Daylilies with arching grassy foliage are beginning and continuing to bloom.  The roses are Rosa rubiginosa, with pale pink single flowers and foliage that smells like green apples (recently cut down which means no flowers in 1999) and Rosa glauca (rubrifolia), with gray foliage and darker pink single flowers with white eyes.  Both have wonderful fall fruits (or hips) in shades of red-orange.  The perennial Nepeta siberica with lavender-blue flowers blooms along the path edge here and is companioned by bronze-foliaged Euphorbia dulcis ‘Chameleon’ and the large round-headed Allium schubertii and christophii, first purple stars and later tan, rounded skeletons nestled in the garden.  White-flowered Peonies in variety line the edges of this planting underplanted with various gray succulent Sedum foliages and Oenothera berlandieri, a pink-flowered evening primrose that blooms all summer.  The largest leaves belong to Hosta plantaginea on your right, next to a blue-flowering Nepeta siberica ‘Souvenir d’Andre Chaudron’.  The rose with semidouble, strong pink flowers that is repeated through the area is Rosa californica ‘Plena’.  Its wonderful fragrance pervades the border.  On the left, the deep purple foliage belongs to Berberis vulgaris atropurpurea ‘Royal Cloak’.  The slowly arising panicles of Astilbe ‘Professor van der Wielen’ will wave fluffy white wands soon and be accompanied by the broad, variegated foliage of the grass Miscanthus sinensis ‘Cabaret’ and the large American native Phytolacca americana, or Poke Weed, with large soft green leaves and carmine stems.  This perennial goes from the ground to 8+ feet in a single season!  The bright red-violet flowers with nearly black eyes belong to Geranium psilostemon and G. p. ‘Bressingham Flair’, a lighter colored form.  On your right is a red-leaf maple, Acer palmatum ‘Nuresagi’, surrounded by Thalictrum lucidum with glossy green leaves and pale yellow flowers standing about five feet tall with one of our native ground covers underneath, Oxalis oregana.  Opposite this planting begins an area of Knautia macedonica with its garnet buttons and Daylilies with pale yellow and nearly white flowers, including ‘Pandora’s Box’ with a dark red throat and ‘Dad’s Best White’ and ‘Sunday Gloves’.  Looking right again, notice the frothy brown foliage of Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Bronze’).  To the left, the Hydrangea with bronzing foliage is ‘Preziosa’ and this is just the beginning of her show.  She is partnered on your right by a wonderful Knotweed – Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ – that commences bloom in June and blooms until fall with small carmine bottlebrushes.  Also here are pink Astilbes and the foliage of Pulmonaria ‘Roy Davidson’ with his silver spots.  These colors are echoed by the variegated grass Phalaris arundinacea var. picta ‘Feesey’ and Acorus calamus ‘Variegatus’, a grass relative that looks like an iris.  Behind the Persicaria is a wonderful stand of Ostrich Plume Fern mixed with candelabra primroses, Primula japonica ‘Miller’s Crimson’ and a large leafed ornamental Rumex or “Dock”.  Slightly downslope is the fine lead gray foliage of Salix purpurea ‘Nana’ (Dwarf blue Arctic Willow) adding texture and color to the scene.  Near the path edge here you will notice the very cutleaf appearance of Aruncus dioicus ‘Kneiffii’, one of the lovelier Goatsbeards.

Opposite, near the edge of the path is a very prickly plant, Acanthus spinosus Spinosissimus Group (Bear’s Breeches).  If you look further into this bed, there are more large, serrated, shiny green leaves.  These belong to Acanthus spinosus, a close relative.  The white tall flowers behind this planting are white Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium album).  The grass beneath is a woodland lover, Luzula nivea.  There is also a very late hardy Fuchsia here that will bloom until November, weather permitting, whose name is ‘Nancy’.  Opposite on the corner are more plantings of Rosa glauca (rubrifolia), this time the form ‘Carmenetta’, with bronze banded Tovara ‘Langtrees’ beneath it.  The evergreen Iris with variegated foliage is Iris foetidissima ‘Variegata’.  Under the apple tree on the left are tall, gray-leaved Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum in bloom with pale yellow flowers.  The ground covers in this area include Geranium ‘Buxton’s Blue’, the lovely variegated grass (for shade) Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, and various forms of Viola cornuta.  You have now returned to the lawn with Tellima grandiflora Odorata Group now out of bloom but overarched by foliage of Aralia californica, beginning to reestablish itself after we removed the majority of the plant which had become too big for the site.  It’s not yet in bloom – something for another day.