in the foreground, fluffy Pennisetum villosum, considered invasive in California
This summer seems windier than most I’ve experienced here. Only in July have the winds finally dialed down from fierce to breezy. (July also marks the end of the disgusting but mostly harmless reign of the spittlebugs too.). I imagine that growing grasses in gardens with summer rain might result in repeatedly frustrating scenes of flattened chaos, so they might not be suitable for every garden (or taste). Here, one of the few perks of a rainless summer is how I get to indulge my appreciation for them: miscanthus, deschampsia, molinia, calamagrostis, sesleria, stipa, achnatherum, chionochloa, festuca, and the sedges too.
Silver Spike grass with Veronicastrum ‘Fascination’ and cosmos that filled in after removal of Joe-pye weed. Sanguisorba ‘Red Thunder’ upper right, a swirl of embers in the wind
I’ve never been a fan of turbulent winds, but the swaying grasses are slowly making a convert of me. (Marty has a sailor’s temperament, so the wind excites him whereas I’m inclined to hide.) Now that July has reduced the strongest afternoon winds (is it a temperature gradient thing?), I like nothing better than moving a camp chair around the garden all afternoon for the best views of the action. Two hummingbirds have found the garden and are regular visitors. The buzzing activity seemed low to me in June, but the garden has really come alive in July.
The two big clumps of Silver Spike grasses on the left will need dividing and refreshing next spring. Yelliow flowers are ‘Ruby Streaks’ mustard gone to seed
Eryngium pandanifolium pushing skyward, Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Summer Dance’ just coming into bloom foreground
except for staking the sanguisorba, all else is self-supporting. The cirsium and some geum are having a rebloon/continuing bloom. Persicaria polymorpha looks like a cross between a giant aruncus and a flowering grass that I love as a months-long backdrop
explosion of wind-driven embers on Sanguisorba ‘Red Thunder’ — the sanguisorba and dahlia are the only plants staked
Sanguisorba ‘Red Thunder,’ of all the plants in the garden, is most susceptible to the wind. (Even the roof-high thalictrums were unbowed by really strong wind.) This year, new growth on the sanguisorba was selectively cut back in May/early June, and it was lightly supported with bamboo stakes, and that seems to have helped a lot. It does lean but stems don’t break. Stems overly intrusive on neighboring plants are cut for vases where it lasts for weeks.
seslerias, Chionochloa rubra, Stipa gigantea on the left, Rhodocoma capensis on the background far right, Pennisetum villosum foreground right
Container of cosmos amid planting of libertia, eryngium, Senecio monroi
Cosmos has such a light footprint, doesn’t take up much room (unlike dahlias) and handles wind well. Two kinds were sown, ‘Apricotta’ and ‘Rubenza.’ The former was good last year, but germination this year was poor and the plants markedly weak growers compared to ‘Rubenza.’ Cosmos blooms well in containers as well as in the ground. I sow seeds in April and grow them to blooming size in containers, which saves disturbing the early summer garden as they bulk up, and a few are planted in the ground if space opens up (as when the Joe-pye weed was removed). Most pots, 3 plants to a 12-inch pot, are dotted around the garden and become quickly concealed by summer growth.
Eryngium paniculatum
Hebe recurva at the base of Eryngium paniculatum
Eryngium agavifolium
Eryngium variifolium
late-appearing hesperis with Eryngium ‘Big Blue’
cosmos sown in April just now starting to bloom, their ferny leaves disappearing into Selinum wallichianum. Slim footprint for a small garden, light in structure and leaf. White flowers are an olearia, possibly O. moschata, that replaced an over-large phormium
Cosmos ‘Apricotta’ and ‘Rubenza’
One of just a couple plants of ‘Apricotta’ to succeed this year
Dahlia ‘Windcliff Peach,’ seed strain from ‘Forncett’s Furnace’ — not too bulky, long stems. In a container but I’ll probably move it to the garden when I split up and divide the Silver Spike grasses
dierama and Stipa gigantea make a swinging duo in afternoon breezes
dierama with variegated figwort, Scrophularia auriculata, and Persicaria polymorpha
July garden. Rusty spikes are Digitalis parviflora. Digitalis ferruginea is just starting bloom in mid-July.
a short side path for Billie was sacrificed to plant Cimicifuga ‘Hillside Black Beauty’ — an impromptu decision determined by the cheap price of the snakeroot on summer sale
Teucrium hircanicum gets going in July
joining penstemon, Verbena ‘Bampton,’ Scabiosa ochroleuca and Helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ start blooming in July
Salvia patens ‘Cambridge Blue’ — all my salvias wait until July, tho I’m sure there are kinds that would jump into action much sooner
Salvia bullulata ‘Pale Form’
Angelica sylvestris ‘Ebony’ reaching 5 feet
Dianthus barbatus ‘Monksilver Black’ starting to flowerr in July, much later than the other sweet williams which have all been deadheaded
Francoa appendiculata in front garden
checking for tetrapanax shoots daily after removal of the mother plant, I somehow missed a 3-footer, which is being trialed it in a pot
Even on the worst of the early summer windy days, hanging out under the overhang was a safe bet for some peace and quiet, and is Billie’s preferred place to lounge. Hope July is treating you well. Take care, AGO
