Two evenings ago I had wandered around the garden to take some pics (the smoke from the wildfires in the province of Quebec Canada) is doing a good job of diffusing the light which I thought might help with the images I collected using Andrea’s phone.

This is the ‘Little Patio’ I installed last fall with the help of Don LA Fond. It is located down beneath the canopy of large Norway Spruce trees.  The limestone rocks (on the right) I’d hauled here earlier in the day, will be installed as an edging to mach the left hand side, and finally finishing this project.

Moving roughly 200 ft east,

Andrea had made the right call when she suggested to create a separate island of tufa within this wide patch of limestone gravel. It infers a broken, continuation of the end of a long low tufa wall that starts to the west at the big limestone steps.

One would think that by now, I would cease to be amazed at how successful  Rock Garden plants preform in a drought, including this one, such as we’ve never expected before.

A glimpse westward down the south side of the Limestone  bed.

Below, a close-up view of a beloved Delosperma, one of Andrea’s purchases at the NARGS Annual Meeting held in Dorango Colorado, the summer of 2021.

Looking a little parched, however it is growing in 4“ of crushed limestone gravel over a very sandy mix below.

A view west, of the north side of the limestone bed that’s undergone quite a revision since its first inception decades ago.

Ito hybrid peony ‘Bartzilla’ (below) also seems to laugh at the prolonged drought.

Turning to the right,180 degrees away from Bartzilla,

Is Picea abies ‘Gold Drift’.  I relocated it here as I was informed (by Bob Fincham) “that I needed to get it more sunlight” if I ever hoped for it to attain the screaming canary-yellow, that it had when I first experienced this Bob Fincham introduction. That occurred in the Conifer Garden he helped create at South Seattle Community College.  We easterners have come to accept that there’s no way to give this plant sufficient solar radiation in this part of the country.

A section to the same path, further on from ‘Gold Drift’ as we head down towards the pond.

Where the Scutillaria,  Linum, Dianthus, and some of our native Iris lacustris have made themselves quite at home.

A peek back to the East, to where we’ve just come from.

The concrete step that I poured in place, marks the transition from the Limestone bed to the Fieldstone Rockery to the west.

Turning back to the West, and continuing on downhill,

This section of the garden has become a lot shadier as the trees have grown.  The path is so much better now that it’s leveled (South to North) and the weedy grass has been replaced with gravel.

A couple of steps onward,

Cornus alternafolia ‘Argentia’ still bent, from the storms of March

Below, an especially tall growing Polygonatum kingianum from Far Reaches, growing just downhill of the Cornus alternafolia ‘Argentia’.  That cornus, once a rooted cutting, long long ago, one of countless gifts from Dick Punnett.

Moving onward to the south on the path that encircles the pond,  now nearly empty due to lack of rain.

One  of a precious-few sites, where I can please Dysosma delavayii (above)

Turning the “corner”, and looking westward along the south side of the pond.

The ‘Little Patio’ is directly behind me as I took this pic. The path (at the far end) turns North.

Bending the curve,

Everything’s a lot more stressed that it appears.  The moisture starved trees are all under attack by various insects sensing their lack of vigor.

Looking due North.

Signs of winter storms damage last March (in the background), snapped-off tree tops and sawn-off broken branch stubs.

The circle path bends (again) now looking East.

Large Pinus strobus (in the background) appearing much thinner due to repeated branch-stripping in back to back March storms.

One more turn, now looking past our Pond-side overlook where Andrea & I enjoy our evenings.

Heading up the hill, and towards the house.

The west end of the tufa wall. A top of the tufa wall, another gifted plant that’s making itself right at home.

Phlox ovata, collected from the SW shores of Lake Erie by Peter Zale, ( I believe ).

This Penstemon grandiflora has seeded itself into this recycled storm water pipe.

Penstemon occurs in white as well as a pinkish-purple in our garden.

Lastly, a look to the other side of the Limestone Stairway.

The old tufa bed, going strong in June.  Abies concolor ‘Elkins Weeping’ a discovery of a beloved GLC member Harry Elkins.  Of course another gift from Dick.

We are hoping (with fingers crossed) that the forecasted rain will bring our parched garden some much needed moisture! I do hope your garden is getting all the rainfall it needs.