The rain has been nice...we haven't had to water for quite a while, but is posing some problems for the drought tolerant garden. Most water-wise plants can handle some extra water, they just grow like crazy! Ours are growing very quickly and are getting tall and lanky. A few are beginning to fall over - like the dame's rocket and irises. Others are opening up in the center - like the soapwort, primrose, and lambs ear (think of what it would look like if someone fell down in the middle of a clump of plants). Oh well. There really isn't a thing I can do about it other than stake up the plants, which I won't do. That's busy work for the gardener who likes to molly coddle their plants. Typically drought tolerant plants grow slower, are stocky and strong, and don't require that sort of babying. If it gets too bad, I'll just cut the plants off, stick the flowers in a vase, and let them regrow.
Anyway, thanks to the rain the air is nice and clean and my Cowboy and his Pardner are enjoying all of the mud. Yesturday they created a town called Dirtham and had a blast playing in it until the lightning and a new round of rain chased us in. When I put them in the tub, it looked like they were bathing in canal water!
- Yarrow - I have several varieties and they are just starting to bloom. I love this stuff! It's getting really tall this year because it's rained every day for a few weeks...hopefully it won't flop over. It does best when it isn't so moist. Anyway, I have 'Paprika' which is red, 'Moonshine' which is yellow, a really short groundcover type with yellow flowers (flowers are 6" tall, leaves form a mat on the ground, and 'Summer Pastels' which will be various shades of pink, rose, red, coral, white. Wait, I think there may be one more...'Terra cotta' or something like that. I'd run out and look but it's pouring rain. Yarrow makes a great cut or dried flower and lasts for weeks in the garden. If you cut it back, it usually blooms again later on. Even better!
- Rocky Mountain Penstemon - Penstemon can be hard to grow in a yard...it needs very well drained soil and leaner conditions than most other plants. However, this beauty is more grower friendly. I started them from seeds I ordered from Wildseed Farms in Texas. Last year they were lovely little rosettes of leaves, this year, tons of flower spikes! I think they are spreading underground because I started out with groups of 5 plants and now I have a pretty solid looking patch. The bees are going crazy over them!
- Dianthus - I don't know what kind I have anymore. It started out yellow (yes, rare for dianthus) and the seedlings that came from it bloom in shades of pink. So far only pink ones are blooming, so perhaps the mother plant has been replaced by her babies. Either way, they are beautiful and I like their spicy sweet smell.
- Lady's Mantle - I grow this plant for it's lovely leaves, but the small yellow-green flowers are nice while they last. If you've never seen Lady's Mantle with water drops on it's leaves, you're missing out! It's so pretty!
- Wild Roses
- Primrose
- Sage
- Salvia
- Oriental Poppy - The thunderstorms are doing a number on these beauties! Poor things open up and then the rain beats off all of the flower petals!
- Yellow Iceplant
- Iris
- Dame's Rocket
- Columbine
- 'Walker's Low' Catmint
- Red Twig Dogwood
- Snowball Bush Viburnum
- Soapwort
- Chives
- Strawberries - but not very whole-heartedly! The plants look fine, they just don't have any flowers. Hmmmm. If they don't get it in gear, I'll let the raspberries have their spot!
- Blue Flax
- Lamium
- Abrietia
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