fed compost

to the plants: 'big boy' hosta

Solomon's seal. So sad, these are the only ones left. Something has been eating them.

Rhododendrons. Looking droopy- it's been so dry.

Heucherella and turtlehead by the garden

Yellow salvia and blue hosta just upslope of that. I don't know why this yellow salvia always looks great,

while the two groups out front wilt severely if I don't water them in this heat. Is the ground damper on the west sideyard? or it gets fuller shade so doesn't suffer as much. Here's salvia on top of the east sideyard, next to smaller patch of turtlehead that does a little better:

and yellow salvia in the back, where particolored hosta I moved this spring also fares better in the heat:

Speaking of hostas, I thought they'd do well under the holly shrub-

but only three have survived and one of those looks pretty bad right now. Here's the better ones:

Newer, narrow-leaved hosta

That shady east sideyard is slowly getting filled in. One view of it:

and the other:

slightly better photo of the joe pye-weed 'chocolate' (it only got a sprinkling of compost):

I was generous with compost to the young oakleaf hydrangea

Less so with the two nandina, which look pretty established now. Still feel ambivalent about this plant, though I like its foliage.

the big, light-green hostas against the house wall. I need something taller behind them...

Hellebores:

Volunteer viburnum I moved out of the back perennial bed, also just got a scattering of compost.

Coleus in the front yard. They're still doing okay as long as I remember to water every other day.

Alstroemeria on the front edge:

The hyssop kind of looks like rosemary, but with longer leaves, and a very different scent

I was generous to the peonies, too. They are starting to look dusty and pale with a bit of mildew...

Younger 'sorbet' one. Looks very different from when I first got it.

Chrysanthemum. I'm so pleased how these turned out with two pinchings. Just the right height and fullness. And not too much work.

Last of all, the rue. It got the leftovers when the wheelbarrow was almost empty- just a scraping of compost off the bottom. Doesn't need as rich of feeding as other plants, though I will mulch it thicker with dry leaves when cold really hits.

There's brown drips on its edging on one side. Almost oily-looking. I have been searching for an insect, but now wonder if it might be rue oil or sap dripping from a broken stem? can't figure

That's not even every plant I fed, just the ones I felt like taking pictures of. So you see why I was so tired yesterday!