African Garden + summer

The Garden in Late June*

Summer has settled in here at Squirrelhaven. There is less color in the Woodland Garden than a month ago. It's all very green, even the lawn is lush and green. At least the Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen' is in full bloom.

The Woodland Garden has to rely on the Dicentras,

geraniums

(this is Geranium nodosum 'Svelte Lilac' with what is purportedly Phlox maculata 'Rosalinde'), Clematis, Aquilegia and Astrantia for color now.

I would have included Hydrangea macrophylla 'Penny Mac' in there, but it's such a drama queen, going from this:

to this after the sun hits it, and it doesn't perk up again until evening.

I want to emphasize that Illinois is not in a drought now.

This just happens to my soil if it's not constantly raining. It's a dramatic example of "dry shade." After taking this photo I filled the crack and covered the area with compost.
The front garden is mostly waiting for the Echinaceas, Liatris, and Alliums to start blooming.

In the woodland, the garden waits for the Lilies and the Daylilies. At least the Hostas are starting, as is this Astilbe,

which is either 'Veronica Klose ' or 'Visions.' I have both names written in my garden journal. I'll need to dig further through my scrawls to figure out if I killed all the 'Veronica Klose ' and replaced it with 'Visions,' or whether I have both. I suspect the former.

*Apologies for the intentional grammatical error. I know it should be "late in June," but it just doesn't sound as well.