Beginner Gardening: Winter blahs(and its not even winter!)-share your pics!, 1 by gemini_sage

gemini_sage wrote:
Oh, I love Astilbe! They were so lush and happy in my last garden, in a moist, woodland environment. They haven't been so happy here, in a dryer area and we had droughts the first 2 years I lived here. I remember all too well the difficulty in keeping color in the shady garden.

That is an OT Lily from the American series, I believe it's American Heritage. The large foliage is Verbascum thapsus (Mullein), that grows wild here. I allow a seedling or two to remain in that bed each year for its stately presence. This year, 1 of the 2 of them suddenly looked really cruddy and dried up, just a foot or two from the other. You can see it right in the middle of this shot. The American Heritage are budding to the right of the photo, and those blooming are American Spirit from the same series.