Early Fall in my Garden

Salvia 'Amistad'

It's been such a busy week for me with my Botanical Art Intensive class at Blandy this past weekend, that I had barely any time to even look at my garden. Today I finally get to catch up and take a look at what's blooming. The strange effect of a breeze blowing across the Salvia 'Amistad' created this unusual iridescent effect in my photograph--weird, but beautiful!

The dogwood is losing its colorful leaves, a few other leaves are turning and dropping, but our nighttime temperatures haven't been low enough to cause much change in the leaves yet. We're told that we won't be having a very colorful fall this year in our region due to the warmth. A few of the hickories in the back woods are turning gold, others brown.

 

Front garden

 

And yet my collection of potted plants are still blooming, if not as profusely. My two Mandevillas haven't bloomed at all this summer--I can't figure out why, other that they've been in those pots for a few years, and may be too pot-bound.

 

Potted plants along the front walk.

Pink Petunia

A nice surprise was to see the Sternbergias I planted among the strawberries pop up-- their golden blossoms only last a few days--so short-lived! I want them to multiply, but I also bought ten more bulbs to plant nearby, as well as some Crocus speciosus (autumn-blooming crocus). My Colchicums are done flowering, they came up very early this year, and with the recent hot weather, didn't last long. My 'Waterlily' Colchicum hasn't come up at all. Wonder what happened to it--is it the drought? 

 

Sternbergia lutea

Sternbergia

My small plant of Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' opened its first bud today, but it was caught in the nylon mesh that keeps the deer from devouring them--sadly, I cut it off when I tried to detach it to photograph--here it is fallen on the ground, surrounded by plantains. I'll move the barrier forward after the next rain to prevent this from happening and give the plant more room. I so envy the giant clumps of this flower in Blandy's courtyard, I wonder how many years it will take for mine to make a decent show?

 

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

 

Among the late bloomers are Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) that I grew from seed collected at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) last summer. The deer ate these earlier, so it took the plants longer to bloom, but they finally have. Like all hibiscus, the flowers only open for one day. I hope some will set seeds so I can grow this again next year. The two plants I have were the only ones that sprouted from those seeds.

 

Roselle flower (Hibiscus sabdariffa)

Roselle plant.

The Shasta Daisies have some blooms this year--behind the net enclosure, the deer didn't get them! There should be more soon, these tend to bloom very late.

 

Shasta daisies.

 

The Muhly and other grasses are one of the highlights at this time of the year, along with the swamp sunflowers.

 

Herb's bed with Agastaches and grasses (Little Bluestem, Calamagrostis)

Muhly grass 'Flamingo'

Swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolium)

 

I love those airy wild asters blooming next to the Muhly grass! The beautyberries  (Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst') have acquired a gorgeous color that complements the yellowing foliage.

  

Beautyberries

The deer have been munching the aromatic aster buds, I don't know if I'll have any flowers. They've been munching on the Chrysanthemums too, so mine don't look like much. The Abelia Panoramic Color' is still blooming.

 

Abelia 'Panoramic Color'

 

The seedpods of the Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles' are as interesting as the flowers. Unfortunately, I seldom get to see them, as the deer eat the flowers back a lot. These are some they left me.

 

Flowers and seedpods of Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles'

There's still some Indian summer weather left before out first frost cuts everything down. I wonder what else may be in store for my garden?

A Rainy September

Mushrooms growing under the birdbath.

 

The past week's rains from hurricane Helene here in Virginia have been good for my garden, even it if comes a little late--the growing season is coming to its end. Mushrooms are sprouting in my flower beds, the spiders are busy weaving their lacy orbs, while the fall-flowering plants and bulbs are making their appearance. 

 

Orange Chrysanthemum with Colchicum.

Colchicum 'Waterlily'

Colchicum 'Bornmuelleri'

Back bed with Colchicum

The Colchicum 'Waterlily' that I had planted a few years back put forth a couple of lovely flowers, which were torn to pieces by the deer shortly after I took this photo. Colchicums are poisonuous and most critters avoid them, which is why I chose this plant, but in this case it seems as if the deer tore my flowers up just out of spite (they didn't eat them), or was it perhaps to prevent their young from eating the tempting flowers? I'm never sure just how much intelligence to credit these creatures with.

The Colchicum 'Bornmuellerii' I planted in the back bed a couple of weeks ago popped up, but these have not been bothered at all. I'm waiting for the white Colchicum autumnale 'Album' I planted at the same time to come up any moment now, can't wait to see the flowers! I hope these will multiply over the years.

 

Muhly grass, Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and swamp sunflowers in Herb's bed.

Gaura 'Butterflies' with Agastache 'Blue Boa' and Little Bluestem grass.

 

Herb's bed really comes into its own in the fall, when the Muhly grass sets out its feathery plumes and the swamp sunflowers and 'Autumn Joy' Sedum put on their show.

 

Herb's bed with the Little Indians bed beyond.

Looking toward the back yard from the west garden.

The leaves of some trees are starting to show autumn color, the Yellowood tree (on the left) and the Redbud in the back. The dogwood in the front yard has turned a lovely orange.

 

Along the front walk.

The rain stimulated the much chewed-up Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles' to re-bloom, but the Leatherleaf Viburnum in back that is in bud has not unfolded its flowers yet--I hope they'll bloom before our first frost gets them.

 

Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles'

Leatherleaf Viburnum flower buds

 

The Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' is pushing against its wire cage, attempting to extend its flower stems to their normal lofty height. Unfortunately, I know the deer will decimate it if I remove the protective wire cloche, so until I can come up with a more effective barrier, they will have to stay cramped--I took off the cover for the photo.

 

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

 

After much browsing, the deer left me a few hardy Begonias in the front yard to bloom and re-seed themselves--not the display of other years, but I'll take it!

