A wet but still-blooming garden

As homeowners in Texas are recovering from the most recent in what I am afraid will be a string of big storms, we’ve also been having strange weather of a sort. Yesterday was 87 and sunny: a perfect summer’s day flanked by dreary rain and wind on either side.

All the rain has kept the garden fairly green and lush—and what a relief never having to water—but it’s brought plenty of slugs and a certain amount of lank weedy growth among the perennials. Overall, I feel good about the garden; it looks pleasant. I’ve already talked about what makes it pleasant: all the colorful and variegated foliage plants. There are some blooms, though.

At top you see a tangle of flowers: buddleia, lobelia, diascia, and dahlia, with some emerging boltonia in the back and some canna foliage and rudbeckia seedheads. There. All in one shot!


There are others, but my favorite is a plant (above) you Southern gardeners probably take for granted. It’s been blooming all summer.