Gardens in July

I worked really hard on my flower beds back in April and May, hoping that I could correct the problems which have plagued them for the past few years. I was pretty happy with the way things looked until this month. Unfortunately, now that the plants are full size, it's apparent that I STILL have spacing problems. In some areas, I still have too much space between plants. In others, the plants are crowded against each other. Obviously, an amateur gardener's work is never done!

In spite of the spacing issues, I still have quite a few good things going on in parts of the yard. Here are a few photos:

Top row: Phlox planted last season; coral bells and oregano; fan flower hanging basket
Middle row: globe thistle; one of many patio pots; astilbe
Bottom row: coral bells; heliopsis; more phlox, transplanted from our first house

I'm very pleased with the two fan flower hanging baskets I'm trying out this season. The area in front of the house gets a lot of sun and wind, so the baskets tend to dry out quickly. In years past, I've tried a variety of flowers including bacopa, which sometimes got so dry between daily waterings that it looked like a Halloween decoration! So this year I asked the nursery to recommend a plant that could handle wind and sun. I am very pleased with the fan flower baskets which tolerate both and still look great.