 

Hardy Begonias under the cherry tree in front.

My east woodland garden has prospered with the rains, although the Pagoda dogwood has started dropping its leaves. The holly 'Nelly Stevens' is full of ripening berries this year.

Woodland garden in the east.

'Nelly Stevens' Holly and Osmanthus 'Goshiki'

Woodland garden from the back yard.

 

One casualty of the tropical storm winds was one of my front porch baskets, which pulled out the hook from the beam from which it hung. Herb was watching it spinning crazily in the wind when it finally broke. Fortunately, it seems to have made a soft landing on top of the greenery in front. I hope we can re-hang the hook later on, but for now it makes the porch look unbalanced.

 

Fallen porch basket.

 

I wonder what October will bring... will we have a colorful autumn, and when will our first frost occur this year?

September Bloom Day

Blue Lobelias in east garden.

All-whilte Lobelia.

 

A very wet August brought us respite from the heat and drought--I recorded over 11 inches of rain during the month of August this year--and my garden seems to have revived to nearly normal. Every 15th of the month is Bloomday, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog, so welcome to my September garden: let's take a look at what's blooming.

The deer ate back the buds of most of my Blue Lobelias, but after the rains the plants recovered enough to offer a nice array of flowers. They really set off the area of my east garden where I've been trying to create a shady woodland. I had just pruned the Japanese maple tree which I grew from a 6" seedling twelve years ago when I took this photo. I even found one all-white Lobelia in there--a sport or mutant? Lovely in any case! 

 I have two other Japanese maples in my little woodland, as well as a Carolina Silverbell tree and a Pagoda dogwood. The bed is finally starting to look somewhat as I had envisioned, but will need a few more years' growth to achieve fullness.

 

The east garden miniature woodland

 

Also on the east side of the house, my  Viburnum 'Brandywine' is making a wonderful display as its berries turn from pink to blue.

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine' berries

Moving on towards the back yard, the "Autumn Joy' Sedum is looking nice next to the wild blue Ageratum--unfortunately deer are very fond of this Sedum so it must be kept protected or there would be nothing left. I call this the "Herb bed" because my husband Herb dug the first part of it. Our hummingbirds love the red Salvia as well as the Brazilian Salvia 'Black and Blue.'

 

                Sedum 'Autumn Joy' with blue Ageratum and Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster'

Red Salvia 'Windwalker Royal Red'

 

Behind this bed I have a witchhazel variety named 'Diane' flanked by two Viburnums I grew from seed collected at Brookside Gardens in Maryland--by the look of the leaves I think these may be Leatherleaf Viburnum. And one of these has developed some flower buds--unseasonably, it seems to me. I'm curious to see what the flowers and subsequent fruit will look like. It may reveal more about the particular species.

 More interesting is to note the chewed-up leaves. A number of clearwing hummingbird moths visited my garden this summer, and Viburnum is the host plant for the caterpillar of this moth, so I hope they are feeding on my Viburnums and will make my garden their home.

 

Leatherleaf Viburnum? budding.

 

I recently planted one of three Gaultherias I bought this past spring under the witchhazel tree after treating the soil with acidifier. Let's hope it survives and prospers. The alkalinity of the soil here can be a problem for many acid-loving plants.

 

Prairie sage and wild sunflowers.

A lovely color combination found in the back-most bed I call "The Badlands" was this blue sage (Salvia azurea) with some late-blooming native sunflowers. My display is still very skimpy, but hopefully will grow fuller with time if I can get the deer to stop eating it. Deer aren't supposed to eat salvias, but they will browse it if nothing else is available, and the sunflowers too.

 

Beautyberry (Callicarpa dochotoma 'Early Amethyst')

My two Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' bushes are displaying their lovely berries and haven't been too badly chewed by the deer. And there are still some flowers on my butterfly bushes, they're finishing as other fall flowers come into bloom.

 

Butterfly bush 'Miss Molly'

I spent the past two days cleaning up a bed on the west side of the house--the crabgrass was almost up to my knees!--and while doing so, I transplanted a lovely wild purple aster that I'd found in the very back of the yard near my neighbor's fence. The aster was so tall I had to cut off the top so it wouldn't pull out of the ground, but hopefully it will recover and show even better next year. This one was a volunteer, I think it came from seeds collected in Warm Springs, VA, a few years back. Some times these volunteers can be wonderful additions to a native garden.

 

Purple aster with Caryopteris shrub in the west bed.

Also on the west garden, my Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles' has recovered from the browsing and is producing some blooms. This plant is a hybrid of the native New Jersey tea plant (Ceanothus americanus) with the California native lilac. Its flowers are fragrant.

 

Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles'

In the front yard on the west, my Abelia "Panoramic Color Radiance' did not get too badly eaten this year, and has some lovely blooms.

 

Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance'

The dogwood tree in front of the house is starting to show its fall foliage. And the deer left me a few hardy begonias under the cherry tree to flower and re-seed themselves, only because  of timely spraying with repellent.

 

Dogwood tree and front walk.

Hardy begonias.

Some of my potted plants are looking good too--the white Heliotrope on the front walk is lovely, as are the porch hanging baskets.

 

White Heliotrope.

Fuchsia in hanging basket.

Porch hanging basket.

The tuberous Begonia in the hanging basket on the back deck is still blooming but starting to fade, while the Salvia 'Black and Blue' is holding its own. The humming birds love this plant and we've had quite a few of them visiting our deck. Most of them don't seem to be bothered by our close proximity and feed while we're there, but a few are very shy.

Tuberous Begonia on the back deck.

Salvia 'Black and Blue'

I hope you've enjoyed this stroll through my garden on a lovely September day. Can't wait to see what the Autumn Equinox will bring!