August 9th, 2026

I haven’t made as much progress with my gardens in July as I would have liked. With the delayed growing season this year, a lot of the expected June work ended up in July. No matter.

I did manage to complete one task: digging out the remaining perennial grass and horsetail in my library garden. I have planted all the empty space, which means the library now consists of the following:

• Achillea millefolium ‘Moonshine’ (‘Moonshine’ Yarrow)

• Achillea millefolium ‘New Vintage Red’ (‘New Vintage Red’ Yarrow)

• Achillea millefolium ‘New Vintage Terracotta’ (‘New Vintage Terracotta’ Yarrow)

• Amsonia hubrichtii (Arkansas Blue Star)

• Aruncus aethusifolius (Dwarf Goat’s Beard)

• Baptisia x ‘Burgundy Blast’ (‘Burgundy Blast’ False Indigo)

• Calamagrostis brachytricha (Autumn Feather Reed Grass)

• Echinacea ‘Kismet Red’ (‘Kismet Red’ Coneflower)

• Echinops bannaticus ‘ Blue Glow’ (‘Blue Glow’ Globe Thistle)

• Epimedium rubrum (Red Barronwort)

• Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master)

• Helenium ‘Mariachi Bandera’ (‘Mariachi Bandera’ Sneezeweed)

• Helenium ‘Mariachi Salsa’ (‘Mariachi Salsa’ Sneezeweed)

• Heuchera x ‘Cherry Cola’ (‘Cherry Cola’ Coral Bells)

• Heuchera x ‘Obsidian’ (‘Obsidian’ Coral Bells)

• Nepeta faassenii ‘Cat’s Meow’ ('Cat's Meow' Catmint)

• Nepeta faassenii ‘Whispurr Pink’ (‘Whispurr Pink’ Catmint)

• Panicum virgatum ’Shenandoah’ (Shenandoah' Switch Grass)

• Papaver orientale ‘Princess Victoria Louise’ ('Princess Victoria Louise' Poppy)

• Papaver orientale ‘Royal Wedding’ ('Royal Wedding' Poppy)

• Penstemon digitalis ‘Blackbeard’ ('Blackbeard' Beardtongue)

• Penstemon digitalis ‘Onyx and Pearls’ ('Onyx and Pearls' Beardtongue)

• Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)

• Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ ('Firetail' Fleece Flower)

• Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’ ('Superba' Fleece Flower)

• Salvia nemorosa ‘Bumbleberry’ (‘Bumbleberry’ Meadow Sage)

• Salvia nemorosa‘Blue Hill’ ('Blue Hill' Meadow Sage)

• Sanguisorba obtusa (Burnet)

• Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Heart-leaved Aster)

• Symphyotrichum ericoides (Heath Aster)

• Verbena stricta (Hoary Vervain)

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With the old veggie garden turned over, I will be looking to extend the library garden out by another meter. I have a few more full sun perennials I would like to add this year, and I need to move a few that I have already planted into better positions (I was impatient with my progress…).

I am hopeful that removing the turf won’t take too long, since the ground is on the softer side after the rain we received this past week.

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