Exuberant Gardens

I have progressed from being a “helicopter gardener,” obsessively watching over my “babies,” to feeling as if I’m trying to hold back a roomful of third graders right before recess. My garden – both front and back, sun and shade – is growing by leaps and bounds with such exuberance, it’s hard to keep things under control.

The herbs and perennials in the sunny front are glorious. Bee balm has hit its peak and is gradually beginning to go to seed but hyssop, standing almost 5 feet tall, is still full of blooms and attracts bees like a magnet.

Summer annuals that began life in the garden as tiny seedlings are now full and robust. Zinnia, pentas, “sun”patiens, cockscomb and lantana are bright and healthy, in spite of the high temperatures we suffered through this past week. The low growing calibrochoa, which looks like a small petunia, has formed a mat of white blossoms. Astoundingly, some of the snapdragons I put in last fall are still looking good and have not wilted in the heat.

But it’s the ever changing parade of perennials that I find the most interesting and the most fun. Not everything blooms at once, of course, but that’s the joy of it. As the bee balm begins to fade, pink phlox are just behind it, ready to take over.

Day lilies have been blooming heavily for several weeks now and should continue for a while longer. Gaillardias are on their way out but cultivars of the native blue salvia and purple coneflowers are still looking good. Native black eyed Susans have been hit hard (again this year!) by a small black bug but it’s struggling through. The cultivars seemingly unfazed by the bug, are just beginning to bloom.

In the back, pink phlox and the purple blooms of hostas blend and contrast with the blue hydrangeas, making quite a show. Japanese aster, which doesn’t bloom as heavily in the shade as in the sun, provides a sprinkling of white through the woody borders. White impatiens are grouped strategically and help to brighten dark corners.

And today, the first Asiatic lily began to bloom, It will be three weeks of breathtaking beauty as these tall, stately plants offer their annual gift of exquisite bloom. As always, I find the garden to be a great lesson in non-attachment. For I know that no matter how much I love a lily or a rose or an aster or whatever, I can’t hold on to it. Beauty, as life, is always changing.