Apply Plenty of Water

By the end of June, Maryland had already absorbed the equivalent to an average year's rainfall.  Many of the plants have been reveling in the available water along with the the relatively cooler temperatures.

Certainly this Agapanthus, 'Steve's Wonder,' has done particularly well.  It was helped by being deeply mulched with leaves throughout the winter, protecting the top of the crown from freezing.  But with continuous water it has done really well. 

Unfortunately, a curious deer sampled not one but two of the flower heads, as a snack.  One bare topped stem clearly shows in this shot.  I guess it couldn't decide from the one whether or not it would enjoy more?  It makes me crazy, since the white tailed rats have sampled a number of other random bites throughout the garden.  Buds on the Black-Eyed Susans have been mowed down twice already, so they are trying for a third time.

The Pineapple Lily, Eucomis comosa, 'Sparkling Burgundy, has enjoyed the flood, growing more crowns and putting up the largest leaves and flower heads ever.  The color on the leaves faded when the temperatures were in the upper 80's for over a week, but the stems have retained the dark maroon shade.  It has been an exciting attraction this year.

Curiously, much of the daffodil foliage is still green and attached to the bulbs.  Usually the leaves are gone by early June, when water decreases and temperatures rise. A few are visible in this picture, lying across the mulch on the lower left side of the Eucomis.  It will be interesting to see if this leads to more or larger flowers next spring.

One of the cone flowers, the Echinacea purpurea, White Swan, has also performed very well with the rain.  Most years it has stopped flowering in June, and looks like it will die.  It is not clear if the weather has been one of the reasons; they are supposed to prefer drier conditions than this year's.  Other Echinacea plants are not happy with the conditions this year, so maybe it shows variations in preferences among the species that were involved in creating this particular cultivar?