New Critters in My Garden

Box turtle browsing on woolly thyme.

 

Box Turtle in front yard.

Lately I've been finding new creatures in my garden. A few days ago it was a box turtle in our front yard. Herb had told me that several days before, he'd seen a box turtle in the middle of the street, just around the corner from our house, and fearing that the turtle would get run over by a car, he stopped and very carefully picked it up to move it to one side, depositing it on the lawn in front of a neighbor's house.

Now, we few days later, a box turtle shows up in our yard, right by the front walk. We'd seen another box turtle in our front yard perhaps two weeks ago, just before one of our recent evening thunderstorms. I didn't get a chance to photograph it before the turtle disappeared into the shrubbery. Could this be the same turtle? It appears to be a female, since the claws of the rear paws are very long, so we've nicknamed her Myrtle the Turtle.

 

Salvia 'Black and Blue' with pink miniature rose.

 

Yesterday we got three and a quarter inches of rain--the aftermath of hurricane Ida's passing through this part of the country. This morning I went out to look at my garden. My 'Black and Blue' Salvia is huge this year! I'm surprised that this zone 7 plant has survived two winters outdoors in our zone 6, but it seems that burying the pot in the soil and mulching heavily may be the key to keeping some of these potted plants alive through the winter.

 My plants all seemed to have benefited from the rain, the weeds especially. I was about to pull that little bit of crabgrass in the photo below when I saw something move--at first I thought it might be a small snake, we seem to have quite a few around here. Imagine my surprise when I looked closer to find one of the biggest lizards I've ever seen!

 

Skink in a flower bed.

Skink.

I've observed fence lizards since we moved to this house, but this is the first reptile of its sort I've seen here--good thing I had my phone with me to take photos! I presume the creature wandered into my garden from the woods in back, perhaps driven by the incredible rainfall, to seek higher ground or food. Looking up to see what sort of animal this was, I couldn't figure out which description best fit the one I saw, so I contacted the Virginia Herpetological Society and sent them my photos. They gave me two possibilities: it could be either a Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus), or a Broad-headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps).

Herb's bed.

Seed pods of the Southern Slender Ladies' Tresses orchid.

 

 We haven't mowed the area where I'd found the Southern Slender Ladies' Tresses orchids so it's looking a bit weedy back there by Herb's bed--the Autumn Joy Sedum there is starting to show some color and soon the Muhly grass will develop its feathery pink flower heads. The orchids are almost done now, and setting seed; Herb will resume mowing next week after the orchids have had a chance to scatter their seeds--more orchids for next year!

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia syphillitica)

 

The Great Blue Lobelias are still blooming--the bees and humming birds really flock to them. The Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) I planted in the same bed didn't bloom this year, but it's still alive, so I may get some flowers next year. The ones I've seen at Blandy Farm are so lush and lovely, I'm envious. I wonder if mine will eventually spread as well as the blue ones have?

Crape myrtle 'Natchez' with zinnias.

The 'Natchez' crape myrtle didn't gain a lot of height this year, but it's blooming well. The colorful zinnias in front, which are still going strong, look great with it. I'm looking forward to the fall flowers, and all my fall planting. I wonder if we'll have a colorful fall?

August Monsoon

Back yard during a thunderstorm.

 

After the prolonged drought of the past few months, August seems to be turning the tide with three powerful thunderstorms within one week, each dropping over an inch of rain. It's almost like the summer monsoons in the Southwest at this time of the year. Out there, the heat builds up during the day to give rise to huge thunderheads that drop incredible amounts of rain on the parched land.

The winds were so strong at the height of one of these storms, that our new cast aluminum bench (a corner of which shows on the lower right hand corner) got blown clear across from one side the deck to the other! The bench was originally by the railing all the way over to the left. Many of my houseplants summering on the deck were thrown off my new plant stands, some were even knocked clean out of their pots! Fortunately, the damage isn't permanent, they'll recover in a day or two.

 

Salvia 'Black and Blue'

Everything in my garden was looking pretty sad before the rains, but now everything is starting to revive. The Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' just started to bloom. My Australian red lime has set some fruit, two nice-sized ones from the past winter and a few more this summer; I presume a change in color will indicate when the limes are ready to be harvested.

Australian red lime.

