Dear Diary: Look! Sunshine, and He hasn't turned to DUST...... YET!

Origanum 'Kent Beauty'

The actual flowers hide themselves amongst the papery bracts!

One day my Filipendula ulmaria 'Aurea'

will be as tall as the plants in the background...

namely Campanula latifolia 'Macrantha'

Perhaps my favourite sunny border planting combination:

Salvia viticella 'Purple Rain' and Cassia marilandica

Those heads with silver are juvenile.

Campanula 'Sarastro'

The almost chartreuse foliage of Hydrangea 'Summer Sunshine'

Look, another patch of soil......

Easy there, you need somewhere to walk Teza!

Aha! Me sees a bare patch of soil..... must find a new adoption soon!

Thalictrum chelidonii buds

just waiting to burst forth!

A visual exercise in foliage textures.....

one would almost think this was pre-planned!
I wish I were that talented!

Acanthus mollis foliage

The Sunny Border - July 2009

A view of Teza's Garden borders - July 2009

The centre section of the original shade border (against the side of the garage)

Corydalis flexuosa 'Blue Panda' is

enjoying the cool wet weather, just

like Teza!

Filipendula ulmaria 'Aurea' continues

grow wider and taller!

Another one of the children to be divided. Methinks

Joy will find this in her garden next Spring!

I prefer my Clematis flowers to remain small!

(Sorry Anna, I'm a shrub kinda guy!)

Fairy-wand flower of Salvia viticella 'Purple Rain'

Origanum 'Kent Beauty'

and what a stunning beauty it is!

It makes a perfectly regal crowning glory atop

the bright gold foliage of

Hakonechloa macra 'All's Gold'

Flowers are fleeting in the Shaded Walk,

so the appearance of the Campanula is a

welcome addition!

This diminutive Cornus pumila has

striking foliage with wonderful red

variegations.

Campanula 'Kent Belle' forms a wonderful

clump of pendulous bells that will bloom from

now until Fall.

My favourite within the

Campanula genus

with its wonderful upturned

mauve bells that

gently clothe 1m stems.

Small though it may appear,

Spigelia marilandica will be the centre of

attention when it blooms later this summer!

There is something mesmerizing about the pattern of whorled

leaves along the branches of Cotinus coggygria 'Grace' - not

to mention her stunning colour!

The leaves ofCassia marilandica remind me of the

wonderful foliage of Robinia 'Freesia'

one of my favourite trees! And with a

height of 3m, it could almost be considered a

'smallish' tree!

The first flush of Penstemon blooms is

coming to an end.

I must remember to keep a close eye

for flower buds on

Scutellaria baicalensis 'Oriental Blue'

Today was a day for revelling in the sunshine..... Yes, I can tolerate a select number of hours without turning to dust! I decided that I would begin the inventory of plants that will require division - and well, took it one step further and started to do divisions of the plants that are going to be moving to a larger, more splendid garden later this year. Luckily, it's been wet and cool, and with the addition of some StimRoot added to the water, most look as though they are going to make it. I know! I too for the most part am a nay-sayer to doing divisions during the throes of summer, but truthfully, does it feel like summer to you?

Astilboides tabularis was the first to be split - and to be truthful, it will likely need it again next spring as I have been overwhelmed with it's development this season. Truth be known, it is far too large and imposing a plant for where I have located it, but it was one of those 'OMG, what is that?' discoveries that I knew would add conversation to the gardens. I also divided a native woodland poppy - Stylophorum diphyllum - whose yellow flowers were a plesant addition this Spring. While on the topic of poppies - I now have the perfect location for the elusive Meconopsis X Sheldonii that I have pre-ordered from Thimble Farms in British Columbia! While on my hands and knees, I also discovered that my Eomecon chionantha ( commonly referred to as Asian bloodroot) had decided that he needed to do a whirlwind tour of the Shaded Walk..... leaving behind his exotic foliage as a calling card of sorts!

Every book that made mention if this exotic charmer with its 1m stems topped with single white poppy-like blooms warned of it's pernicious weed like presence when given conditions that it found favourable. I dug out three clumps before abandoning the chore when I discovered that it's foliage was a wonderful contrast to just about every other plant's. Those of my reader's who know me well enough, will be shaking their heads at my seeming attraction to some of horticulture's most 'rambunctuous' plants. I have witnessed a small planting of Chelonopsis yagiharana slowly increasing over the past three years, and with the addition of a few choice Anemone species in it's immediate planting area, it also found itself on the list!

The worms, caterpillars, snails, sawfly and aphids have had a field day this year, but for the most part I have been able to turn a blind eye! The wild grape that clothes the side of the garage is getting harder to ignore with each passing day, but with no alternative, it will remain a testament that we must learn to cohabit the space with Mother Nature's insects. I am not happy to see them destroying the foliage of Kirengeshoma - one of my favourite woodlanders whose waxy yellow blooms in September are an added bonus to the Shaded Walk, but have learned that they have a seemingly indiscriminate palate.... expensive, but relatively indiscriminate!

Thanks to all of those who sent good luck wishes as I embark upon the next chapter of blogging..... the creation of my own website. It's a slow process, but I think by the end of the year I will be where I want to be with it's progress!