For the past week and a half or thereabouts, the PNW has been held in the torturous grip of an unusual heat wave, with temps hitting the 90s over and over. My garden doesn't like it, and neither do I. I made a lot of changes this spring, and I was depending on the spring rains and a normally cool summer to get everything established.
I have quite a few crispy critters out there, even though I water just about every day. But I'm not going to show you them.
My front garden has a mostly golden orange and hot pink color scheme, but to balance all that hot color, I do have some blue and purple flowers and foliage to cool things down a bit.
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| Eryngium 'Blue Glitter' -- tiny flowers and big leaves |
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| Eryngium 'Blue Hobbit' -- tiny plant, only about 8 inches high, easily overlooked at the feet of a huge Kniphofia |
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| Eryngium 'Jade Frost' -- ice blue flowers against purple smoke bush foliage |
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| Dark lavender |
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| Lighter purple lavender further down in the same bed |
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| Allium sphaerocephalon (Drumstick Allium) and tall Inula (possibly I. magnifica) |
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| Drumstick Allium |
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| Lilium 'Landini' |
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| Catananche caerulea (Cupid's Dart) |
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| Cupid's Dart and the bright orange flowers of Asclepias tuberosa (Milkweed) |
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| Purple foliage of Ricinus communis 'New Zealand Purple' with Callistemon 'Woodlander's Hardy Red' in front and Tetrapanax 'Steroidal Giant' behind |
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| Purple Devil's Trumpet announcing only four more days of hellish heat |
They say we should get a cool-down on Friday. I hope so. It may be too late for some of my new plants, but it's not too late for my sanity.
