The Almost Summer Garden

[mdehners]

Well, astrologically it's next week but here in East Tennessee the Temps have hit 90F a couple of times already. Nights are still Cool so I'm still getting blossoms on my Sweet Pea vines. It's been more than 20 yrs I've lived where I would get more than a week of blooms before the heat flattened them. This Blue tinted White cultivar(NOID) I'll definitely Save but I'm getting more to try this Fall!
Things are doing fairly well but a lot of them are tests for the area I now live in. Some that I don't have to worry about I've seen in neighboring gardens like Hellebores, Bearded Irises, Columbines and Daylilies(guess the Rust Plague hasn't reached here like my old location).
Most of my Growing areas are basically free-standing flowerbeds. I'm only planting Perennials one or more zones colder in them.
For some reason I've suddenly before enamored with Hardy Geraniums. Unfortunately, more than 50% of those I ordered didn't sprout. Sadly, many of the American sources are like Holland Bulb and such, well known for poor handling and storage of materials. I've found a few seed sources which I'll Stratify in Fall to start in late Winter. Sadly, I'm finding better quality sources on Ebay and Etsy....
Cheers,
Pat