The perennial beds are proclaiming summer this week with their mix of roses, Shasta daisies, campanula, and delphinium. Our lack of rain for over a month now has made hand watering essential, yet we allow some areas of lawn to go dormant. That seems smart and conservative when we’re talking about acres. I snapped these photos in yesterday’s late afternoon shade.
Aha, I see above that one stachys or lamb’s ear blossom evaded my shears. Am I the only gardener who grows these for their velvety foliage and lops off the flower stalks as they appear?
I’m happy to report that the hens have been behaving themselves and staying out of the flower beds. It helps that there aren’t many bare patches in the summer beds for them to scratch around in.
Up in the black arches, a few ligularia are bright towers of yellow in a calm and cool space. Just one pole remained bare until I planted unidentified sweet pea seedlings, and they’re blooming now despite the shade — the only pastel sweet peas in my gardens this year.
Cathy at Words and Herbs hosts this weekly garden view. Do visit her beautiful site to see more gardens from around the world!
Gardens at Coppertop -- March Picker 
Your garden looks really wonderful March! You wouldn’t know it hasn’t rained for ages from your photos, apart perhaps from the grass looking a bit tired. Ours recovered as soon as we got rain. The roses and shasta daisies are lovely together. And those Delphiniums are fabulous!
LikeLike
Thank you, Cathy. The Tuesday View has certainly helped me identify great combos as well as odd ones and lulls in blooming.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, I too cut off those stachys blooms.It has been mostly dry here too. Water, water, water… I hope your grass recovers.
LikeLike
Guess we’ll have to live with the brown grass, Lisa. Could be worse. So glad I’m not the only shear-happy gardener!
LikeLike
Love your delphiniums and campanula – gorgeous! And the roses, too. I leave the flowers of Stachys for the bees, I’m soft that way. 😉 The photo of the hens on the garden path is so charming!
LikeLike
Somehow I figured your kind heart would leave every possible bloom for pollinators! I figure they have enough without the stachys spires. Oh, I remove all hosta blooms as well… 😉
LikeLike
I bet your house is neat as a pin, too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That blue is so intense!
I usd to dread cleaning up the stachys blooms but then planted ‘Helen Von Stein’ (aka big ears) and love that there’s only one or two stalks at most. Oftentimes none! The bees have plenty here so I’m not worried 😉
Dormant grass…. I’ve been there and have enjoyed the break from mowing but you trade off for all the watering that needs doing. Still, green is much easier on the eyes!
LikeLike
I’ll be hacking away at the stachys and hostas today! Thankful for all the evergreen trees here which make the dull grass tolerable this summer. They and the fun plants, of course.
LikeLike