Thanks Mike, Vic.

Know the feeling, Vic.
Think one of my biggest perennial frustration is how few of the penstemons I've planted, over the years, have survived for more than a year or two in our garden. As per Mike, astrantia do fine here, but I've not seen them seed in our location.

Was at Merlin's Hollow, Aurora (our town), On, last Saturday. David was saying that the herbaceous part of the garden has still got lots of blue (delphiniums, giant bellflowers, geraniums, Siberian mint, etc,). It's been so wet, with reduced sun, that it's not started to move on to the hotter flower colours of summer.



















A wild Mediterranean region gladiolus.


???
Wish I'd written down what David said this one was.
Back there in a week, so will ask him again.
I think it's in a bog bed.

Beautiful blooms Charlie. I love the color of the wild gladiolus.

Penstemons tend to be invasive down here.

Nice pictures Charlie. Is the yellow and white flower a Iris ? Is the bell flower the Korean Bell Flower ?

Thanks, Vic, Mike.

Vic, surprised penstemons tend to be invasive in your location!
Wish you could direct some of them up here.

Mike, yes; David has only species iris. Another below.
David has planted around 1500 different perennials at Merlin's Hollow; many he raised from seed.
That other one's a Himalayan Codonopsis: you're right about Campanula affiliations; it is in the Campanula (bellflower) Family. And Codonopsis is an exclusively Asian Genus.

It's been periodically so wet around here, things been delayed.

A few more pictures from Merlin's Hollow (last Sunday).















The very confusing one for me, a week later (last Sunday) (below). It's changed from the first picture.
Several folk who know far more than I do about the aroid family, identified it as an aroid.
The best possible identification (on the basis of the first picture) was given as the mouse tail plant (an Arisarum),
but David says it's definitely a member of the closely related Arisaema (Cobra Lilies, Jack-in-the-Pulpits).
There's over 250 species of these, with the distribution concentrated in Asia.
Will be working on it with more help from David.

Fantastic photo's Charlie - thank you

I hope you get it all sorted out - I'm clueless

Amazing garden and pictures. Thanks for sharing Charlie.

Thanks, Vic, Mike.

Vic, I'm the clueless one; don't know when to move on to the next challenge!

Mike, Merlin's Hollow really is a remarkable garden; David envisaged it as a grand Sissinghurst type garden, including the "rooms",
but modified to more modern perennial gardening tastes, interests and maintenance possibilities.

Back to our little garden: Pictures yesterday.
After all the alternating rain and drought, the summer garden has just begun to get going.

Phlox (Violet Flame and White/Red Eye Flame).




Daylilies ('Mary Brown' and 'Smuggler's Gold')




Beebalms ('Gardenview Scarlet' and 'Balmy Purple')




Culver's root (the taller is 'Fascination')


Shasta daisies ('Real Glory')


Even a second bloom on a Winky columbine.


Helenium 'The Bishop' (an early flowering form, in front of Sidalcea 'Party Girl')


Shasta daisy 'Mrs Cornell', in front of Echinacea 'Sundown'.

Beautiful blooms Charlie and I couldn't pick a favorite.

They are all so healthy and beautiful

Charlie, with Vicki. Beautiful !

Thanks, Vic, Mike.
By the way, love both of your avatars; inspirational!

Re: favorites Vic;
planning; we're intending to move (5 to 10 years ahead) to a more age--appropriate (?) house and location (but also with gardening opportunities). Besides maintaining the garden, I'm currently going back and forth between the flowerbeds and my records to take stock of what we have in the garden, especially with cultivar identification in mind. Want to know what's worth taking (just a small number of individual plants, which have held their own in our mixed perennial beds and also would be hard to replace in the future).

Yesterday: the sunniest part of the front.







Have already deadheaded the central spikes on these culver's root ('Fascination').


Getting lots of daylily blooms; here 'Mary Brown' in front of 'Pandora's Box'.


And beginning to get more tall garden phlox blooming; here 'Peppermint Twist' which seems to do so well in our garden).

Oh Charlie - you have colors of coneflowers I've never even seen. Beautiful! Love the color on the culvers root and on peppermint twist as well. Your plants are always so healthy. You never have mildew on the leaves.

Charlie I agree with Vicki. The garden is looking great.

Thanks, Vic, Mike.

Interesting re the powdery mildew and our tall phlox, Vic
Think our location really helps; namely, well north of you.

Yesterday:

Tall phlox.
Early Start White Red Centre.


Branch mutations on 'Peppermint Twist' back to the parent 'Candy Floss'.


'Pink Lady'.


'Twister'.


Daylily 'Pandora's Box'.


Combos.









Monarch butterflies around; on the Culver's root.

Great phlox! Love your photos.

I agree Charlie - you don't have the wicked humidity we have.

These photo's are absolutely stunning!

Charlie I agree with the above comments.

Beautiful, Charlie!

Thanks, Arlene, Vic, Mike and Mary.

Carol took these pictures of the back on her ipad at 7 this morning.
The tall garden phlox aren't quite at their best (and I just saw a gap at the back that I need to fill in !).
Wish you could all join us out there during Happy Hour (alcoholic or coffee/tea).





At Mrs. L's yesterday.
Can see some of the shastra daisies on the right need to be replaced, in fall, by some of the phlox on the left!


Some nice phlox at Mrs. L's too.
'Glamour Girl', in front of 'Tequila Sunrise' and 'David', in bed extension of 2015.

Charlie - I would love to join you and Carol for Happy Hour - what a beautiful setting for a glass of wine and good company. Beautiful blooms.

Mrs. L's garden is lovely even when blooms start to fade.

Love the purple center in Glamour Girl - they are all so beautiful.

CharlieI am with Vic on that one.
Look spectacular from where I am sitting to you my friend.