Summer Plant Survivors

Japanese anemone, a perennial fall-bloomer, is full of buds about to pop open.
I can't remember which variety is doing so well, but it has fringed lavender petals.
I was here to water it late in the summer, but it was hanging in there early anyway.
I fertilized it in early August, and again in September.

Lysmachia nummularia "Creeping Charley" ground cover has responded well to light fertilizer recently as well. It, too, looked wimpy in the heat and has revived. Some of it which is new, and yellow-green, got mixed in with upstarts of 'Bertram Anderson' pulmonaria. The small, silvery round spots on deep green lungwort leaves surrounded by tiny circular chartreuse runners is visually delightful This is one of those nifty combinations I didn't plan, but I've been telling my friends "I meant to do that!"

A good way to encourage Charley to spread out is through stretching out individual runners, and securing them to the ground with floral tacks or hairpins. Then, cover them with a light sprinkling of earth. If you keep the plant moist, and lightly fertilized it will really get legs. Lamiastrum "Golden Archangel" absolutely refuses to die. Even if I get sick of it, it always comes back. While we were away from home, it climbed the west wall of the house.

Three groupings of Japanese plum yew didn't miss a beat.They still look great. This low growing evergeen likes the coastal south, and our slightly cooler piedmonts as well. What a terrific performer. All things considered, there is enough live material to start up a decent garden in 2001. There were no fabulously showy survivors, but lots of solidly useful material came through for me.

And next year, Lord, please don't send all our missing rain at once!

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