Summer flowers in full bloom

What the sun and Teiko haven't fried and the lack of rain hasn't shriveled, the perenials are doing well this summer, considering. The Beesbalm and Echinacea (cornflowers) have taken direct hits and may not survive the year (drastic measures are being taken to curtail Teiko and his markings....) However, in the front yard, the Rudbeckias are just beginning to bloom. The Geraniums are blooming again after a month of regeneration. Did you know that you can winter Geraniums in Wisconsin? By deadheading the flowers, cutting back all leggy branches, pulling out the plant (with roots intact) and storing them in a brown paper bag in a "warm" corner of the garage they often survive the winter. They can be a bit long and leggy the second year, but careful pruning and deadheading will force more leaves and better foliage. The newest addition to the garden is Papyrus - yep, the very plant that the Egyptians used to make paper. Papyrus loves water or very wet soil. For some reason it's doing very well planted in a whiskey barrel. When I planted it this spring, I placed a bowl under the roots to capture and hold water. This seems to do the trick. The plant stems are almost 4 ft tall now. For the winter, I'll bring them inside and put them in a tall glass vase with just water and rocks. It's nice to bring a bit of the garden into the house during the bitter cold days of Wisconsin winters.