Japanese anemone and Joe Pye weed

I mentioned in an earlier post that my best gardener friend, Linda, gave me three plants from her garden and I'm happy to report that they're all doing famously. I'm especially impressed with the Japanese anemone (shown at right and below with hosta), which is blooming(!) despite having little foliage and enduring a bit of a drought while I was away on vacation. I really thought it was a goner, but naturally I watered it anyway and, voila! Back to life. Never despair when you see leaves wilting badly after some hot sunny weather; most plants can bounce back pretty well with just a few leaves lost in the process. Any plant that can't endure a little neglect will never last in my garden. (Did I mention I toyed with the name "The Lazy Gardener" for this blog?). I'm going to post a picture of the anemone in bloom, because I think it's going to turn out to be a favourite of mine. It's spunky, (another polite term for 'invasive'), but according to on-line sources it's easy to keep in check. At this time of year when a lot of flowers are past their flowering periods, it's satisfying to have a bed of jolly blooms that doesn't need much encouragement.

Joe Pye Weed (see below) is another late summer blooming perennial that I've been wanting to plant in my garden. It's very tall (up to six feet!) and takes up quite a bit of space but the flowers are lovely and it's actually not so weedy despite its name (and who could resist a plant with such a name?). I will post a photo drawn from the web since I don't have any in my garden. I guess it'll have to wait until next year unless I happen to discover a neglected orphan at a garden center waiting for a good home; or another gardening friend happens to want to donate one!