We're Having a Heat Wave

Yes, we're having a heat wave but it's not, as Marilyn Monroe sang, a tropical heat wave. Call it a dry heat. Whatever it is, all we have been doing is watering as we have an open garden on August 4th and are trying to keep things looking, well, alive. Facilities Manager suggested that for this week's post to show a photo of the sun and say "It's hot...we're watering...taking the week off" - but no, I have photos to share. I sneaked in a few between schlepping hoses around, so call this a "sit back and enjoy the purdy flowers" post. 

Phlomis russeliana or Jerusalem sage backed by the evening sun.

Flat cat didn't even TRY to outrun me this week. He has been an easy, melty, catch.

Fescue 'Beyond Blue' fronts Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' on the right and Mimulus auruntiacus on the left, which, by the way, was a self-sown seedling from the parent plant that has long since vanished. I am more than pleased. 

 Admittedly, this was taken a few weeks ago when the yellow flowered Sedum reflexum 'Blue Spruce' was still in bloom.

And the Stipa barbata still had seed heads on it.  

Verbena hastata has a gorgeous candelabra style flower head. These all have powdery mildew below, but I don't care...actually, I stripped off all the old, dead foliage and all that's left is a stem and these. 

 The edge of the labyrinth garden exposing the ever-more-brown "lawn".

 Another scene of the labyrinth garden. It has filled in nicely with many textures, forms and colors. All of the plant material in this part of the garden is drought tolerant; still, we need to water occasionally when it's been so terribly dry and the garden so new.

 Fescue 'Beyond Blue' in front of Ceanothus 'Marie Simon'.

 Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' in front of Miscanthus sinensis 'Cabaret'.

One of my favorite plants, and sorely underused, Teucrium chamaedrys or wall germander. This evergreen subshrub can be pruned like a boxwood and is, in fact, the original boxwood. That is to say it was used as a small border hedge in Europe (think knot gardens) for a long time before boxwood edged its way in to mainstream gardens. It blooms and a bonus - those black olive looking things all over are bumble bees. 

 I now have many of these plants in the garden, here is a stretch of the four oldest. They only get about 18" tall or so and are so easy, requiring little to no water and no fertilizer. At least I give them none. They take a year or two to fill in but it's worth the wait.

 Hobbes made friends with the bumble bees.

 Sedum 'Jade Frost' was given to me at a garden blogger's swap - but I don't think the name is correct.  I like its bright green color against all of these plum and silver colored shrubs.

 Allium sphearocephalum or drumstick allium in another dry area.

 This is another very popular plant with the bees, mostly the honey bees.

Salvia o. 'Purpurea' with Artemisia 'Powis Castle' play well together. Both are very tough, drought tolerant and good sized. The colors harmonize, too. This is the kind of simple but effective combination I appreciate so much with this much garden to tend to.

 Salvia spilling over the edge of a path. This is why I did not bother with edging all of my many miles of path, it would have been for nothing as the plan was for plants to spill over and soften the edges. Hooray for plants!

My Miss Lucy taking a walk through the sedums. This is remarkable in that she was recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure, which broke our hearts. She's taking it day by day and is on lots of medications. She hasn't had any energy for a few weeks, but she must be getting better as she was really cruising around tonight, enjoying the sights and smells of the garden. Go Lucy! We love her to the moon and back and are very happy she's feeling so much better.

Thymus 'Foxley' is preparing to overcome my little Agave parryi.  

The cardoons are blooming! I sowed seed collected at Joy Creek Nursery and three big ones took. At well over 7' tall, they stand out in the garden. 

Evening light. 

An interesting bee on Coreopsis 'Full Moon', a 4' coreopsis with larger flowers than C. 'Moonbeam'. 

 And the echinacea are blooming, too.

 The veggie garden is going strong, here's a sampling in a market basket we gave to my dear friend for her birthday. Sweet peas, tomatoes, peppers, beets, rhubarb, three kinds of beans, artichokes, kale, chives, tarragon, cauliflower, broccoli and eggs. The garden is mighty generous, we are most grateful.

Last but not least, Sedum 'Matrona' will be blooming shortly. Oh, and have you seen Hobbes?

We shall continue to water like crazy until August 4th for our open garden with the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. If you are a member, look us up and come on out! We're open from 9 - 1, let's hope for a cooler day than what we've been experiencing. After the 4th, we're hopefully slowing down. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen. For everyone out there experiencing this crazy weather - be it fires, floods or inferno like heat, we feel for you. Hang in there.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading, visiting, commenting and being a part of the gardening community. I'd like to think that gardeners help make the world a little better. Until next time, happy gardening!