Late summer

What can I say? I've neglected to document the garden's progress this summer. By way of comparison, you may want to see my last post on the garden in the early days of summer, way back on June 2.You'll see quite a difference. In fact you will not see some things from the earlier post at all. The plants are now so tall much of the garden has to be explored step by step. Now when you walk the garden, it's an immersive process, a journey; you almost feel your way through.Now is the time of gardening by subtraction. The diagonals and acute angles the giant Silphiums fall into are appealing in their quixotic way. They create a structural tension I find even more interesting than the flowers. But when they lean across paths and block the way, it's time to pull them out. So these weeks of high summer, when the tall yellow Silphium, Eutrochium and Inula are peaking, weekly removals are essential.This is a time of blue sky days. To see out, you have to look up. The dark woods circling the garden, and the tall plants reaching upward, naturally carry your eyes to the sky. It's almost as if the garden is a golden bowl open only at the top.So take a wander ...Parts of the garden incorporate the forest edge, so even at high noon you find a chiaroscuro of light and dark ...... a great relief from the brilliance of the more open garden.The forest edge encroaches in several places along the garden's circumference. This is the largest such incursion; I call it the woodland garden ... and a pleasant place it is to sit, even on hot days.