Saturday Respite (For Me)

Lots of questions about this perennial blooming in the gardens right now. This is the rusty foxglove (Digitalis ferruginea) that has very narrow flower spires with dangling, tubular bells. Foxgloves fall in to that "grey area" of perennial/biennial. We continually plant foxgloves so we're assured of their contribution that year or the following. Perhaps they'll reseed or maybe not. We like to encourage the "grove" and do the same with hollyhocks (Alcea rosea).
Check out the yellow meadow rue (Thalictrum flavum ssp. glaucum) to the left. This European perennial can take full sun or part shade and enjoys damp but well-drained soil. It can achieve heights close to 5' tall when the yellow flower clusters emerge above textural, blue foliage. This may require staking but is certainly an eye catcher in June.

I can't comment on what happened today at Rotary Gardens as I stayed away and caught up on chores. It rained lightly overnight in to early this morning. Although it looked pretty damp, it was a timely rain as it was sunny the rest of the day. I imagine Janice kept the volunteers busy and everybody had a productive day. Next week will be more crunch time for planting. Our grouping of containers in the English cottage garden relies heavily on texture and will fill in nicely over the coming months, forming a mass of texture and color. Individual containers lose their definition as everything blends.