July in Virginia is usually even hotter than August, but this year August might be winning. A week of highs approaching and exceeding 100 degrees is giving way this week to high humidity and daily showers. Better than drought, I guess? Of course, the sunny garden is an absolute JUNGLE at this point, and it’s too wet to weed it. Maybe next week.
Rudbeckia subtomentosa, a tall one that I should probably move. It’s in the boxwood garden and doesn’t get quite enough sun, but isn’t it bold and lovely?
The less dramatic black-eyed Susan has decided to sow itself in the back, but here’s one small clump in the side garden by the raised bed.
An anonymous sunflower sowed in the big blue pot. Again, not quite enough sun for the best show.
The silken flowers of the datura bloom early in the morning and fade like the twelve dancing princesses by mid-morning.
The native passionflower is a real problem. It pops up everywhere and aggressively twines around everything it can find. It even pops up in the lawn. But then I see how the butterflies and bees love it, and I let it go wild. I need to get a grip!
I imagine this bee got drunk on the nectar last night and is just beginning to wake up this morning.
I’ve moved the hummingbird feeder so that I can see it from the sewing room window. The hummers love the feeder as well as the zinnias. They don’t seem to mind the scruffiness of this part of the garden.
The Joe Pye weed is just coming into bloom, a bit shorter than usual since I gave it the Chelsea chop. And the butterfly bush is still going strong.
This one is a bit of a mystery. I think it’s Arisaema dracontium (Green dragon) that I got at the farmer’s market years ago. I noticed the seedhead and then not long after these little seeds. At first I thought they might be bugs!
The perennial pea from Mom is looking a bit worse for wear right now.
Looking forward to some better weather so that I can edit this wild landscape!
and ‘Black Ball’ cornflower, 
both a few years old so we’ll see if they do anything. In the raised bed, some ‘Red Planet’ radishes and ‘Crispy Winter Greens’ from Renee’s Garden. The rest of the space reserved for tulips.
(Note that the hosta images are from the 
and here it is now, 
leaning dangerously and not tall enough for the vines. Worse, despite a few blossoms, I’ve harvested only one – yes 1! – bean so far. Off with its head. The cucumbers are bitter even when tiny and worse when they get as big as this. 
I can’t remember the variety but it was a six-pack I picked up at Earl’s. Yuck. Can’t wait to pull these out and start sowing some fall crops. At least the basil and parsley are thriving.
I must be more fond of radishes than I realized…
Meanwhile, as you can see from the fallen petals above, the columbines self-sowed with great vigor. You would hardly know that the 
I am continuing to pull them out once they’ve seeded, so I’m probably not making much progress… I do try to shake the interesting colored ones, like this white one, in hopes that they’ll spread and grow next year.
It’s not even the end of February, but we’ve already had several days in the 60’s, and today is predicted to be in the 70’s, for heaven’s sake. Meanwhile, the ground is as dry as dust, as I know from having seeded a few favorites yesterday and today.
Caroline's Garden and Travel Record 