Tuesday View

For this week's Tuesday View I opted to photograph the South Border a little later in the day.  I wanted to show the effects as shade begins to fall across the garden.

One thing that I find beautiful about blue and lavender colored flowers is their cool glow in shadow.  Since the garden has an eastern exposure, I have most of the afternoon to enjoy this glow as it moves down the border.  Here is a closer look at the vinca (Catharanthus roseus) from the photo above.

And here is Eremophila hygrophana just behind.

This picture shows the strong divide between summer light and shadow.

It also shows a glimpse of iris foliage near the back of the border.  That was one surprising event in the South Border this last week: the first bloom from Iris "Clarence".  I planted Clarence last spring.  The rhizome came from the most ubiquitous of box stores; it was packed in the usual net packaging, and when I opened it and saw the state of the roots (nearly nonexistent), I wondered whether any iris could recover from such treatment!

But Clarence put roots down and grew in spite of my doubts.  No blooms came all through iris season, and I assumed I would be waiting till next year to see what the flowers look like.  I had forgotten this was a reblooming variety, so I was very surprised to find a bud last week.  It opened into a lovely bloom, a little bleached in July sunlight, but fresh and quite pretty.

This iris is planted so as to fill in for the cutback foliage of Muhlenbergia capillaris early in the year, and later to allow the grass stems to conceal the iris foliage to a degree.

Just beside it is a Salvia that came home with no other name than "Salvia".   A bit of online research indicates it is probably Salvia coccinea "Summer Jewels".  I love its dainty flowers but must admit they are a little too fragile for this garden -- so far at least.  They wilt easily in the heat, and the plant must be kept well-watered.  Of course, this is its first summer so it is not well-established yet.  Otherwise, with its cool white and pink, it does seem a perfect plant for this border; and as it is smaller than I expected, I would very much like to move it forward to fill in the gap between the two miniature roses!

Behind all the other plants, Leucophyllum frutescens (probably "Green Cloud") is also putting on a small burst of bloom.

So there is this week's look at the South Border for the Tuesday View with Cathy at Words and Herbs.  Who knows what next week will bring?  There is a second bud on the iris...

Weather Diary: Fair; High: 108 F (42 C)/Low: 77 F (25 C); Humidity: 7%-23%