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| Miniature Iris |
Try as I might, every year I come to the same conclusion: the flowers on summer perennials just don't do it for me. All of my favorite flowers - hellebore, peonies, iris, wisteria, tulips and poppies- bloom before school gets out. Come September I'm tired of the usual garden flowers. Echinacea, rudbeckia, and phlox have been dominating gardens for a month. I succumb that they are, respectfully, the drought resistant carriers of the garden. Until this week we've not recieved much rain, and I've done very little watering (conserving resources....)
The giant sunflowers of late August are eye-catchers and so are always welcome company walking down the street. But once a plant dies in your garden for two consecutive years there exists an unwelcome jealousy of neighbors with a small army of sunflowers standing watch in their yards.
My favorite plants of August, the dahlia's never fail to make my heart skip a beat. But their fussy behavior (dig me up and take me inside every winter) and high investment costs prevent me from growing them. Hence, I go visit gardens to see them, and remind myself that although my favorite flowers bloom in the spring, summer foliage fills the garden so well and wins me over in the end... I love a garden in August.
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| Perennial garden at Frelinghuysen Arboretum, NJ |
This weekend is back to Syracuse for many of us who've been away and the return of friends for those who stayed the summer. Which means we'll probably have a barbeque/work day/meeting/party sooner rather than later. So stay in touch & see you all soon!
Elizabeth
