The "Dog Days of Summer"

The Elizabeth Lawrence Garden fares amazingly well through the long dry periods we call the "dog days of summer".  (The dry spell started far too early this year... months before the traditional "dogs days" begin!)  The soil is so well-drained and the 5' elevation change of the property means any much-appreciated rain or city water disappears astonishingly rapidly.

Even so, phloxes bloom fluffy bunch after fluffy bunch, roses continue to open delicate cups of soft fragrance, Rudbeckia 'Henry Eihlers' still dazzles with spiky yellow stars of slender tube-shaped petals, doll's daisy (Boltonia asteroides) dances like a sliver of the milky way, and the ironweed's royal purple blooms sway in the slightest breeze.  Swallowtail butterflies flit from puff to puff of the joe pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum) while checkered skippers light on blooms of lantana and verbena-on-a-stick (Verbena bonariensis).  Every once in a while, the staccato chirp of a hummingbird is heard near any of several species of Salvia in the garden.  And that's just a small list of blooms to be enjoyed - by all garden visitors!

Visit Miss Lawrence's garden for a refreshing retreat from the draining heat of the dog days of summer.  Open Fridays and Saturdays, 10 - 5.