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A nice coral bells (Heuchera 'Cathedral Windows') peeking out (or absorbed!) by the golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') can be seen above. Nice color combination for sure. With all the preparations for the plant sale, flood remediation activities and other tasks, it's important not to forget all the gardening that still needs to occur. We had Kay and Laura weeding today. Janice, Larry and Jerry kept busy and we were pleasantly surprised with Marv and Marianne coming in as volunteers to do some plant preparation and work with the new iris collection. Dr. Gredler and Bill were also very active outside. We had a delivery of bagged mushroom compost early this morning and our first load of mums has rolled in. It's that time of year!

One of my favorite perennials can be seen to the right. This is turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) which is a hardy, mid-summer blooming perennial (native to the Eastern U.S.) that tolerates full or part sun and is very tolerant of damp soils (in fact, they are preferred). This picture is catching the tail end of the blooms which actually started in late July. There are a couple different species and varieties, all of which have the interesting flower forms. The glossy foliage is rarely affected by insects or disease and will spread to form a good clump in time at a height of 30" or so. This colorful perennial fills that slight "color void" in mid-summer as early summer perennials finish and late summer perennials are just starting to bloom. Look for it! One of our neat ornamental peppers (Capsicum) is below. This, 'Sweet Pickle' has very little heat and is very ornamental with colorful fruit in all different shades. This might be one of the few varieties in our collection (of 232) that I could actually eat!