I have a self-imposed rule against planting during the summer months, specifically late June through August. But I admit that I make a lot of exceptions. One of my most notable exceptions permits planting succulents, although I haven't planted any of those this summer, at least not yet. I sometimes plant annuals too. If planted early in the summer season, they have a decent chance of surviving for the duration of the "warm" season but that's certainly not guaranteed. Their survival requires vigilance, regular watering, and often shade. An additional element, which can't be controlled, is luck. If we get a serious heatwave - and by that I mean sustained daytime temperatures in excess of 100F (38.8C) with limited cooling during the nighttime hours - all bets are off.
At present, I'm counting on our avoiding a "serious" heatwave. Four of my larger containers, some which had contained cool-season annuals that hung on well into summer, were looking very sad. Living with them as they were wasn't an option and leaving them all empty wasn't an appealing option either. I replanted them using mostly annuals with a few perennials thrown in.
The first two are half barrels in my front garden, partially shaded by the canopy of our Magnolia grandiflora.
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| This barrel formerly held a mix of plants, including several worn-out Pelargoniums and an unhappy daylily. I've saved the daylily and some of the Pelargoniums in temporary pots and replenished the soil before replanting with the plants shown below. My husband rigged up a temporary (though not very attractive) screen to provide additional shade. |
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| The new contents of the barrel include, clockwise from the upper left: Cuphea 'Honeybells' (2), Dipladenia 'Sundenia Coral', Gerbera 'Festival Pink', Hibiscus acetosella 'Haight Ashbury', Plectranthus scuttellairioides 'Pineapple' (formerly known as coleus), and P. s. 'Salsa Verde' |
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| This barrel had contained Pericallis, pansies, alyssum, and Bacopa. I pulled everything but the Bacopa and planted 3 plugs of Rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara'. It's not a great photo or a bountiful planter but 2 of the Rudbeckia have buds already. |
The other two containers are in my cutting garden.
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| This barrel had contained Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach', Bacopa, and Viola 'Penny Peach', all of which finally collapsed last week. I pulled everything and replenished the soil before replanting with the materials shown in closeup below. |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Catharanthus roseus (aka vinca) in 3 colors, Pelargonium 'Dynamo Hot Pink', P. 'Dynamo Purple', Calibrachoa 'Double Pinktastic', Scabiosa columbaria 'White', and Pentas 'Graffiti Pink' |
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| This pot had contained a Delphinium 'Cobalt Dream', underplanted with Lobelia erinus and Nolana paradoxa. The Delphinium was destroyed by an unknown bug and the Nolana was disappointing so I pulled everything. I replanted the pot just before our first heatwave struck and the new plants struggled for a bit before recovering. |
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| The plant on the left is another Dipladenia, which is related to Mandevilla but prone to trailing down rather than climbing upward as Mandevilla vines do. The pot includes a noID lavender-flowered Pentas (shown right) and 2 noID bicolor lavender and yellow Lantanas (not currently in bloom). |
My cutting garden is looking much fuller than it did in early July when I posted wide shots. The first zinnias are blooming and many of the dahlias have buds but the flowers are taking their time. There are some more well-developed buds in a barrel in the front garden but I think it's iffy as to whether I'll have blooms for 'In a Vase on Monday' next week.
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| The cutting garden looks promising but it has yet to deliver |
We enjoyed a pleasant, relatively cool afternoon with a nice breeze yesterday and I made the most of it, cutting back the rest of the shaggy Agapanthus (65 more stems!), as well as deadheading other plants and pulling weeds. Unfortunately, temperatures are expected to soar back into the 90sF again this weekend.
Whatever your temperatures, I hope you enjoy your weekend.
All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party