Ledge and Gardens: Back from vacation!

Water gardens and water garden plants!

Dragonflies,the tree frog and a fungus!

Back from the beaches of Cape Cod! It was a perfect week for beach reading. The first daughter supplied Harry Potter. Always entertaining! It was sunny, warm, and windy! I have been fortunate to experience many different beaches but those of Truro on the upper Cape are, to me, the most beautiful. Please don't tell anyone as the traffic to and from the Cape is already truly disturbing! The water is pretty cold but, welcome when the temperatures are in the 90's.

It is amazing how the garden changes in one week. Under daily inspection the plants and flowers seem to change slowly but a week away is like a time lapse photo. The sunflowers are now ten feet tall with only one in bloom. The pumpkins are beginning to take over the garden and, I confess, I ate sweet corn for lunch! One of the perennials currently blooming in the garden is Monkshood, Aconitum x bicolor in this case! It is also called Wolfsbane as the roots were used as poison bait for wolves. It is not particularly well grown in my garden I must confess! I need to move it to a sunnier location. It needs a bit more sun but since they originate in the cooler mountain meadow areas they do not do well if the evening temperatures are often above 70 degrees. There are many Aconitum species and this particular hybrid is thought to be a cross between A. variegatum and A. napellus. All parts of the plant are poisonous with the roots being most toxic. They contain the drug aconite which affects the heart. I am not prone to tasting plants and it is tucked in the border where it provides a curious and colorful spot in the garden. As you can see from the flowers, they do bear resemblance to a Monk's hood albeit a colorful one! I think it is worth mentioning given its' interesting shape and the folklore attached. Many of the Aconitum species range in color from purple to blue but there is one that is ivory in color. I think I will plant it next to a few Digitalis and some Euphorbias. It will be a garden of strictly visual delight!