Pictures From My Garden

I can’t believe it’s August already.

Here in Western Massachusetts, we’ve had unbelievable heat and dryness; last weekend’s rain was the first sustained rain we’ve gotten since (I’m pretty sure) June. I’ve been watering to compensate (relatively sparingly, trying to save on the water bill) but I can definitely see the impact of the lack of rain.

The other big change: our neighbors removed the big black walnut tree that used to shade the back third of my garden. I had a love-hate relationship with that tree: it killed some of the perennials I tried (all parts of black walnuts contain juglone, a compound that’s toxic to many plants) and every fall dumped bucketloads of rotting walnuts on my yard; but it also gave me beautiful filtered shade, in which, naturally, I planted a shade garden. Now it’s gone, I get full sun in some areas and afternoon sun in others. Many of the plants have adjusted surprisingly well–especially the ones at the limit of their shade tolerance–but my rodgersias, cimicifugas, astilbes, and hostas just fried. I’m going to have to move them all next spring.

But challenge is the serious gardener’s constant companion, isn’t it? Overall, the garden is looking pretty good. Here are a few glimpses.