The Dog Days….the merest mention from the weather forecasters brings on groans of
the heat and humidity that is no doubt coming our way. But lost in the name is a myth
and a magic. The Dog Days is not the butt of jokes from the Southern past about how
your dog died…….ie….how many dogs died when your porch collapsed! No, the Dog
Days references the brightest star in our night sky, Sirius. The Dog Star in the
constellation Canis Major. Those with an astronomical bent will know right away that
this star isn’t visible in the summer…..EXACTLY! The ancient Egyptians worshipped
Sirius and held the belief that their new year began with the rising of Sirius around July
This was when the light of Sirius could be detected in ancient tombs and pyramids,
specifically designed so that light could be differentiated from the light of the rising Sun.
The ancient Dogon tribe of west Africa somehow “knew” that Sirius was a binary
system…..a double star. There are double stars visible without a telescope—Sirius isn’t
one of these. How did the Dogon people know of the existence of Sirius’ double?
Hmmmmm.
Because Sirius was so bright, when paired with our own summer Sun, it led to an
increase in physical heat and spiritual heat as well. Much of this mythology was
subsumed by more recent cultural shifts but the name “Dog Days” referencing that Dog
Star…..with a wink to all that buried mythology remains.
Horrors to most gardeners: the announcement of a visitor from California or the
Northeast who wants to visit an Atlanta garden in August or early September—smack in
the middle of these Dog Days! Well, there isn’t enough sweet tea in the pitcher (or gin
in the cupboard) for most people to sign up for such an assignment!
Perhaps this is unjust and a fear poorly founded. The Dog Days of Summer can yield a
magnificent Dog Days Garden for there are many, many plants that seem to celebrate
their relationship with the Dog Star and all that goes with it.
In my own garden, the Dog Days is when a mysterious variety of Rudbeckia is at its
best. Truly, it seems to just wait and wait and wait. I believe it to be Rudbeckia
triloba. The flowers are not a large as ‘Goldstrum’ but they are numerous and as they
go to seed, finches galore visit them and tear them to shreds. This particular plant
began in one corner of my garden and now has appeared in many other locations.
That’s fine by me! Some years I allow them to pop up through my lawn that kind
visitors call a “tapestry lawn” because it is far from a monoculture. Pollinators without
number visit this variety of Rudbeckia that I call “Dog Day Daisy”….I don’t think anyone
else does….yet! It truly doesn’t begin to bloom in my garden until about July 23!
Another related plant that my garden features is Rudbeckia hirta, that some call “Green
Eyed Susan”. In flower…..again, holding off until almost the beginning of August, this
plant towers to six feet and more. The medium green foliage is deeply sinuated…..a
fancy Latin way to say lobed. The leaves to be are really attractive…..they contribute to
the border long before they flower. The plants can be sloppy. The rains of the past
weeks have sort of beaten them up a bit but when the sun returns…..(it will, won’t
it?)…they perk up as the water dries up. I collected these from a division I requested
from former total strangers who maintain an astonishing garden in Morningside. I
wrote them a note asking if I could take some divisions and they said, “please!!” The
clumps I brought in have proliferated! The flowers are a clear yellow with green
centers. Pollinators adore them…..finches lie in wait for the seed heads to ripen. I love
these fellas.
A third in my garden relishing the combination of energies from “ol’ Sol” and Sirius is
Ginger Lily. Think of the purity of whiteness of a gardenia without the risk of white fly?
The foliage alone reminds me of the tropics, the fragrance is heady. I can bring some
of this into the house and the first floor is overwhelmed by it. I can cut on it and cut on
it and cut on it some more and it never complains.
There are many others that can be added to this triumvirate of remarkably easy to
grow plants that thrive during the Dog Days. Perhaps not the most contained or
controlled garden look? True enough. Garden designer and Cherokee Garden Club
stalwart Julia Martin maintained “I don’t have time to baby plants in a garden—I would
much rather cut out things that are trying to battle it out.” There’s a lot of wisdom in
this method of gardening and I’m grateful that I could claim Julia as a friend and an
inspiration.
So, don’t let the Dog Days get you down. It is a time for the garden to shine as bright
as…..well…..as bright as Sirius!!
