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Sam with Silphium perfoliatum (Cup Plant) & Helianthus angustifolius (swamp sunflower) behind. Both are giant native flowers that bloom in mid-late summer. Both self-seed but are impressive this time of year.
Yesterday morning I managed to get myself outside to take a few pictures of the garden with my helper. It has been so hot until this weekend, that I have just been running back and forth between the driveway and the house and spending as little time as possible outside. I hope you enjoy seeing some perennials that thrive in the heat! As you would expect it is a lot of the native flowers that are doing especially well, including the black-eyed susans, joe pye weed and hardy hibiscus.
On a personal note, I will be taking a break from the blog for a little bit. Life is been crazy (in both good and bad ways) so I have decided that I need to take a couple of things off of my plate for the time being, including writing in every day. So for the next couple of weeks you will be seeing less from me. Please still feel free to email me or send a comment. I love to hear from everyone! I hope to come back inspired and full of new ideas.
One surprise in the last week is that the crocosmia that I planted last year as bulbs have popped up in a couple of places. I have tried bulbs twice now and live plants once. I had finally given up thinking it wasn’t the right plant for my garden. It is not native but it is suppose to be an easy to grow bulb and thrives in hot sun and dry soil (the bulb can rot in wet soil). I planted this over a year ago (you typically plant them in the spring and they should bloom in the summer). I think I planted about 12 bulbs and have three blooming. It is nice to have this little garden present especially in this heat.
![garden13](http://www.statelykitsch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/garden13-1024x716.jpg)
Shade Garden still looking pretty good without watering (and my new clock that I got for my birthday)!
My shade garden is also doing quite well given the weather. I think it helps that most of the plants are pretty established and it doesn’t get the crazy hot afternoon sun. Although all of the flowers on my hostas burned out in a couple of days.
What is blooming in your garden?