The deer decimated so many plants that I don't have much in the way of seasonal flowers such as the usual black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia)--this year's display is quite poor compared to last year's. 

 

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm')

Impatiens in the front bed.

I planted these red and white Impatiens in the front bed after the Narcissus leaves began to dry and wither, but either deer or rabbits ate the Impatiens, so there 's not as much coverage as I'd hoped for. With the recent rains, these may yet grow fuller before the end of the season.

Herb's bed and the Little Indians

 

Every year I strip the early buds from the Chrysanthemums, but they still end up blooming much too early. This year I didn't touch the buds at all, and as you can see, the mums, the yellow ones in particular, are starting to bloom right now. The zinnias are still going strong too--I'll definitely be planting more next year, now that I know deer won't bother them.

 

'Benary's Giant' zinnias.

Great blue Lobelias (Lobelia syphillitica)

 My great blue Lobelias have started to put on their annual show--this location seems to be to their liking and they multiply more each year. The 'Pink Posie' Pentstemons under the 'Amber Ghost' Japanese maple are also blooming well this year. The Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue,' on the other hand, seem to have suffered greatly from the drought, and don't have many flowers, at least thus far.

 

'Pink Posie' Pentstemons.

Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue' in bed behind 'Pink Posie" Pentstemons.

 

I can only hope that the rains will continue and the fall blooming season won't be as disappointing as the summer has been.

Dog Days Coming Around Again

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia syphillitica)

Great Blue Lobelias

The dog days of August are coming around again, as they do every summer. After July's record high temperatures, they don't seem so awful, thus far.  My Great Blue Lobelias have put forth more flower spikes than ever this year, and they are gorgeous. The crabgrass and weeds are lush, too--I went out yesterday morning to weed around my veggie bed and try to tackle the worst of it in the back yard beds. Two hours later I was drenched in sweat, had one large plastic bag full of weeds, and feeling that I'd barely made a dent. It will take many more sessions to get the weeds under control, in as much as that is at all possible.

Black or Levant cotton (Gossypium herbaceum ' Nigrum')

My three black cotton plants grown from Lili's seeds are producing lots of flowers and bolls. The seeds were collected from the U.S. Botanic Gardens a number of years ago (I've seen this exotic annual selling for amazingly high prices in catalogs), and thanks to my daughter-in-law's green thumb, we've managed to keep this line going.

Black cotton flower bud.

The following spring the collected seeds went in my garden beds, and I shared some with my daughter-in-law. But with soil as poor as mine, only a few blooms and bolls with seeds developed.  Lili had better luck in her garden, and managed to get enough seeds to return the favor last year. The flowers are so lovely! Their beauty is hard to appreciate fully because they tend to hide under the foliage.

Black cotton flower

I've done paintings of both the Great Blue Lobelia and the black cotton--my Great Blue Lobelia painting sold last year, but I still have the watercolor of black cotton that I painted as Artist in Residence at the U.S. Botanic Garden in 2018. The specimen I worked from didn't have any flowers present so I introduced some from my photos taken of the ones I'd grown. Unfortunately, my photos didn't show the exact way the flower stem grows out from the middle of the leaf petiole, so I didn't get this detail quite right. I'm tempted to try another painting to correct my previous misunderstanding.

The back yard from the Badlands.

I took this photo of the back yard from the rearmost bed, the one we call "The Badlands" because the soil there was the worst imaginable. I remember well how little grew here and all along the perimeter of our lot at the edge of the woods. My idea for landscaping this area was to create a transition zone for the huge trees at the edge of the woods with a series of smaller understory trees. These three trees were the first I planted in the back yard: a dogwood, which revealed itself to be a C. kousa (Asian) type only this spring, when it finally produced its first blooms, a redbud (Cercis canadense), and behind that, a Seven Son Flower tree (Heptacodium miconoides) which is a native of China.

Seven Son Flower tree (Heptacodium miconoides)

Flowering clusters of the Seven Son Flower tree

The common name for this small tree comes from the observation that the number of flowers in each cluster is usually seven. I bought this Heptacodium as a sapling on sale for the amazing price of $6--the selling point for me wasn't just the price, but that the tree blossoms in August, at a time when little else in the garden is in bloom, the blossoms are fragrant, and it grows fast.  After planting it I've had time to appreciate its other attractive features--in autumn, after the flowers fade, the sepals turn pink, giving the appearance of a second flowering, and the bark peels in layers of different colors that make a wonderful display in winter.

