On drives through the coast range I note the prominence of naturalized foxgloves in bloom is being replaced by fireweed (epilobium), the color and shape so similar that I didn’t notice the change at first. Around town rhododendrons are done, hydrangeas, dahlias and Shasta daisies are up. In my garden, July brings the penstemons and agastache into bloom, the first dahlias, Digitalis parviflora (but not D. ferruginea yet), the cool season grasses, sanguisorba, the double-flowered sterile form of Lychnis coronaria in screaming magenta, gaura, Watsonia pillansi, Lobelia tupa, patrinia, Rudbeckia triloba. Oregon Sunshine, Eriophyllum lanatum, has been cut back just as the echinacea are budding iup. Geum is having a second flush of bloom. Needless to say, July shows how I like plants in concentrated doses, where juxtapositions of leaves, shapes, and colors fire off each other.
from the patio against the house
in the furthest stocktank looking east, Cassinia leptophylla subsp fulvida aka the Golden Bush, one of my fav shrubs in the garden. No luck with cuttings yet.
Anisodontea ‘Strybing Beauty’ and the hummingbirds are having a lovefest. A runner has escaped the tank and is growing in the strip of soil between tank and patio. A cutting is being trialed in the open garden to see how it handles winter there
Between the cool-season grasses and the warm-season grasses like miscanthus now filling out, the garden is heading into grassland territory. There’s some formula out there that says no more than 30% grass — I may have exceeded that ratio a bit. The giant with the red stems behind the phormium is a eupatorium, also budding up.
Never saw blooms on Anemanthele lessoniana in zone 10, another surprise
Only one bloom stalk from two clumps of Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ this year — it bloomed better in its first year.
fasciated bloom on Digitalis parviflora showing some love
A foxglove I’ve long wanted to grow — very exciting to watch its development
Lysimachia ‘Beaujolais’ showing staying power into July
and now it’s surrounded by some good leaves like melianthus and astralia which are just now making size
Dianthus barbatus ‘Oeschberg’ and sanguisorba hitting the same color notes
Achnatherum calamagrostis arches its plumes outward with a vase-like symmetry
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ in front of achnatherum was cut down by half in June — the “Chelsea chop”
Deschampsia ‘Goldtau’ is a disorganized fizz of bloom.
Purple spikes coloring up are Teucrium hircanicum. Big leaves are an unnamed species of salvia from Szechuan from Flowers by the Sea
Penstemon ‘Cha-Cha Purple’ is one of the best dark-colored varieties I’ve grown. Healthy leaves, strong growth. Penstemon ‘Raven’ is still way behind in growth.
July ramped up growth on a cardoon planted in spring
Rudbeckia trilloba
Agastache ‘Blue Boa’
Two 5-foot stalks of Watsonia pillansii came up in July
more lilies continue to open
A seedling from Malva sylvestris ‘Zebrina’ that was miserable in the garden last year, much happier in a stock tank
Filipendula ‘Red Umbrellas’
A closeup of the leaves would have been more helpful — maple-shaped, red venation
Hebe ‘Western Hills’ — new to hebes and still thinking of them as foliage plants, the flowers are a surprise!!
Morina longifolia sending up a bloom
Bulbine abyssinica looks like it’s going to seed, but it does this before opening blooms!
Your garden looks so wonderfully lush. Just what I would expect from a coastal Oregon garden. It’s hard to believe it’s still a relatively young garden! You’ve completely transformed the space.
Wow! Your garden seems fuller and more floriferous every time I see it. Are you having fun growing things that would’ve never survived in SoCal? That fasciated Digitalis parviflora is an incredible freak of nature. I love the Anisodontea too but Annie’s says it needs “average” water, which generally means too much in my fast-draining soil. I killed that same Malva in no time here last year.
Wow, can’t get over how full the garden is in such a short period of time. Everything looks happy and healthy. Beware Zebrina as it seeds rather abundantly. The Anisodontea is quite the plant. Didn’t realize it could get so large. The Bulbine flowers are pretty cool.
I once had a Morina longifolia, I’d forgotten about it since it disappeared. Hmm, I wonder what else I’ve had and lost without even thinking about it?
I keep telling myself I’m going to hit you up for a visit, I want to see your garden in person! I need to make it happen. Oh and good news, photos from the Courtneys garden will be showing up on the blog soon…
@Gerhard, that lushness is all supplemental water! It will most likely be a 4-month dry period this summer. Everything unwatered is golden, except the fir trees!
