September Bloom Day

Blue Lobelias

 

Hard to believe September Bloom Day is here--Bloom Day on the 15th of every month is hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden Blog--welcome to my Zone 6B garden in Virginia, friends! It's been a dry August and even drier September so far, with no relief in sight--my garden isn't looking its best, despite lots of very expensive watering.

My native blue Lobelias, which normally bloom during August, started to bloom quite late this year but are still going, though the foliage is yellowing (admission: some of my photos were taken from two to ten days ago). This year I kept them sprayed so the deer wouldn't eat the flower buds, and that worked. 

The one original plant I bought and put under my 'Bloodgood' Japanese maple has multiplied amazingly over the past twelve years--this year I have several white-flowered mutants in this expanse under the three Japanese maples in my woodland garden on the east side of the house.

 

East garden woodland with blue and white Lobelias

Blue Lobelia clump

White Lobelias

 

Tropical Salvias are a great attraction for our hummingbirds at this time of the year--I love seeing them come by to feed. This summer I expanded my previous purchases of  'Black and Blue' and tried again last year's 'Bodacious Hummingbird Falls' which hadn't done well the previous year. I added 'Amistad' and 'Faye Chapel' to my selections. The 'Bodacious Hummingbird Falls' in the hanging basket seems to be the star this year--the hummers have visited this one so much--they can't leave it alone!

 

Salvia 'Bodacious Hummingbird Falls'

 

'Amistad' and 'Black and Blue' in pots along the front walk have attracted their share of hummers too, and the Fuchsia 'Billy Green' on the front porch. 

  

Front walk in the evening

  

Salvia 'Black and Blue'

 

 

Miniature yellow Dahlia along front walk.

 

The big red Salvia 'Faye Chapel' also on the front walk, proved too tempting for the deer (they'll eat some salvias!), they kept eating back the buds until I moved the pot to the deck, where they can't get at it. It finally started to bloom earlier this month, but it hasn't attracted as many hummers as the others--why I can't imagine, with that luscious color! Perhaps it's getting late in the season--I have the feeling that most of our local hummers have already left for more southern parts, and the ones we're seeing now are migrants from farther north. The nights have been getting cooler and these hummers sure are hungry!

Salvia 'Faye Chapel'

Double Tuberose blooms

My double Tuberose finally put out two blooming spikes--better late than never, the scent is delicious!

The foliage of our dogwoods is turning, which is normal for this time of the year, but a number of other trees are exhibiting early signs of fall, probably more due to drought than the season. We're still getting eighty-degree days.

 

Front walk in early morning.

Reworked stone path

 

A few weeks ago, tired of seeing the stone path across my long island bed drowned in crabgrass again, I decided to take up all the stones, get rid of the crabgrass, and put down some weed barrier cloth before setting them back. I thought a bit of gravel between the stones might look nice and keep the path weed-free. 

Good Lord, was it hard work--now I know why they call it "hardscape"! A bag of pea gravel weighs a ton, carrying it out from my car to the back yard was almost more than I could do! My husband Herb couldn't help--doctor's orders--so I had to do it all by myself. But it's finally finished--next spring I'll try to do the same with the stone threshold of the veggie pagoda. I wish the contractor had had the presence of mind to put down weed cloth there before he laid out those stones!

In addition, I expanded the bed in front of the enclosure to put in three new Salvia plants--'Pink Nebula'-- and re-planted the 'Purple De Oro' daylilies that the deer were eating back. The light blue Salvia that was there got moved to the left side of the path. The soil in that part of my garden is 100% rock and clay, very inhospitable, I worked in two cubic feet of clay-breaker mulch in there plus compost--more back-breaking work! I sure hope to see the rewards next spring.

 

Herb's bed  with Texas Red Salvia

'Autumn Joy' Sedum with Muhly grass

Moving to the right of the enclosure in Herb's bed, the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' blossoms are turning pink while the Muhly grass is getting ready to put forth its airy plumes. The Agastaches and blue Ageratum are still blooming, but starting to slow down, showing stress from the drought. The pink Gaura is blooming beautifully.

The 'Autumn Joy' in the other bed keeps getting eaten by the deer, despite my barriers, so it looks very skimpy. The few Chrisanthemum plants I have left are starting to open too.

 

Agastaches in Herb's bed

Pink Gaura

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The autumn-blooming Colchicums I planted last fall have started to pop up in the back bed, with a little bit of watering, but they're not very impressive at this point.