Basket of begonia.

I didn't find any fuschias for the hanging baskets on the porch this year, so I bought this beautiful red Begonia instead. Calibrachoas in several colors went in the two other baskets, with the addition of some creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') hanging over the edges. 

Hanging baskets of Calibrachoas on the porch.

The recent rains have brought out some new flowers: Crocosmia 'Lucifer's red flowers make a nice contrast against the fluffy blue Ageratum, with orange marigolds. The yellow Chrysanthemums are already starting to bloom, despite earlier de-budding. I'm curious to see how the 'Autumn Joy' sedum will look in the fall when the pink Muhly grass puts out some of its plumes--the deer have really chewed up the sedums!

Herb's bed.

High Summer

Monarch butterfly on Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris ligulistylis)

This July has been one of the hottest that I can recall in eight years, as well as one of the driest. The drought broke last week when a series of thunderstorms dropped much-needed rain--over one and a half inches! This was a blessing for the plants, and for the wildlife. Another overnight storm and a rainy day yesterday added more to the total accumulation.

A Monarch butterfly wafted in a few days ago and has been very taken by the Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris ligustylis) I planted this spring. Now that I see how much the butterflies love it, I'm buying more of this plant in hopes of attracting more of them. The Monarchs don't seem much drawn to the Asclepias tuberosa--although this is one of their host plants, it's not their preferred milkweed family host, Asclepias syriaca. In years past I've seen a number of Monarch caterpillars on my bushes, but I presume the birds ate the caterpillars before they had a chance to mature, since I never found any pupas or newly-hatched butterflies.

Ruby-throated hummingbird.

The Ruby-throated humming birds have been visiting regularly the 'Major Wheeler' red honeysuckle this summer, and the other morning I spotted one feasting on the flowers of the Bottle Brush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora). That hummingbird was so covered in pollen that it looked as if it was yellow--unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo of that, or of the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly that also loves the flowers of this native tree. This morning, however, one of the hummers perched on a dead branch of my small honey locust tree long enough to be photographed through my telephoto.

Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance'

The Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance' that I bought this past spring and planted in a pot, has grown very well and is currently blooming--a really lovely shrub, with its variegated green and white leaves and small white flowers. I have no idea yet where I'll end up planting it--it should reach 3 to 5 feet in height and width according to the tag information, but with such a delicate look, I need to select a site where it can be admired up close and not be too susceptible to deer attacks.

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia syphillitica)

Great Blue Lobelia with Mexican feather grass.

The Great Blue Lobelia I planted a few years back in the east bed has multiplied very well, forming several nice clumps which are just starting to bloom. This native wildflower is spectacular when in full bloom! The Mexican Feather Grass (Nassella tenuissima), native to the southwest, has also spread and formed clumps that make a beautiful backdrop to the Lobelias.

East side of the yard.

Overall, the plantings on this side of the house continue to develop, though the hydrangeas haven't produced much in the way of blooms this year, with the exception of the white 'Incrediball.' Two late frosts this spring are probably the reason--although 'Endless Summer' (with pink flowers) is supposed to bloom on old as well as new wood, it isn't doing much blooming thus far. I plan to put in another hydrangea in this area in the fall, an Oakleaf variety, though I haven't decided on the exact location.

Pentstemon 'Rosie Posie'

The Pentstemons I planted last fall are now blooming. I think the soft pink color on the grayish green foliage looks great, but I'd hoped that the hummingbirds would be attracted to these--it seems the color doesn't appeal to them, since I've yet to see even one bird exploring the nectar-rich flowers.

The long island bed in back.

The Black-eyed Susans are now in their glory in the long island bed below the deck, while the red 'Major Wheeler' honeysuckle takes a rest. The honeysuckle will probably re-bloom later on as the weather begins to cool off. I wonder what the dog days of August will bring?

Long island bed from the deck.

Great Blue Lobelia

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) watercolor and graphite, 20"h x 14.5"w.

Here's my latest botanical art piece painted for our Botanic Artists Society of the National Capital Region (BASNCR) show at the Center for the Arts in Manassas. The exhibition "Nature's Pharmacy" opening on November1st will feature plants that were traditionally used for medicinal purposes throughout history.

