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With the intense heat this week, another explosion of color has come to the garden.  This time of the year I only garden early in the morning or late evening.  This morning I was intrigued by the butterflies fluttering around my lavender which lead me to do some research.  I thought they were the Monarch butterfly but discovered they are the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail.  Finally the first water lily has come into bloom in the pond.  The flower always looks very exotic to me.

This past weekend I managed to venture down to the Fintry Fair which is held yearly in the Provincial park.  I came across a vendor from Armstrong who was selling some very healthy perennials.  Normally I would not purchase plants in the heat of the summer, but I could not resist buying some more lupins (cerise pink blooms) and gaillardia (blanket flower) with their cheery yellow and orange daisy like blooms.  Needless to say I planted them in the garden late evening and have been giving them extra water to help them get established.  

There are a few staples in my garden that have long lasting blooms and have always been part of my garden landscape, i.e. the shasta daisy, phlox and coreopsis (refer to page entitled Perennials, Mid Border Plants for further details).   I am not partial to lilies but they too have their place in the garden.

Last but not least, I love the hydrangeas – I have a few dwarf varieties tucked into some shady spots.  They are great in flower arrangements mixed with shasta daisy or just simply in a vase on their own.  You have to be careful though on the time that you cut them otherwise they do deteriorate very quickly.  I cut my blooms late in the evening when it is cooler.   There is one hydrangea variety though called “limelight” that blooms later in the year which has become a large shrub and always needs trimming back.  Further details to follow in my fall posts.  

At the end of the day when the temperatures in the Okanagan are in the mid 30’s there is only one place to be.  How fortunate we are that we can escape to the lake and take a dip.