Summer garden moments

A few things looking happy and growing well in my Texas garden this month, despite the crazy heat wave that won’t let up.… Read More The post Summer garden moments appeared first on Digging. June 26, 2023 Texas summers always test me as a gardener. I dislike the heat and humidity and generally view summer as a holing-up season, a downtime to wait out, the way gardeners up north view winter. Except of course the weeds don’t stop growing during my downtime. But this isn’t a post about weeds, or the news-making heat that Texas is currently experiencing, or anything else I try to ignore. It’s just about a few things I spotted and enjoyed enough to pull out my phone and take a photo of while outside watering pots and new plants. Like the toothy, speckled foliage of ‘Fiercely Fabulous’ mangave. Look how happy Fierce Fab is! She’s not minding the Death Star’s glare one bit. What a trouper. Other summer lovers include old-reliable purple skullcap (Scutellaria wrightii), ‘Bright Edge’ yucca, and ‘Peter’s Purple’ monarda. The monarda finished flowering a week or two ago. A passing neighbor asked me the other day whether she should pull up her monarda “now that summer has fried it.” Oh no, I assured her. Summer hasn’t killed your monarda. Here in Texas, ‘Peter’s Purple’ monarda blooms in early summer and then goes to seed, and it will return again next May. I typically leave monarda standing after the flowers dry up because I think the seedheads are interesting. But you can carefully (don’t pull up the plant by the roots) snap off its blackened seedheads and scatter them where you want more plants, just like you’d do with purple coneflower. Or if you leave them standing, as I do, they’ll do it on their own. Mullein is another self-seeder in my garden. This one seeded itself at the corner of the house in the decomposed-granite path, and it looks so pretty there, flowering tall and yellow. I did do a little “gardening” early this summer: I rolled the battery-powered mower out of the garage and mowed the Berkeley sedge lawn. So satisfying to mow just once all year and enjoy the lawn-like appearance of my now-10-year-old sedge lawn! I welcome your comments. Please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post. And hey, did someone forward this email to you, and you want to subscribe? Click here to get Digging delivered directly to your inbox! __________________________ Digging Deeper Come learn about garden design from the experts at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, and authors a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance. Simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 7 starts in August. Stay tuned for the lineup! All material © 2023 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. The post Summer garden moments appeared first on Digging.