The July garden is hot, steamy and full of colour.

The day lilies always shine this time of year. Regular readers will know I have many, many varieties, with much more to come.

Like daylilies, there are many coneflowers in the garden. These are just a few.

The butterfly milkweed looks stunning this year. No caterpillars yet but it probably won’t be long.

The mini-hollyhocks look amazing this year. At least they did when I took this picture… they are now getting ravaged by the Japanese beetles.

The colours of autumn are starting to show, though the temps are through the roof and we are far from the cool breezes of fall. Above are False Sunflower, Black-Eyed Susan, Blanket Flower and Marguerites.

The roses have slowed with the heat, but a few are blooming. My two climbers (Quick Silver and Eden – first two pics) had to be cut right back this year, so the blooms are low, but they are growing well. And Chrysler Imperial (Red) is normally ravaged by Black Spot and Sawfly larvae, but it’s doing really well this year.

High summer is such a beautiful time in the garden!