My gardens this July are a study in neglect. At the end of May, I was laid flat by the worst sinus infection I’ve ever had. It eventually cleared up, but left me with the mysterious complication of incapacitating inflammation in my knees, feet, and hands! While I wait to secure an appointment with a rheumatologist to get the bottom of this problem, I’ve been afforded some relief this week thanks to a course of Prednisone, and I was able to get out this morning to take some pictures.
Here is the rock garden:The ferns, weeds, and wild daisies have run amok!
Here are two instances of Moonbeam Coreopsis struggling to show themselves:A larger patch of deeper yellow Threadleaf Coreopsis is a bit stronger, pushing its way out of the ferns:The bright pink rose, desperately in need of dead-heading, provides a nice splash of color in the midst of the ferns:As does the Balloon Flower:
Over in the vegetable garden, which this year sits tomato and bean-free, the Clematis are having a later-than-usual bloom. The darker flowers are ‘Nellie Moser’, but I can’t remember the name of the pale blossoms:Underneath the kitchen window, the Monarda ‘Jacob Cline’ blooms profusely and attracts hummingbirds for me to watch while I do the dishes:Going around to the front corner of the house, here is a stand of self-seeded Cosmos which really need to be thinned out!A poor pink Knockout rose languishes between the thick patch of Cosmos and the burgeoning Asiatic lilies. I love the colors in these lilies:Finally, here is the Terrace Garden. My wonderful husband, who is not a gardener, has been kind enough to pull the worst of the weeds, and I have to say, it looks better than I would have expected:The self-seeded Cleome in Dogwood Corner are thick as thieves! I’m not unhappy with the effect:The deer so far have left this bed alone, and the perennial sunflowers, whose blooms fell victim last year, are growing tall and bright in back of the Russian Sage:Farther up the line, one spire of Obedient Plant ‘Crown Rose’ has opened, with many more to come:The Obedient Plant may find itself ripped out once I am able to do such things again! The three tiny plants I put in last spring have exploded and are doing their best to push out everything else. It is TOO MUCH:In spite of the neglect, the perennial bed at the upper end of the Terrace Garden is flourishing. Many of the new plants I put in last summer and fall seem to have skipped right over the “creep” stage and gone straight to “leap’! It is a happy kaleidoscope of bright colors! Moonbeam Coreopsis bloom in front of Pink Cotton Candy Stachys, a relative of Lamb’s Ear:Shasta Daisy ‘Becky’ is enormous!The bumblebees love Monarda ‘Pink Supreme’:Here is Agastache Kudos ‘Coral’ on the back side of “Becky’. Notice also the nearby Liatris, which the deer enjoyed last year, about to bloom:
This is Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’ next to Dianthus ‘Diana Blueberry’: And here is Balloon Flower ‘Sentimental Blue’ beside Coreopsis ‘Early Sunrise’:I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of my left-to-their-own-devices gardens this month! Many thanks go to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this party. Why not check out her site and visit some new bloggers today?
mattb325 said:
It all looks lovely and very, very lush! I do hope you are feeling better soon, meanwhile the cosmos and cleome are absolutely shining!
pbmgarden said:
Your garden is filled with many nice plants and it’s nice they’ve kept going while you couldn’t take care of them. Great stand of cleome. Hope you will be back full-strength very soon.
Alana Mautone (@RamblinGarden) said:
You have a fantastic garden. Enjoyed your bee balm, something I can’t seem to grow even the mildew resistant varieties. I’m saddened that you haven’t been able to enjoy the beauty created by your hard labors. Viruses and other infections can lead to all kinds of strange complications. I feel for you (my Mom had rheumatoid arthritis) and hope the rheumatologist can offer you relief and an end to this complication.
bittster said:
Good to see you back Kimberley! I hope you keep feeling better so you can enjoy the growing season… winter is the time to be laid up!
Seriously though I am glad to hear you’re starting to feel better, and it’s nice to see the garden has carried on in spite of less that constant attention. That says a lot for your plant choices and the ‘bones’ of your garden! -that said I would not have expected the cleome to do so well on it’s own. They and the cosmos must really want your blog’s name to stay as is 🙂
Rose said:
So sorry to hear you have been feeling so poorly, Kimberley. I wondered where you had been. Your garden is looking beautiful in spite of the neglect; I have tons of weeds, too, and my only excuse is that it’s been raining too much for me to keep up with it:) I understand your feelings about the Obedient Plant; I started with one plant, and now I have an army that threatens to conquer the whole region. But I love, love your stand of cleome–beautiful!
PlantPostings (@plantpostings) said:
I’m so sorry to hear about your sinus infection and health concerns. What a bummer to deal with this during the beautiful summer! I must say, though, that your garden looks lovely. I especially love your patch of Cleomes. I’ve never had success with them re-seeding from year to year, but I do plant them as annuals in my little sunny garden. Happy GBBD!
The Chatsworth Lady said:
Ouch, sounds painful! I can definitely relate to the “strange and miserable aftereffects” scenario. Your ‘neglected’ garden looks far better than some ‘tended’ ones around here, LOL, and your cleome bed is amazing!
gardenfancyblog said:
Weeds? What weeds? All I see are beautiful flowers in beautiful gardens — that cleome especially. I’m so sorry to hear about your mysterious health problems, and I sincerely hope they will clear up very soon. Thanks for sharing your lovely gardens with us, and take care. -Beth
gardeninacity said:
Those Cleomes are wonderful! I just planted a couple of purchased plants and i hope that they give me lots of babies. Hope you feel better soon.
Ray said:
Ah,… cleome want to take over the world here. It jumped across my driveway and is now growing 20-feet away. By the way, your color combinations are amazing.
Ray
Pam's English Garden said:
Please feel better soon, Kimberley! I am so sorry you are suffering so much pain. Your garden looks amazing whatever you think. Great color and lush profusion. P. x
Donna@Gardens Eye View said:
So sorry to hear you have not been well. Your gardens are stunning even with the neglect as you say! Mine have been neglected for at least 5 years and I am trying to uncover them now. Feel better.