August Border

My backyard border usually looks beautiful in late summer and fall -- it comes into its own. My two large perovskia bloom their bright periwinkle blue, and sprawl all over their neighbors like they own the place. I love this combination of grass, amaranth and echinacea.

Today was a beautiful day -- blue skies, cool and dry. High of 70. I scrounged and found a perfectly ripe tomato deep inside the tomato plant. We'll have BLT's for dinner.... I love summer.

My front shade garden

I love my front shade garden. It is peaceful and of course, shady. I am not a sun worshiper, and since my back yard faces full west with very little shade, I spend a lot of my time on my front porch. After work I sit there, sipping a martini (gin, of course!) and planning my future gardens with the help of magazines and seed catalogs. I usually have lush, colorful containers on my porch, but this year I had a big problem with spider mites. I bought some annuals from my neighborhood Jewel grocery store, and I think those were the culprits. I had to destroy one container, and cut back several other containers in the beginning of the season. They look OK now, but I will never by plants from Jewel again. I'm sticking to the Farmer's Market in downtown Chicago, every Thursday, right down the street from where I work. Growers come in from Michigan and Wisconsin. They have gorgeous plants at very reasonable prices. I'm just going to have to tote them on my trek across the loop and home from the train, but that's OK.

I love my caladiums and my hakone grass. I have them in containers, because the soil is not the greatest in my front garden, I really need to work on amending it. My lamium groundcover looks good most of the season, but my poor old violet clematis really struggles. It doesn't get enough sun, and I only get 3 or 4 blooms. I really should move it, but it has been there, doing it's best, for about 15 years. It's a trooper!

Love Lies Bleeding

I have long wanted this annual Amaranth in my garden, but never got around to planting it. Culpepper called it "flower gentle," and it does add a gentle feeling to the border. I started seeds in my basement under grow-lights, so I consider these plants to be my babies. I love to smooth tangles out the long flowers, they are like red dreadlocks. They look very cool in a vase, too, but I had to find a high shelf so that the red fronds could hang down. I think I will not ever be able to live without them in my garden!