 

Colchicum bornmuelleri

 

Colchicum album

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another expansion project I'd like to undertake is joining up Herb's bed with the one just outside the veggie enclosure. I don't know if I'll be able to do it this fall, as I'm teaching three art classes; one class in Maryland's Eastern Shore is a two-day class, and will require two nights' stay at a local hotel. I may have to put off this project till next spring. I want to have more herbs in my garden, and perhaps a tiny water feature like a tub for a waterlily. One can always dream.

 The Badlands bed has the Prairie sage showing its sky-blue blossoms right now--the native sunflowers that complement it so well had most of their flowers eaten by deer. But these are still blooming in the veggie enclosure, along with some companion plant Marigolds and Asian eggplant.

 

Prairie blue Sage

Native sunflowers (Helianthemum annuus)

 

Marigolds and Asian eggplants in the veggie garden

A friend gave these native wild Poinsettia plants, but the deer kept eating them--after spraying them I finally got to see the red flowers--they're tiny but so cute!

 

Euphorbia Cyathophoria

 

My Viburnum 'Brandywine' is now at its most spectacular--when the pink berries start to turn blue, and the bush exhibits both colors--with the foliage turning red, it's just stunning this year!

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine'

 

I created a painting of this plant recently to put in a show presented by the Botanical Artists Society of the National Capital Region (BASNCR), the chapter of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) that I belong to. Our show, titled "Autumns Splendor" is now at Montclair Library in Dumfries, VA, where it will hang until the end of October.

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine' and Clearwing Hummingbird Moth, watercolor and graphite.

 

The porch baskets are showing seasonal wear and tear--these purple petunias have the most wonderful scent I've come across in a petunia. They came from a mix called 'Pretty Grand' that a local nursery was selling. Oddly enough, the other colors barely have any scent, but at night these purple ones permeate the air on the porch. I hope I can find these again next year, though I'd prefer all-purples ones.

 

 

'Pretty Grand' Petunias

Porch basket with Bacopa, purple Ipomoea, Petunias and Pelargonium

Indoors, a miniature Dendrobium is blooming--the plant was so vigorous that I divided it into two during the summer, and both are blooming now!

 

Pink Dendrobium orchid

 

Dendrobium orchid with two blooming spikes.

 That's it for this month, thanks for visiting!

November 2024 Bloom Day

 

French marigolds.

French marigolds

We'd had a few nights with temperatures below freezing, but until this past Wednesday Nov. 13, we hadn't experienced a hard frost here in my Zone 6B garden in Virginia. The temperature dipped to around 20 that night. Before that, some of my annuals were still displaying blooms: French marigolds in the veggie pagoda, some potted Nasturtiums, Irish moss, a Calendula that sprouted as a volunteer, and a few beat-up Chrysanthemums (I took these photos a few days ago, before the hard frost).

There are still a few flowers left for November's Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog. It being mid-fall, colorful leaves and berries can sometimes take the place of flowers. Let's take a stroll and see what is blooming in my garden.

 

Caleandula 'Neon' volunteer still blooming in the veggie pagoda.

Pink mum

Nasturtiums on the porch

Irish moss still blooming.

The deciduous trees in the east garden have dropped most of their leaves, but there are still a few hanging on. I discovered a small bird's nest on the upper branches of one of the Japanese maples there, and wondered which bird had built it--a chickadee, or perhaps a titmouse? I see them flitting about the back yard at this time of the year a lot more than at other times. I guess they're more noticeable because most of the migratory birds have already left.

The east garden mid-November.

Bird's nest on Japanese maple branch.

The holly 'Nellie Stevens' has set more berries than ever this year for a wonderful display. 

Holly 'Nellie Stevens'

Dried flower heads of hydrangea 'Incrediball'

 

I like to leave the dried flower heads of the Hydrangea 'Incrediball' through the winter season and cut them back in the spring--they present a lovely point of interest during the winter season.

Our unseasonable warm weather prompted the white lilac to produce a few blooms once again and the lavender was sporting a few of its spikes. But the big chill is coming, and I'm trying to prepare for it.

 

White lilac blooms

 

Lavender 'Hidcote'

As the weather turns colder, the great annual migration of tropical plants into the house is now complete. Winter interest will necessarily focus more on those. My Thanksgiving cactus is starting to show buds; I hope it may still have some flowers left for December's Bloom Day. A friend gave me this beautiful dark-leaved Capsicum with bright orange fruit.

After an entire month with no rain whatsoever, we finally got about a quarter of an inch from the past weekend's storm. It wasn't enough to eliminate the danger of fire--there have been a few forest fires near us, but mercifully, not a whole of of acreage has burned. We can only hope for more rain soon.

 

Decorative Capsicum indoors.

I leave you with a photo of what will likely be the last rose of the season...

Shrub Rose 'Petal Pushers'

Happy November Bloom Day!

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?