Passiflora Tendril: Photo of the (last 2) Week(s)

Passiflora species

To quote Granny Weatherwax, "I ATE'NT DEAD" [sic], I've just been rather busy with back-to-school stuff and an inability to adapt to the earlier school schedule. (Hello, sleep deprivation.) I swear, this is the first year I've ever not looked forward to the resumption of classes. Contrary to expectations, I'm having a harder time getting up early these days.
But enough about that, let's admire the Passiflora tendril I spied at the Chicago Botanic Garden two weeks ago. (If you want to see it for yourself, it's in the English Walled Garden.) Bicycle Man and I and the two kids made a family outing of it. This is the first time we've gone when the kids didn't ride in a stroller or wagon, it's been that long. There are two reasons for that: number one, there has always been road construction on Lake Cook Road, which is where the entrance to the garden is and is the only practical way to get there from here; number two, the kids were adamantly not interested. What's different this year is that, amazingly, there is no road construction on Lake Cook. More importantly, the girl said she wanted to go when she heard me mention that the garden was hosting a Japanese festival. This girl is all about everything Japanese from her ranging Manga and Anime obsession. We forced the boy to leave the computer and join us. Surprisingly, a good time was had by all. Even more astounding, the boy likes animal topiary. Who'd have thought?
I don't know what is in the works for us at Casa Squirrelhaven this holiday weekend. Whatever you're doing, take some time to just sit and enjoy the garden for a spell. Happy Labor Day!

Top 5 New Bloomers for August Bloom Day

Phlox paniculata 'David's Lavender'

It's the 15th, the day every month when Carol of May Dreams Gardens asks us to show what's blooming in our gardens now. In the spirit of the fifth anniversary of this blog, I will now present, in no particular order, the five plants that make the most impact and were not yet blooming last month. While the heat has retreated and the rains have returned, several more inches need to fall before the soil moisture returns to its normal level. The garden has responded enthusiastically.

1. The first is shown in the photo above, Phlox paniculata 'David's Lavender'. It tends to bloom a bit later than most of the other Phlox paniculata, and is in the first flush of full bloom.

2. Solidago 'Dansolitlem' (Little Lemon™)

It's the first goldenrod to bloom and my favorite. Little Lemon is a mini about a foot tall.

3. Lobelia syphilitica

The native Lobelia syphilitica blooms blue in drier soil than Lobelia cardinalis can handle.

4. Lobelia 'Sparkle DeVine'

'Sparkle DeVine' is much shorter than L. syphilitica, but its magenta blooms pack more punch in the garden.

5. Hylotelephium spectabile (Sedum) 'Xenox'

'Xenox' blooms the earliest of the tall sedums here at Squirrelhaven. It is the best large dark sedum I've seen.

Finally, and not quite in bloom yet, because I'm just too excited and it probably won't still be in bloom for September Bloom Day, Angelica gigas.

Growing this plant from seed requires fresh seed, which I got from Kathy of Cold Climate Gardening. I sowed several seeds in a container, then selected the strongest seedling and planted it. There wasn't room at the time for more than one of these large beauties. Last year I admired its red-veined foliage, but this year, it's finally going to bloom. I hope to collect seed to grow this biennial again.

What's blooming now:
Alchemilla sericata 'Gold Strike'
Allium cernuum
Angelonia angustifolia
Antirrhinum 
Astilbe pumila
Campanula 'Samantha', 'Sarastro'
Campanula persicifolia 'Blue-eyed Blond', 'Grandiflora Alba', 'Telham Blue'
Clematis 'Betty Corning', 'Comtesse de Bouchaud', 'Evipo 031' (Bonanza™), 'Evisix' (Petite Faucon™), 'Madame Julia Correvon', 'Rhapsody'
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Coreopsis 'Star Cluster'
Dianthus 'Cranberry Ice'
Echinacea purpurea
Eupatorium (Eutrochium dubium) 'Phantom'
Eurybia divaricata
Geranium 'Blogold' (Blue Sunrise™), 'Bob's Blunder', 'Gerwat' (Rozanne™), 'Jolly Bee'
Geranium nodosum 'Svelte Lilac'
Heuchera 'Havana', 'Frosted Violet', Raspberry Ice'
Hibiscus syriaca 'Red Heart'
Hosta 'Cherry Berry', 'Halcyon', 'June', 'Krossa Regal'
Hosta plantaginea
Knautia macedonia and 'Thunder and Lightning'
Lavandula 'Hidcote'
Liatris spicata
Lobelia 'Monet Moment'
Lobularia maritima
Lonicera 'Winchester'
Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina'
Oxalis regnellii 'Triangularis'
Pelargoniums
Phlox maculata
Phlox paniculata 'Blue Paradise', 'David', 'Goldmine', 'Laura', 'Nicky', 'Red Super', 'Starfire'
Phuopsis
Platycodon grandiflorus
Rosa 'Carefree Beauty'
Ruellia humilis
Salvia nemorosa 'Sensation Rose'
Sanguisorba officionalis 'Tanna'
Stylophorum diphyllum
Symphyotrichum cordifolium
Talinum paniculatum 'Limon'
Tricyrtis 'Gilty Pleasure', 'Tojen'

The Five-Year Blogaversary

A goldfinch munches on a seed from a coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) in the long border at Squirrelhaven.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter, the blog, turns five years old tomorrow. In honor of this blogging milestone (not as long as some, longer than others) and inspired by the "Top 5" lists in the John Cusack movie High Fidelity, I will finally do a series of Top 5 posts about a myriad of things, including Top 5 plants that attract wildlife, Top 5 shade perennials, Top 5 plants for drought, and (a really tough one) Top 5 gardens I've visited. I welcome any challenges to anything on my lists. In fact, I look forward to them as a way to find even better plants, gardens, etc.
In the meantime, I want to thank all those who have visited and/or commented over the years. I have been flattered, challenged and touched. 

'Shrooms: Last Week's Photo of the Week

I really like the stripes and the edge of these mystery fungi. It's wonderful to see them after such a long spell of dryness. Let's hope this cooler, wetter weather pattern holds.

Ennui's Got Me or I am Half-sick of Summer

...or I see Dead Plants.

Abies koreana 'Cis' showing serious drought damage.

My mojo ain't working, and my get up and go got up and went. I've tried to keep a positive outlook about the drought, trying to find the good in the sad state of the garden. I have never been accused of being a Pollyana, and I seem to suffer the Summertime Blues every year about this time, but this year, it's a particularly severe case. I haven't set foot in a garden center in over a month, and that was to buy potting soil to top up containers the squirrels and chipmunks dug out. I know, I know, shut up and quit whining, there are others who have it worse. (That's another reason I've tried to look for and present the positives. No one likes a whiner.) Aside from the drought and the heat (6 degrees above normal for the month of July), there's the issue of things having come on too early, so that plants I would have been watching come into bloom now are on their way out. Then there are the dead birds that keep turning up in the yard. Some how, I'm the only one around here who sees them. (I'm feeling a lot like Haley Joel Osment's character in The Sixth Sense.) At least bicycle man disposes of the corpses once I point them out.

Am I the only who feels this way this year? Every year? Or is it just me?

Photo of the Week: Painted Fern

Athyrium nipponicum var. pictum

An inch and a half of rain last week has revived a few plants in the drought-weary garden, including this painted fern. There's nothing like fresh new growth to lift a gardener's spirits. This photo brings to mind some of the imagery from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, in the curl of the tip of the fern. Ah...Halloween...I'm so looking forward to it.