@Kris, I’m having loads of fun. I brought cuttings of the anisodontea from the LB garden, where it grows happily much, much drier. It is so good to leave leaf miners on dahlias back in LB! Been thinking of you with the slides going on in RPV, but not in your neck of the woods, I think…
@Elaine, I’ve heard the full spectrum about the malva z., that it won’t grow or grows too well…we’ll see. Definitely happier in potting soil, and that’s how it was grown when I first noticed it, in a container.
@Loree, that would have been amazing meeting up with you at the Courtneys. So glad you got permission for photos! Yay! I’ll probably come to your area soon — blogger swap this year?
Ah, your garden is so beautiful. It’s similar to what I envisioned when I started out gardening in our yard, but have had to adjust expectations based on resources.The broad swaths of color and lush vegetation are stunning – I’m still learning whether I can achieve similar during summer over here near Corvallis with limited watering.
I’ve propagated Cassinia a few times – my suggestion is to wait until late fall/early winter to take cuttings from non-flowering branches, about 4 inches long if possible. Stick in a mix of perlite/vermiculite with some rooting hormone and keep the tops cool (not freezing) with bottom heat if you can provide it. I do love that plant, but they grew too quickly for me, so I let it lapse in the garden. Seeing yours reminds me why I am so fond of it with those tiny leaves and fantastic contrast between gold and dark green.
@Hoov, the garden has filled in rather quickly…almost too quickly!
@Jerry, thanks so much for the propagation tips. I’m trialing more cuttings now but will follow your directions for fall/winter. Mine is a small garden, with concentrated groupings of plants, as opposed to scattered throughout the property, so I justify regular water use on that basis. The growing area is basically the size of a small vegetable garden, I just prioritize looking at plants over eating them! The small amount of lawn grass is unwatered and dormant in summer.
Your garden looks so wonderfully lush. Just what I would expect from a coastal Oregon garden. It’s hard to believe it’s still a relatively young garden! You’ve completely transformed the space.
Wow! Your garden seems fuller and more floriferous every time I see it. Are you having fun growing things that would’ve never survived in SoCal? That fasciated Digitalis parviflora is an incredible freak of nature. I love the Anisodontea too but Annie’s says it needs “average” water, which generally means too much in my fast-draining soil. I killed that same Malva in no time here last year.
Wow, can’t get over how full the garden is in such a short period of time. Everything looks happy and healthy. Beware Zebrina as it seeds rather abundantly. The Anisodontea is quite the plant. Didn’t realize it could get so large. The Bulbine flowers are pretty cool.
I once had a Morina longifolia, I’d forgotten about it since it disappeared. Hmm, I wonder what else I’ve had and lost without even thinking about it?
I keep telling myself I’m going to hit you up for a visit, I want to see your garden in person! I need to make it happen. Oh and good news, photos from the Courtneys garden will be showing up on the blog soon…
@Gerhard, that lushness is all supplemental water! It will most likely be a 4-month dry period this summer. Everything unwatered is golden, except the fir trees!
@Kris, I’m having loads of fun. I brought cuttings of the anisodontea from the LB garden, where it grows happily much, much drier. It is so good to leave leaf miners on dahlias back in LB! Been thinking of you with the slides going on in RPV, but not in your neck of the woods, I think…
@Elaine, I’ve heard the full spectrum about the malva z., that it won’t grow or grows too well…we’ll see. Definitely happier in potting soil, and that’s how it was grown when I first noticed it, in a container.
@Loree, that would have been amazing meeting up with you at the Courtneys. So glad you got permission for photos! Yay! I’ll probably come to your area soon — blogger swap this year?
So many beauties, and it seems to have taken no time at all.
Ah, your garden is so beautiful. It’s similar to what I envisioned when I started out gardening in our yard, but have had to adjust expectations based on resources.The broad swaths of color and lush vegetation are stunning – I’m still learning whether I can achieve similar during summer over here near Corvallis with limited watering.
I’ve propagated Cassinia a few times – my suggestion is to wait until late fall/early winter to take cuttings from non-flowering branches, about 4 inches long if possible. Stick in a mix of perlite/vermiculite with some rooting hormone and keep the tops cool (not freezing) with bottom heat if you can provide it. I do love that plant, but they grew too quickly for me, so I let it lapse in the garden. Seeing yours reminds me why I am so fond of it with those tiny leaves and fantastic contrast between gold and dark green.
@Hoov, the garden has filled in rather quickly…almost too quickly!
@Jerry, thanks so much for the propagation tips. I’m trialing more cuttings now but will follow your directions for fall/winter. Mine is a small garden, with concentrated groupings of plants, as opposed to scattered throughout the property, so I justify regular water use on that basis. The growing area is basically the size of a small vegetable garden, I just prioritize looking at plants over eating them! The small amount of lawn grass is unwatered and dormant in summer.