August dawned hot, hazy and humid, turning the Walk of the Exotics into a jungle! The mantra continued to be irrigate, irrigate, irrigate, but you have to admit the results were rather appealing, considering the shriveling, dying lawns and perennial borders up and down the streets. I knew I’d be paying the piper later in the season for using so much town water, but for me I simply refused to let my ‘children’ suffer.
The newest introductions were paid the most attention, while those who had three or more years under their belts were left to fend for themselves. I was surprised to note that I had less Aconitum wilt than in previous years although if you look closely at the photo above [specifically directly above the ‘cum’ in magnificum, you will note the wilted foliage of Aconitum. Arisaema on the other hand, and even now, a mere eight days short of October, remained a stunning example of what bold foliage in a shaded garden can create where drama is concerned!
Kirengeshoma koreana with its more upfacing shuttlecock, waxy yellow flowers blooms close to a month ahead of its cousin K.palmata, and this year was no different.
August was the month of the doublemint twins as far as Roscoea was concerned. Reminded me of the recent synchronized swimmers from the summer Olympics in London, England, which ironically witnessed their wettest summer in ages! Oh Blimey!
Green, green and more green! Luckily I am most content with a border of various shades and textures of this most apparent colour! I knew that it was only a matter of time before the bejeweled blue Gentiana made their most welcoming appearance, but in the meantime, I continued to swoon under the hynotic trance of Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’ with his magnificently fabulously chartreuse foliage! Where a year ago I had one in the garden, this year the number leapt to four!
Speak of the devil and the blue eyed Casanova makes an appearance. Love, love love this divine beauty!
Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Goldrush’ was the staple of what will be a memorial garden dedicated to my Grandmother and a wonderful friend, both who passed away in August in years past. I worry that ‘Goldrush’ will eclipse my Cornus alternifolia ‘Golden Shadows’ in the next two years – and ‘Golden Shadows’ is already 2.5m tall. I swear ‘Goldrush’ has grown close to .5m in the month since I planted it! ‘When the heart rules the head’ is one of my classic plant-hunting foibles!
Blue, pink and yellow – my favourite colour palate seemed to shine most alluringly in August.
Fingers, toes and all other crossable appendages are crossed in hopes that a delightful Cercis canadensis gifted by a friend survives the winter. The mere presence of its magnificent foliage still causes the heart to flutter!
Just like in July, I couldn’t restrain myself from an early morning visit to Lost Horizons in order to acquire a few specific plants that I wanted for the new memorial garden. Of course a few other intoxicating beauties found their way home as well…. as is always the case when visiting your favourite woodland plant nursery! And yes, you do see the instantly recognizable foliage of yet another pair of Meconopsis….. this time M. x sheldonii ‘Lingholm’ said to have the darkest blue of any within this intoxicating genus!
Forever enamored of the genus Aconitum, I was beyond thrilled to find this smashing two toned beauty that answers to the name of Aconitum alboviolaceum, one that for the past year and a half, I’d circled with each new edition of the tome like Lost Horizons catalogue.
Deinanthe bifida and its Asian counterpart D.caerulea have quickly eclipsed many of my children to become members of the illustrious Top Ten list!
And rounding out the month is Hosta plantaginea – one of my favourite if only for her pristine white, massive sized flowers that are also quite fragrant. It was the very first plant on the property and continues to bewitch me with her beauty each and every year!
And before you knew it, we are into September. Strangely, I have very few photos of the garden this month, in part due to the somewhat unsettling news that I might be forced to remove many of my children, pending on how new neighbors respond to the fact that I’ve encroached upon their property with my overzealous plantings over the past, oh, fifteen years or so! I promise to update the events as they transpire, but in the meantime, where ever did I put that camera, I have children who must think I’ve abandoned them in my plight!
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