We’ve had 4 days of dry weather so far in June. My perennials and annuals are ready to pop, but I think most of them have decided they’re not going to make a move until they feel the warm sunshine on their leaves again.
And I’m a little bit worried about my tomatoes. They’re getting taller and some of them are already flowering, but in this cool, damp weather you can almost hear them having discussions about which disease they should spring on me first.
One plant that has completely brushed off the weather is the ‘Dragon Heart’ Geranium that I planted last spring:
When I plant something new in my yard, I’m never quite sure how it’s going to react to the microclimate. Most of my perennials grow a bit smaller than they’re supposed to. I could attribute that to the fact that 90% of my yard is in partial-shade, except that most of the annuals I grow actually get taller than they’re supposed to. It’s hard to keep up.
Because it’s been so drippy this month, I haven’t spent as much time outside as I usually do in June. During a break between showers the other day I made a quick tour of the yard and stopped in my tracks when I saw my ‘Dragon Heart’ Geranium. It’s huge!
Every description of ‘Dragon Heart’ I can find says it grows 2 feet tall. My plant is already over 3 feet tall which is amazing because it grows in almost full (but high) shade.
I planted ‘Dragon Heart’ to cover a bare patch of soil where a crabapple stump is rotting out and nothing will thrive. It grew so freakishly tall that it’s also serving another purpose…camouflaging the dying foliage of one of my traditional bleeding hearts.
‘Dragon Heart’ has started to meander into some of my daylilies, but the foliage is so light that the scapes can easily push through it. It’s going to be very pretty when everything is in bloom at the same time.