Yellow foxgloves in the Shade Path Garden

Digitalis grandiflora and Clematis 'William Kennett' in our garden this week.

Along the Shade Path garden this week, the perennial yellow foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora) are in bloom. They are a favorite every year, and seed themselves happily around our dry shade garden.  After they have bloomed for about a month, I trim back their spent blooms to the first set of leaves. This deadheading helps them to re-bloom again in September, which is a real treat!

The Shade Path succession planting started out in January with snowdrops and a few Hellebores in February. It was a really cold spring, so things did not really get going until the Iris reticulata 'Katherine Hodgkin' covered the path in April, followed by many more Hellebores orientalis. Then, the shade garden was covered in blue and white for May. Oh, and there was quite a display of pink columbine in there too.

Yellow foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora) with hosta, Brunnera, and many others along the Shade Path. 

View down the end of the Shade Path to our backyard fence. There is a pretty good slope from the fence down to the sidewalk (below). I love the contrast of the blue hosta with the green early in the summer.

Here is the view from the back of our property, including the curb strip on the left. I posted photos the catmint in the other end of the curb last week. Sedum 'Acre' is blooming yellow this week, which really electrifies the sidewalk! I use it as an all-purpose ground cover around our garden. It is easy to plant, grows quickly, and is not difficult to remove when needed.

I have planted Digitalis grandiflora in patches along the fence and down the hillside, so this view should keep improving over the next few years. The clematis vines (blue Clematis 'William Kennett' and red Clematis 'Earnest Markham') took a few years to get going but are quite the feature now!

View from the sidewalk across the Shade Path and into our back yard. You can just see our table on the stone patio.

To read more about Gilmore Gardens, start with a tour on our map.
Happy Gardening!