A Warm Fall in my Garden

Colchicum 'Waterlily' bud.

 

Nothing says "fall" like the fall-blooming crocuses: two days ago I saw the first bud of the Colchicum 'Waterlily'  peeking out of the ground. Today, the flower is fully open! I hope there will be a few more flowers, the bulbs have been multiplying slowly. I must plant more fall-blooming crocuses! Maybe try some golden-flowered Sternbergia next year?

Colchicum 'Waterlily'

 

Some seasonal flowers are appearing, but the deer have been so voracious this year, there's not a whole lot left to blossom. I found a few flowering spikes on the smooth blue asters (Symphyotrichum laevis), but by the time I took this photo, the few yellow mums in front had been devoured. This year the local deer have eaten plants I've never known them to touch before: mums, Asian lilies and salvias?

 

Smooth blue asters.

 

I did come across an unusual find--a beautiful deep purple wild aster hiding among the tall weeds in a hard-to-reach area in back. I wonder where it came from? Last year I collected a couple of dead flowerheads from some wild purple asters I found in Warm Springs to broadcast in the back yard, could this be one of them? Or is it a natural hybrid of the wild asters with the smooth blue? I definitely want more of these beauties, and will try to transplant them to more visible locations in my garden.

Volunteer wild aster in a weedy area.

The blue prairie sage I planted this spring hadn't become very tall, but was starting to bloom when the deer devoured them--all that is left are a few bare stems. I hope the plants make it through the winter and have a chance to become established. I've been working on establishing my very own "Postage Stamp Prairie" in the area we call the badlands in back.

Blue sage (Salvia azurea)

Another lovely surprise was to see some buds on the Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' I planted last year. The deer had been eating this one so much I had to put a wire cloche over it or it wouldn't have lasted very long.

 

Buds of Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

 

I think this red salvia is 'Royal Windwalker Red' and not 'Texas Red' but I'm not sure--will have to look at my collection of saved labels to find out. This one was munched by deer too, but not badly, and is only now starting its display. The weather predictions say we should be having a warmer than usual autumn, with no frost until the end of the month, which will give these flowers a chance.

Salvia 'Royal Windwalker Red'

Only a few flower buds of the tall swamp sunflowers that usually bloom so profusely in my fall garden escaped the depredations of the deer. Ditto for the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and the Beautyberries.

 

Swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolius)

Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' (Callicarpa dichotoma)

Not very noticeable, but I finally found one or two red berries on my 'Berry Poppins' hollies in front--it seems the 'Mr. Poppins' I acquired last year turned out to be a male plant for real. The previous specimen I'd bought had turned out to be female, so let's hope Mr Poppins grows bigger next year for a nice crop of berries..

A berry on "Berry Poppins' holly.

The foliage on the Viburnum 'Brandywine' is turning beautiful shades of red while the berries turn from pink to blue. The white lilac which didn't bloom at all this past spring has put out a few buds now, after the 2.5 inches of rain that tropical storm Ophelia left us. That's the second fall this shrub has bloomed, isn't that odd?

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine'

Pink and blue berries of viburnum 'Brandywine'

White lilac blooming in fall.

Next week I'll be away at the ASBA Conference so I won't be around for the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day on the 15th, but this is what is blooming in my garden now. It's not the masses of flowers I'd hoped for,or even the modest displays of the past, it's been a bad year for gardens here in the northwest corner of Virginia.

The Dog Days that Weren't

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia syphillitica) in white.

 

August began with a couple of severe thunderstorms which brought a lot of rain to our region. After the second storm, the weather cooled down, as the jet stream dipped way down into the south. As a result, the usual Dog Days of summer have been considerably cooler than normal, almost autumn-like. My garden is loving it!

 

East bed with great blue Lobelias

Great blue Lobelias in the east bed.

The Great Blue Lobelia planted many years ago has multiplied amazingly in the intervening years, seeding itself throughout the entire bed to the east of the house. This year I noticed there are a couple of plants with white flowers among the throng--I presume they are either sports or albinos of the parent plant--in any case, they are lovely!

 

Hybrid lobelia 'Starship Rose'

 

The hummingbirds like the lobelias so much that this spring I ordered a new one, a hybrid called 'Starship Rose' which has turned out to be a winner. Now that I know it will do well here, I'll probably buy a few more plants next year. I want a huge clump of this one!

 

The back yard viewed from Herb's bed

The Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is getting ready for its September show--soon the Muhly grass nearby will put forth its airy plumes, and the swamp sunflowers blossoms for a gorgeous display. This year the deer haven't eaten the flowers of my wild sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) growing around my veggie patch and in the badlands, for some unfathomable reason.

 

Wild sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) in the Badlands

 

I've been spraying the black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckias) and the Clematis 'True Love' with garlic spray so the deer wouldn't eat them. But they took their revenge by devouring some pink Portulaca I'd planted in front. In the photo below the Portulaca was starting to cover the bed, a week later it looked gorgeous, and then the deer ate it down to nothing! Such is the heartbreak of gardening...

Pink Portulaca with Clematis 'True Love'

The long bed from the back with a Beautyberry shrub in front.

The long island bed.

Black-eyed Susans and Boutelouia 'Blonde Ambition' grass.

The long island bed is more colorful this year with the black-eyed Susans protected. The Lambs' ears is spreading nicely. This year I planted some balsam seeds  (Impatiens balsamina) in the bare spots. It took a while for them to sprout and get established, but they're finally starting to bloom. Hopefully they will re-seed themselves for next year. I used to have this plant in my garden in Columbia before we moved here, and it made a wonderful display.

Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)

One cool morning walking in the back near the woods, I spotted a tiny bunny under my witchhazel tree. He was so cute, I ran back to the house to call Herb to come see it, but by the time we got back to the spot, he was gone! Mama rabbit had probably parked him there while she fed, and she came back shortly to fetch her baby. Good thing I got a couple of photos of him before he vanished!

Micro-bunny.

Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar.

Another interesting sighting were some green and black caterpillars on my fennel plants--these are the larva of the black swallowtail butterflies. I was hoping to see some of the pupae, but I think the birds may have eaten the caterpillars before they had a chance to pupate. There doesn't seem to be a lack of black swallowtails in my yard, so a few must have made it. I see more and more butterflies here every year--my garden is definitely attracting more pollinators.

 

The front walk

Yellow Hibiscus

This summer my hanging baskets on the porch haven't been as successful as I hoped for, but the front walk, lined with potted plants, is as colorful as ever. Those scented white Petunias are a great new addition!

My potted plant collection on the back deck continues to increase, as you can see.

 

Plants on the back deck.

Back deck on the other side of the door.

I can't complain about this growing season, the weather has been very kind to my garden thus far. Yet oddly enough, the southern slender ladies tresses orchids that bloomed so profusely last summer, haven't made an appearance at all. Who knows why, these native orchids are so quirky!

Frosty Morning

Full-moon Japanese maple 'Shirasawanum'.

Japanese maple

Last night the thermometer dipped into the twenties. When I got up in the morning and looked out the window, I saw that Jack Frost had painted a scene of fantastic beauty outside! Looking out over the east side of the house, the tops of the three Japanese maples shimmered in the early morning sun, making such a lovely sight, I couldn't resist going out to record it with my camera before it all vanished!

The hoarfrost had outlined every leaf and blade of grass, turning each tree and shrub into a work of art: the Japanese maples, the hollies, the grasses, even the mulch!

 

Berry Poppins hollies.

Japanese maple 'Bloodgood'

Going into the back yard, in the Little Indians bed, the 'Bartzella' peony and the purple Chrysanthemums, with the catmint behind, created a beautiful array of subdued colors and shapes.

Peony 'Bartzella' with mums.

Dried flowerheads of Swamp sunflowers.

Even the seedheads of the Swamp sunflowers were artistic, outlined with ice crystals. The Bottlebrush Buckeye tree with its yellowing leaves was a wondrous sight, as was the Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' with its small purple berry clusters.

Bottlebrush Buckeye

Beautyberry shrub

 

The just-planted lamb's ear's furry leaves were heavily coated with ice. The Fothergilla's leaves, just starting to turn, next to the frozen aromatic asters, were another study in subtle shades.

 

Lamb's ears leaves.

Fothergilla with aromatic asters in front.

Walking around toward the west side of the house, the berries of Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy' looked like they might be special seasonal decorations. The Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost' and even the fallen leaves on the grass were gorgeous!

 

Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy'

Fallen leaves

Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost'

In the front yard, the dainty leaves of the 'Princess' holly looked like another classic winter decoration. The sprigs of red barberry 'Admiral,' next to the gray-blue foliage of lavender, another work of art! I could go on, but I'm repeating myself, so I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

'Princess' holly

Barberry 'Admiral'

Diervilla 'Kodiak Black' and oat grass.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and Itea 'Little Henry'

Fall Flowers

Swamp sunflowers (Helianthemum angustifolium) by the house.

 

As my birthday comes around once more, the season is marked by some of my favorite fall flowers. First to bloom are the swamp sunflowers, with their cheerful, airy scapes, then the chrysanthemums and the asters. The smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) blooms earlier--the flower spikes tend to be tall and slender, but this year, mine were eaten back by deer, and thus pruned, they barely peek out from under the Amsonia behind them.

 

Symphyotrichum laeve with yellowing leaves of Amsonia hubrichtii.

Colchicum 'Waterlily'

The Colchicum 'Waterlily' flowers were spectacular, if short-lived--three gorgeous flowers emerged on leafless stalks. The leaves will sprout in the spring, grow, and then disappear. No signs of the saffron I planted in a wire cage in the back bed this year--Herb caught sight of a squirrel digging up the bulbs I had planted in pots and despite covering those with wire cloches, there's yet a flower to appear. Maybe the squirrels have already eaten all the blooming-size bulbs.

 

Red  'Double Knockout' rose

After a very wet September, the roses are re-blooming. The red 'Double knockout' roses in front look particularly lovely with the amber foliage of the dogwood. My Chrysanthemums were mostly a disaster this year--the plants burned so much during the summer drought, that very few buds were left intact, and the foliage all browned out. To console myself I bought a new pink mum at a garden center, and an ornamental kale. The two complement each other perfectly!

Pink mum with ornamental kale.

The aromatic asters (Symphyotrichum oblongiflolium) usually open a couple of weeks after the swamp sunflowers and last until well into November. In the two weeks since I started writing this post, the asters have opened just as the sunflowers begin to fade.

 

Aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)

Close-up of the aromatic asters

October dawns on the front garden.

Despite the warm days, in the past two weeks the dogwood tree in front has gone from amber to burnished red, and most of the potted plants that I grow outside are beginning to die back. The cherry tree is turning gold. My pot-grown red Dahlia finally produced a few blooms--well worth the wait!

 

Red Dahlia

 

The weather has been so warm recently, and many of the summer-flowering plants I put in this year didn't start blooming until recently. The Calendula 'Neon', eaten back by the deer until I protected it, didn't produce many blooms until a few weeks ago; the perennial red Salvia planted this year is only now covered with blooming spikes. A shame that these will soon be cut down by the first frost, just as they're looking their best!

 

Calendula 'Neon' grown from seed.

Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' (Callicarpa dichotoma)

 

Today the air is crisp and much cooler, it feels like the first really autumnal day. The frosts will arrive soon, and usher in the closing chapter of another season in my garden.