Lessons from Hanna

Last night the remnants of Hanna blew in, dumping a few inches of (well-needed) rain. Upon inspection of the garden however, I learned a few things about big herbaceous perennials. For one thing, my sunflowers did not hold up well. The majority were either pummeled to awkward 90 degree angles or snapped entirely. My Boltonia didn't stand up to the rains well either (literally). They flopped over and needed staking to get them a bit more upright.

Not total tragedies, but I learned a lot. Next year, I will definitely cut back the Boltonia in June so that they are shorter and bushier. A few sources recommend doing so, but I wanted to see how they would look without any meddling. They are very top heavy and leggy, and succumbed to the rains, so I see the value in shortening them for sure now.

Taking a peek in the back-yard, I was happily surprised to find another showing of Clematis 'HF Young'. I bought this plant early in the Spring and it has done surprisingly well. It hasn't been a prolific bloomer, only 1 or 2 flowers at a time, but this is the third time this summer it has set blooms, so its turned into a nice repeater.


-SG


P.S. I leave you with a pic of my gardener's feet, post shower. I really need to wear boots.