A Bit of a "Damper"...

More rain today although we did get about three hours before it was time to move back inside. Needless to say, the rain didn't help the plant sale and while we did have some traffic, I would classify it as a mediocre day for overall sales. We hope to do better throughout the week and are really pushing/promoting for a big weekend to finish off this fundraiser.
Marv and Terry planted another 200 perennials in the woodland walk garden before the rains while Marianne continued to operate the plant sale and found time to map out our most recently planted irises. Larry worked on equipment while Jerry and Janice bounced from project to project. We catch up on a lot of indoor work when it rains. The "flood guys" (Rick and Tony, who is new today) started outside replacing gravel paths but then headed indoors as well. The Grumpies weren't totally rained out and were able to do some leaf collection, air edging and shed work.
Neat plant combination (totally be accident) above and to the right. This is 'Daddy Blue Vein' petunia with winged everlasting (Ammobium alatum). Winged everlasting is native to Australia and is known for its cute white button flowers with pronounced yellow centers. Note the winged stems which are quite noticeable.
The hybrid, perennial geranium to the left is a variety called 'Ann Folkard'. We have many of these in partly shaded locations where the chartreuse foliage is quite consipicuous and combines well with the "dusky magenta" blossoms. If we remember, we like to cut all of our perennial geraniums down to an inch or so in mid-summer when they've become floppy to encourage new, compact growth and more flowers. Geraniums are indispensable in the garden in my estimation. The picture below is of a perennial that I just became aware of a couple of years ago. The Hungarian daisy (Leucanthemella serotina) blooms strongly from late August until frost. The clear white flower petals surround yellow centers (2-3" diameter blooms) and when the landscape start to look tired, these blooms are a nice touch of color.and while many catalogs list the mature height of this plant to be 30", I can attest to the fact that it can get closer to 4' tall. Regardless, what a neat perennial for late season color!