Serious Summer Calls for Tough Plants and Garden Visitors

x Pardancanda 'Sangria' up close

Pardancanda 'Sangria' had such a prolific season last year that I divided it in the fall. While it hasn't given me as many blooms this year, they're nevertheless beautiful. The official name is x Pardancanda, the "x" indicating in this case that it's an intergeneric hybrid between Belamcanda chinensis and Pardanthopsis dichotoma. Find more info at the Kemper Center for Home Gardening, a feature of Missouri Botanic Garden, one of my favorite places to visit.



x Pardancanda 'Sangria'

Loving the excellent drainage provided by my seriously-raised bed, x Pardancanda mixes well with Lavendar, ornamental Oregano and larkspur.

"I came for the waters..."

I'm not certain how he got up there but this little frog made himself home in the water reservoir at the base of one of my hanging pots. When we watered the pot, the cascading water forced him out of his lair. Is that a self-satisfied froggy grin I see on his puss?

Petunia Shock Wave 'Coral Crush' with Angelonia 'Serena Blue'

Next season there will be a new petunia in town: Ball Horticultural's Shock Wave 'Coral Crush', a scrumptiously cool but vibrantly colored flower that takes the heat and looks great with another new plant to enter the scene--Angelonia 'Serena Blue'. The Shock Wave series is a member of the Wave series of petunias, bred for their nonstop blooms and clean habit. This Angelonia, also by Ball, is tall enough for cuts and hasn't stopped blooming since mid-May.