Well Pardon this gardener for being such a blog slacker!  I really do keep forgetting I have a blog.  All the new media makes it hard to keep up.  First it was Facebook, then google +, then Pinterest & tumblr.   I can't keep up with it all.  I am going to ry to remember to post my blogs more frequently.  Try is the operative word in that sentence.

This year's VERY early Spring has the garden completely out of whack.  My mid Summer perennials are all blooming now or budding up & it's only June 25th.  My coneflowers, bee balm, globe thistle, verbena bonariensis( from seed) are all in bloom.  Normally they don't even bud up until the 4th of July!

We are also experiencing some drought.  Here in Chicago we were dry going into the Fall & then we had little to no snow over the Winter.  Spring started early in March & hot hitting temperatures in the upper 80's.  We have had very little rain yet.  Spring was dry & Summer is starting out dry.
 I of course water on my days to water, but we really need some rain.  The neighborhood is slowly turning brown one lawn & crisped garden at a time...and it's not even July.    Here's a picture of my back border.  I have added a phone booth to the bed.  This phone booth use to be in my parent's basement growing up, now it's in my garden.