some May photos around the garden

Great photos Lauram...and so good to see you back !

Hi Lauram, lovely photos, despite lack of rain your plants look so refreshed.

Lauram, nice to see you blogging again :) Too bad that your ferns haven't worked out for you but on the bright side you had real success with the penstemons :)

I have never seen the oak-leaf hydrangea before...it makes for an interesting plant.

Thanks for sharing your garden with us.

lovely - look forward to some more pictures - :):):):)

lovely pictures ~ i really like those white flowers ~ all of them and the ferns.
i know what you mean about a slow computer! mine is like that.

Beautiful Penstemons Lauram and the Spigelia...:>)

thanks everyone - after 3 years those Penstemons are finally looking fabulous, only they are much, much taller than expected! If I move them back they won't get enough sun.
Whistonlass, the oakleaf hydrangea is a native hydrangea. I also have a H. arborescens that is still quite small and young, I will have to get a photo of that. It's a common roadside shrub here.
No rain for weeks Grandmage......and it's in the 90s every day, should be 98 today. We're heading into our usual summertime drought situation and I expect the usual watering restrictions. If you're caught watering you get some hefty fines.

you certainly get the extremes in weather lauram!

Wow, Lauram, thats sure is hot!! Your poor plants dont stand a chance!

what a superb setting L, some new plants to me also, bonus shots, really nice viewing.

I guess as the oakleaf geranium is a native plant to you that will be why I've not seen it before...lol I really like the unusual leaf...thanks Lauram.

I'd never cope with your high temperatures....it must be like being in a sauna all the time!

Lovely photo's

I can handle the heat but I hate the cold!!! I know in a little while we'll all be whining that we're hot but this winter was so brutal that the warmth is welcome. I did pass out on my front porch the other day after coming back for a run, I was dehydrated from the get-go & the heat and humidity finally overwhelmed me & I just sort of fell down and blacked out! I am supposed to go hiking tomorrow to a place where ladyslipper orchids apparently grow, but it's going to be very very hot.

Just take plenty of water and you'll be fine..it will certainly be worth it to see the ladies slipper orchids. According to one of my wild flower books we have them growing wild over here, though I have never seen one and don't know anyone else who has, but they are extremely rare and supposedly in a secret location in Yorkshire ,but then this particular book is very old, so they may be extinct here by now..... will have to do some research !
Have a good day Lauram and hope you manage to get some photos to show us.

Well, we didn't go today because Sean had to go into work unexpectedly, but we'll go Friday. I hope we see orchids! I'm told there are LOTS of ferns there, also, so it should be fun!
Judy, I've only seen ladyslipper orchids growing once, along a little walking trail sandwiched between a housing development and an apartment complex. And there were dozens of them. It was really a sight to behold. I'd really love some for my garden but they're very difficult to establish and at about $80 a plant, is it worth the risk? There's a yellow species native to Kentucky that is much less expensive, oh, only $35 or so a plant (still, ouch!), and that species is apparently much more forgiving. Still, $35 would buy me 5 or 6 or 7 other native plants from my fave mail order nurseries....

...so probably best to wait to see if you can see them in the wild again ! That is expensive ! Must have been a thrill to see so many together. Do you have the Bee Orchid growing wild over there ? I have seen them here twice...both times along a disused railway line. These places are a haven for all kinds of wildlife .