and OCD to let plants get the upper hand in my garden. And besides, plants that I really, really like don't grow like gang busters. They die. Or they die off. I grow Lythrum (Purple Loosestrife) and Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) but they aren't escaping all over the place. But my neighbor's bamboo has no problem crossing into my garden. Okay I'm stepping down from my soapbox now.  I just wanted to share my exciting Impatiens news. 

Echinacea 'Pow Wow Wildberry' is another happy camper.

Another photo of my pink California poppies.
The bees aren't the only ones who love them. 

Home Depot a few weeks ago I found this really cool Agastache.
One gallon for $4.99. My camera doesn't do it justice.
The flowers are a deep red and gorgeous next to the catmint.

This spring, I bought Saponaria 'Max Frei' from Digging Dog Nursery. It's blooming and lovely.

Although I'm not a fan of yellow,  I'm loving my Spigelia. Very cool blossoms. 

 In the foliage department, check out the leaves on my Artichoke plant.

A four-inch plant in April, look how big it's gotten. 

I also bought a Kale lacinato. It's over three feet tall.
So cool looking, don't you think? That is, once I put down slug bait.

My Acanthus mollis looks better than ever. Too much shade for a bloom but who cares? 

Digging Dog also offered Scutellaria suffrutescens 'Texas Rose', a plant I've wanted, like, for-ev-er! It' just started blooming. I'm so NOT disappointed!  

The entire plant is no more than a six-inch round ball but it's so cool. 

Finally I thought I'd share a photo of a visitor to the neighborhood. I photographed he and his brother from my car as I got home from work one evening. Fortunately they can't venture into my backyard. 

If you look closely you can see antler buds. Handsome fellow, isn't he? 

If you feel so inclined please visit my Pinterest page for lots of cool photos of species Impatiens. You might get hooked too. Then we really will have a noxious weed on our hands. But at least it will be pretty. 

Stay cool everybody. Love to you all,