assessment

of the backyard plants. Some I don't like as well as I thought I would. Some have surprised me how much I do like them. And others obviously need to be moved before next spring....

This one didn't get much mention when I first planted them- Argyranthemum 'sassy pink'. It's hard to get a decent picture of it. It has very fine, ferny round-clumped foliage that kind of gets lost in the background.

The flowers are very pink, but the light bounces off them so I haven't figured out how to get good photos yet.

Every day now it has more flowers. One of them is getting shaded over and blocked from view by a huge hosta leaf. So I need to move it, or the hosta next year. Probably the hosta because- my neighbor cut down all the pine trees in their backyard. Leaving just four deciduous trees. And now my shade spot gets full sun half the day.

So some of the plants I was dubious about because their labels said 'full sun to part shade' will probably be happier now, but others aren't.

The salvia got huge this spring- it's crowding out liriope on one side and hellebores on the other-

but it also appears to be getting sunburt, and some of the leaves curl from heat.

The astilbes have surprised me.

I thought I wouldn't like them, their plumy, feathery flowers too delicate.

But the scent is amazing. It's exactly like something from my childhood- the scent of a new eraser shaped like a cartoon character.

I think my neighbor has some kind of astilbe in her yard- green shrubs with frothy pink tops. If that's what it is, mine will probably grow quite a bit larger than I'd expected, so I might have to shift them...

Another one that surprised me was the lupine. It has (so far) stayed rather short, but very attractive. I like it. I want more of them.

Next to it, larkspur on the other hand, has disappointed me. Its flowers were astonishing when they first opened- the blue hues so vivid they look unreal.

Even the buds glimmer with irridescent color.

But the whole thing fell over after a heavy rain.  Those flowers are flat on the ground. I don't know if it's just not rooted well enough, or the rainstorm pummeled it too much, or it's the kind of plant you have to stake the flowers up. I don't want to be bothered with that.

Another one I really like now is the lysimachia.

Its foliage has thinned out as it grows taller- or maybe in reponse to the heat- but the blue-green hues still stand out among the other plants. And as the pink flower spikes get longer-

they appear to glow, because the top part is densely clustered and darker, going down the stem the flowers get gradually spaced apart and paler into pinks. I'm definitely going to try and add more lysimachia into my garden, whether by propagating it or buying more plants next spring.

I also like the heucherella. I think I got this one in the right spot- its tiny pale pink flowers look nice against the yellowish greens of the big hosta leaves.

Gerbera daisy. I feel like I need to move this one so it's in a spot better appreciated- near the front porch, maybe. They're pretty bold when the flowers first open and the sun glares on them-

but I actually like them better when they start to fade and take on an antique look.

This is my favorite picture of the day.