Late July in Ned Wolf Park is perhaps not the most colorful but the richness of plantings keeps the gardens interesting. Here's a view from the McCallum Street entrance into the park, showing the array of groundcovers with different textures winding between the trees. 
If you look closely in the center of the shade gardens, you'll find some newly planted plants which bear red flowers with yellow tips. It's called Spigelia and it's actually a native plant which we hope will grow to add some sparks with it's firecracker-like flowers.
On the sunny side of the gardens, there are some blue pansies still holding their own since being planting last October. This photo shows the dusky pink blooms of Eupatorium 'Baby Joe', which is a dwarf version of the plant commonly called Joe Pye Weed. Our trio of 'Baby Joes' is blooming at four feet tall , rather than the 7 or 8 feet of the original native plant. It's a magnet for pollinators, including butterflies. You'll also see some long purple flower stalks of Liatrus which is sometimes called Gayfeather. And our fragrant Agastaches, have begun blooming with pink & orange flowers and will continue until frost. Be sure to touch the leaves to smell the lovely anise scent. Peach Drift roses continue to bloom along with blue butterfly bush in the central island bed. 
We've filled a few holes in the garden with some annual plantings, like these Coleus 'Texas Driveway' located behind the central terrace seating wall. We are already planning some new plantings to enrich the garden beds, but we'll hold off planting more until the weather cools a bit in September. Hope you'll visit and enjoy the gardens at Ned Wolf Park!
