A COLD DAY IN JULY

                                                              July 10, 2022

                                          Carrboro, N.C.

                                                                 73 degrees high

 Sometimes the unexpected happens, thus the Southern saying " That'll be a cold day in July ' when it does.  I published a blog post a few years ago on this subject and got over 8,000 hits !

I'm still amazed that July here in central N.C. is the rainiest month of the year.   After days on end of temps in the 90's the thirsty garden certainly welcomes the rain.

We had a very wet, warm Spring that caused a lot of fungus, aka, Southern blight and it's mostly affected my Ajuga groundcover.   It's the first time that my daylilies were affected by the fungus and I had to spray them with Neem oil. 

Started my succulent garden next to the garden path near the back entrance with drought-tolerant plants.  

I'm loving coneflowers and have one in every color except white.  I am slowly filling my flower beds with more of them because they seem to love the hot weather and they bloom a long time.  My boulder garden, below, in late August, is filled with early blooming Mums, Autumn Sage, Purple Heart, Autumn Joy Sedum and Dianthus.  

Another drought-tolerant perennial that I love is coreopsis, aka, tickweed.  Below is 'moonbeam ' which has been in bloom since late Spring.  I gave it a little hair cut last month and it's re-blooming again.

By July we gardeners can tell which perennials are heat and drought-tolerant.  Another one that I like is Nepeta, or Catmint.  It tends to get leggy by late June so a trimming back helps it revive.  It is a very long blooming plant that the bees love.

Onward and upward in the garden -August won't give us much relief from this heatwave we're suffering this year but at least it's one more month 'til September !