As the new Exhibitions Chair I've been working hard to assemble this ensemble of artwork, media and techniques by twenty-two of us artist members of BASNCR. Starting with logging the entries, developing the list of works and arranging to get the artwork from artists who live farther away to facilitate delivery their pieces to the gallery, it's kept me really busy.

It's been difficult for me to carve out the time to finish the piece I had committed to painting for this show. I had originally planned for this composition to include a pencil drawing of a clump of Lobelias behind the flowering spike in color that is the focal point, but I didn't have time to add the drawing. I may yet put this in at a later date, since the piece seems a little bare to me without it, but there is no time to draw it for this show.

Lobelia growing in my garden

I bought this Great Blue Lobelia at last year's Arborfest at Blandy Farm from one of the local native plant vendors, and put it in the east bed last fall. It has grown into a handsome clump that I photographed over the summer at different stages of blossoming. I'm hoping it will spread more next spring so that I can take a few offshoots and plant them in other beds which I'm expanding this fall.

Close-up of the flowers.

Garden Interlude

Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue' with marigolds

After a very dry June, July and August, usually our driest months, brought plenty of rain. My rain gauge recorded over eight inches in July and five in August. The plants responded gratefully. Above is one my new beds in the back, with Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue' and a dwarf Fothergilla to the right, surrounded by marigolds and a black cotton plant behind the Caryopteris.

Black cotton (Gossypium herbaceous 'Nigra')

Close-up of  black cotton flower

I grew the black cotton from seeds collected at the USBG last fall. I should have started the seeds indoors earlier, as the plants developed much too slowly after being set out in the beds, and didn't begin to bloom until late August. I haven't seen any seed pods yet, so I may not be able to continue the line unless I am lucky to collect more cottony seeds at USBG during our upcoming BASNCR fall meeting. The flowers are quite lovely with their intricate veining. I would love doing a painting of this plant, as well as the one in the photo below.

Cuban Raintree (Brunfelsia nitida)

One pleasant surprise was this single flower on my Cuban Raintree plant which I've been growing for the past year. I set it out on the porch this spring hoping it would bloom, to enjoy its heavenly scent, but only one flower appeared. This is supposed to be the Cuban "Galan de noche" fabled for its perfume--but it seems to be a fussy plant at these latitudes. Perhaps it may do better next summer, if I can keep it going during the winter...

East bed in the evening

All of the native plants I put in last fall are performing well--the hardy Ageratum (Conoclinium coelestinum) above, and the Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) have both grown lushly in the east bed among the Japanese maples. The Carolina Silverbell tree (Halesia carolinana) on the back left is growing into a respectable-sized shrub. Herb helped me plant a Sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) in front of it in late spring which unfortunately died back to the ground, and is regrowing from the roots; it's only 6" tall at the moment, and is a slow-growing tree, so it will be a while before it looks like much.

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

The back yard in July

Despite the large, still-empty expanses, the backyard is gradually attracting more birds, butterflies and bees. We have a pair of nesting bluebirds nearby that have raised several broods in the past couple of years--the fledglings like to visit our deck and we enjoy watching their antics. The mockingbirds love the blackberry bushes in back, and some mornings I would see four or five of them perched in the bushes, gorging on the berries. One morning I was able to observe a male Ruby-throated hummingbird perched on my neighbor's tree, preening and stretching his neck to show the telling ruby spot on his throat.
 

Pink striped Oakworm moth

Another morning after a rainy night I found this moth clinging to the sliding door screen. An internet search revealed it was a female Pink Striped Oakwood Moth (Anisota virginensis pellucida), an insect I'd never seen before. It stayed there for a long time and appeared nearly dead, so I waited and eventually carefully gathered it for my insect collection. Adding pollinating insects or birds to botanical paintings has become very popular lately, and I've started collecting as many as come my way for future use.

White hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutus)

Here are more photos of the beautiful seasonal flowers from this year's summer garden. Every year is a revelation of color and form, of nature's perfection. This living canvas of plants is a challenging way to create beauty, and very humbling, but the successes are so rewarding.

Daylily hybrid

Daylily hybrid

Yellow rose 'Molineux' with catmint