I Simply Remember These Favorite Things, and then I Can Smile All Day
Join us for this month's curated selection of Dr. Armitage's top picks! Discover the highlights from his travels, favorite garden finds, must-read books, and the best streaming shows he's been enjoying. Explore the world through his lens and get inspired for your own adventures. Don’t miss out on this ongoing series where we share the best of Dr. Armitage every month!
A Plant
Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’
Love this late flowering tall salvia almost as much as the pollinators.
A Place
The Island of Ischia, Italy
A short ferry ride off the coast of Naples, spectacular scenery and gardens.
A Garden
Mt Cuba Center, Delaware
One of America’s finest and perhaps lesser known places to visit.
A Book
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared,
Jonas Jonasson
Fiction: A fun and easy read, humorous and at times quite unbelievable
A Streaming Show
Shetland
A good who-done it series, filmed on the rugged island of Shetland
Look for my next round of favorites next month.
I Simply Remember These Favorite Things, and then I Can Smile All Day
Join us for this month's curated selection of Dr. Armitage's top picks! Discover the highlights from his travels, favorite garden finds, must-read books, and the best streaming shows he's been enjoying. Explore the world through his lens and get inspired for your own adventures. Don’t miss out on this ongoing series where we share the best of Dr. Armitage every month!
Look for my next round of favorites next month.
The Month is July, the Year is 2022, and I am Glad There is No Such Thing as Global Warming.
There is always something to look forward to in the garden, even though my mop-head hydrangeas are wilting and my hosta leaves are getting crispier by the day. However, my coffee cup and I are still walking around the garden in the cool of the morning and Susan and I are still sipping wine from the deck in the cool of the evening. We have enjoyed the views of the Georgia mountains and loved the time on the dock at a nearby lake, but home -heat, cold, warts and all - is where we are most content.
Man, it has been hot – and dry. As I look over photos of snow on the ground in February, I even yearn for winter again, nah not really, maybe for fall. I just wish these hot, dry, humid days would moderate a little so my garden could take a breather – and my water bill could be paid without installments.
The author’s Garden, June, 2022
Ah, what the heck, we always complain about the weather. And since we can’t do anything about it, let’s enjoy the fact that Covid has not taken us out; we are upright and reasonably happy and we can admire a noble oak, a handsome maple or an eye-catching phlox.
There is always something to look forward to in the garden, even though my mop-head hydrangeas are wilting and my hosta leaves are getting crispier by the day. However, my coffee cup and I are still walking around the garden in the cool of the morning and Susan and I are still sipping wine from the deck in the cool of the evening. We have enjoyed the views of the Georgia mountains and loved the time on the dock at a nearby lake, but home -heat, cold, warts and all - is where we are most content.
I have been remiss in writing this little essay and have missed sharing a number of travels with you. I have been to the New Plant trials in California, where many of the new plants that appear at the Garden Center are introduced. How about that Delphinium?
Delphinium ‘Red Lark’ from Darwin Perennials
I have been to Keukenhof Gardens in Holland, without doubt the greatest bulb garden in the world, and to the spectacular Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. So who I am to complain about the weather.
Keukenhof, 2022, Kuekenhof Gardens, Holland
Maine, 2022, Coastal Maine Botanical Garden
Turns out June was Perennial Plant Month, so I hope you celebrated with the newest and greatest coneflower, phlox or aster. Combine those with some fine annuals, a shrub or two and a few trees and you too have an excuse to drink more wine while getting exercise traipsing about your green space.
As we move through the dog days of summer, let’s rejoice in a few plants that help get us through.
Some excellent perennials
A few brilliant annuals
A few cool shrubs
A few cool small trees
Find Me
Facebook Live walkabouts: Pleas follow me so you know when the next adventurous walkabout will occur. All walkabouts up to now can be found on my website under walkabouts.
The App: Armitage’s Great Garden Plants app has a new look, at least for Apple phones. The content has been updated, and it is even easier to move around than ever. The sections on deer, pollinators, natives and solution gardening are better than ever. No ads, no nonsense, just good info, all for the price of a bad burger doodle, $4.99
YouTube videos are being posted fast and furious, hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy rambling on about plants and such.
