Beautiful peonies, Charlie. I love the echinacea too. I have a couple that are really struggling this year but one Pow Wow that is just gorgeous. I seem to have lost a lot of the specialty ones but I have a Salsa Red that is fabulous.

Thanks, Arlene.
Like you we've lost a lot of fancy echinacea over recent years.
The Pow Wow ones became available here after the coneflower rosette mite problem seemed solved.
Our own Pow Wow coneflowers are proving pretty durable so far, though most of our garden is not that good for echinacea survival.

Beginning to see our typical summer flowers blooming.
Today:



Have culver's root ('Fascination') and some daylilies and the very beginning of the garden phlox.


That daylily is 'Mary Brown'.


Phlox paniculata 'Twister'.


Bought this this year as Belamcanda chinensis (Chinese lily)'Hello Yellow'.
The leaf was quite wrong, but the plant was on huge sale.
Flowering, it now turns out it's Asclepsias tuberose (milkweed) 'Hello Yellow'!


I dug out and replanted 5/6th of our sunny front bed last fall.
Looking through to the centre of it, I just saw - - -.


Have seen the young rabbit around, but the only noticeable damage so far this year has been quite minimally to spring crocuses.
At this point it may be contributing to thinning out our new England asters which would be helpful.

Today

'Cluster Muster'



'Forty Second Street'



'South Seas'



Garden phlox coming along.

All so lovely, Charlie!

Thanks, Arlene.

Been pretty hot and humid here. I know points south of here too.
Been having to pay attention to watering, though we fortunately had a fair bit of rain last night.
Before last night we were missing about 2/3 of our average July precipitation.

The daylilies are doing very well.
(So pleased I got talked into using daylilies, by Sharon, a number of years back).

Pictures yesterday.

'Pandora's Box'


'Fragrant Treasure', just about finished.


'Mint Condition', behind Phlox Pink Flame Pink and Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue).


Garden phlox really beginning to bloom.
Currently a lot of pink and white.
Especially like the reddish purple 'Wendy House' in the picture below.

Raining yesterday and today.
Need it!

Today.

Charlie - great photos, terrific photos, wonderful beds!

Charley with Pirl.

Charlie, so colorful and beautiful!

Charlie,
My mouth dropped when I looked at your photos. Absolutely stunning! I am starring the page so I can look again in the blahs of winter.

Thanks, Arlene, Mike, Jeanie, Lindsay.

Think mixed perennial gardening is a juggling act, or at least the way I do it.
You're never sure, year-to-year, how it's going to work out; overall it's likely to be fine, but typically this or that part of the garden could have more colour at any particular time in the growing season.
Shouldn't have too much of any one kind of perennial and we probably have too many garden phlox and now most of the first (and best) phlox blooms are done.
Fortunately, garden phlox are one of the perennials that rebloom after deadheading and also all the different phlox cultivars don't bloom at the same time.
That variegated phlox below ('Nora Leigh') may not have the fanciest flowers, but it's stature, resistance to mildew and variegated leaves help to carry our mixed perennial beds into Fall.

Yesterday.

Loving the show Charlie. That variegated phlox is on my must have list

Love the variegated phlox too! Beautiful overall.

I have a beautiful variegated tall garden phlox called Shockwave. Flowers are a very pale lavender and while large flowered they can get lost in the variegation.

Thanks, Mike, Jeanie.

Interested to read your situation with 'Shockwave', Gary.
Planted four in our garden about six years ago and two have survived to date.
I've found 'Nora Leigh' to be a taller and a much more vigour plant (in our garden) and have only used 'Nora Leigh' elsewhere.

It's unfortunate that 'Shockwave' couldn't be included in the comparative study of garden phlox by the Chicago Botanic Garden.

The biggest advantage of 'Nora Leigh' to me is that the foliage of the plant still looks nice in the gardens here through October.
It's the only one of our 30+ different garden phlox cultivars for whom that is true (therefore the only one I leave standing).
(I deadhead and cut back the garden phlox, after they bloom, in part to beat the establishment of mildew).
Have found 'Nora Leigh' amazingly mildew resistant.

Perhaps our plant hardiness zone is a factor.

We do also have one variegated Phlox paniculata 'Harlequin' which has hardly grown at all in three years.

Below a 'Nora Leigh' in our garden on November 4 last year (very late for fall garden perennials here).

Interesting - I read somewhere that plants with variegated foliage are generally not as vigorous as those with all green foliage; something to do with less chlorophyll, if I remember correctly. And of course, I really like plants with variegated foliage... It seems Nora Leigh would be an exception to that premise. I think that one has to go on my wish list!

Charlie, your photos really got me interested in tall garden phlox. I now have 20+ varieties. I have allowed the ones in the backyard to go to seed. Some of the volunteer seedlings have been quite nice. (I am not counting the seedlings in the 20+ varieties). I have been amazed at how well they have populated from seed. Right now my backyard is full of phlox, Rudbeckia nitida,Helianthes Lemon Queen,tiger lilies Angelica gigas, and Eupatorium. I don't do pictures but it is a wonderful sight from my kitchen windows.

I have not seen Nora Leigh in my area, but will certainly add it, if it is available. Shockwave is a beautiful plant and has been with me over 5 years now.

As you say, Jeannie. In fact, I never used to like perennials with variegated leaves until I heard this from David Tomlinson (Merlin's Hollow) who noted variegated forms of rather aggressive perennials are often less vigorous and hence better behaved (e.g. of yellow loosestrife and obedient plant). That persuaded me to use some and now I do like them a lot. As David said, they can add interest to a mixed perennial bed when there's not a lot in flower. Like you, I've thought it odd that 'Nora Leigh' seems to be such an exception to the general rule.

As you say, Gary, 'Shockwave' is a very attractive garden phlox.
Like the sound of your back garden.
Our tallest named garden phlox is probably the 'Shortwood', but we also have a couple of phlox up to about 6 foot.
Got those about ten years ago at the local horticultural society garden sale.
As David Tomlinson also said, local horticultural society sales can be a great source of good perennials, but you really have to know what to avoid.
Some of the plants are there because they grow/spread too fast.

I went looking for Nora Leigh yesterday. I din't find any but came home with two new Shockwaves.

Gary, 'Shockwave' (patented) was introduced in 2010, so it makes sense that it might be more available.
On the other hand, I've seen 'Nora Leigh' (been around longer, perhaps a lot longer), more often for sale here.
Perhaps it's because it's not patented.
Actually not sure about the spelling of the name 'Nora Leigh': is it 'Norah Leigh' (name I used to use)? Probably should have stuck with the Royal Horticultural Society spelling and have ignored Dave's Garden.

Things thinning out here:







This is Aconitum (Monkshood) 'Spark's Variety'; grows about 7 foot tall in our garden.



This old phlox grows about five foot tall.
It could be 'Robert Poore', but got it, unnamed, from a local horticultural society sale.
(I actually purchased a named 'Robert Poore', which the plant I received definitely is not).



Doesn't seem to take a good picture ('Orange Perfection'), but it is one of the very last garden phlox to bloom here.



Added the Echinacea (Double Scoop Orangeberry) several months ago and they still look OK.



Recent repair work; smooth asters and Echinacea.