August Few Bloom Day

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

 

Today is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden Blog. Here in the northwest corner of Virginia, my Zone 6b garden continues to suffer from the drought that has affected the entire Shenandoah Valley this year. Other parts of the state have received some relief lately with summer storms, but the storms have brought only a little in the way of water for my garden. This August we are still short of even one inch of rain with half the month already past!

 

Another Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Lobelia 'Starship Rose'

 

The worst part is that with very little to browse in the forests, the wild creatures have been extremely voracious--both deer and rabbits have been making deeper inroads into my garden than ever before, leaving me few flowers to enjoy.

A newly planted Cardinal flower and the Lobelia 'Starship Rose' above had to be fenced off to protect them. After their tops got munched I could see that I'd have no flowers otherwise. The first photo is  of one tiny cardinal flower that mysteriously popped up in the front yard--I have no recollection of having planted it there, but perhaps it came with some bee balm that I'd transplanted from somewhere else.

 

My front yard.

The hardy begonias in the front yard have been decimated, I wonder if they'll have any flowers this year? The other plants along my front walk aren't exactly putting on a dazzling display, but there are a few exotic flowers among them, like my Cuban rain tree (Brunfelsia nitida) and the double Tuberoses in bud. I planted the Tuberoses last year, but they didn't bloom, and I'm waiting for the buds to open so I can inhale their lovely scent.

 

Cuban rain tree (Brunfelsia nitida) with a blossom.

Double Tuberose buds.

Salvias and tropical plants along the front walk.

Other parts of the garden are looking pretty sad. I usually have spectacular display of blue Lobelias this month, but this year most of the buds have been eaten by deer, and only a few have escaped.

 

Blue Lobelia (Lobelia syphillitica)

Blazing meadow star (Liatris ligulistylis)

 

Only one spike of the Blazing Meadow Stars came up this spring, but it got eaten down, and only a few flowers have re-sprouted. The newly-planted Liatris 'Kobold' was eaten back too; that hasn't re-sprouted at all. The Stella de Oro daylily buds were eaten, as were all my other daylilies. Only now is one flower spike of Stella starting to rebloom.

 

Stella de Oro daylily.

The potted plants on my porch and back deck are about the only ones the critters can't get to, and even they aren't exactly dazzling--just getting by, perhaps..

Hanging basket on porch.

Plants on the front porch.

Zinnias, orchids and begonias on the back deck.

 

A yellow 'Benary's Giant' Zinnia I planted from seed has started to bloom--one of the few that made it, most got eaten, probably by rabbits.

Zinnia 'Benary's Giant'

My Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance' has put forth one tiny flower spike, let's hope it will have a few more, but the plant's variegated foliage is so beautiful on its own, it may not need to flower.

 

Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance'

 

The new bed with the Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) grown from seed hasn't filled in yet, but there are a few plants in bloom. The ensemble with white salvia, mountain mint, a sedge and oat grass will look better as it fills in with time, and hopefully become a pollinator magnet.

White Salvia with sedge, slender-leaved mountain mint, oat grass and Anise Hyssop.

Tomato harvest.

 

This year the only thing that has flourished are my deck-grown tomatoes: Roma, cherry and yellow pear. Please pray for rain for our parched gardens in Virginia!

Turning of the Season

The front yard in mid-September.

 

Despite the recent unseasonable heat, now that the days are becoming shorter, the quality of the light begins to change. In the evenings, during "the golden hour," the light becomes like liquid gold that washes over my garden, drawing me in to admire the turning of the season.

 

Hardy Begonias

 

The hardy begonias in the front garden are putting forth their blooms, while the red and white impatiens around my potted Camellia have grown out to cover the bed where the Narcissus bloomed last spring. The roses  are starting to re-bloom now that the temperatures have turned down somewhat. The dogwood's leaves are starting to turn bronze, setting off their charming red seeds.

Unlike our usual Septembers, rain has been plentiful: the month kicked off with over three inches from the remains of hurricane Ida, and several other big thunderstorms have brought a total of more then seven inches thus far. It's raining again today, so I wonder how much more we'll get.

Zinnias in the rose bed.

My zinnias are still looking good--I'm hoping they will re-seed themselves next year, but if they don't, I can always buy more. A walk around to the west side of the house reveals that my shrubs and trees are making progress, despite the damage from the seventeen-year locusts this past spring. These locusts lay their eggs in the young twigs of trees and shrubs by piercing long slits in the bark, and once weakened, the branches break off easily, setting back the growth of several years. Thank heaven they only surface once every seventeen years!

The back yard from the west.

The aisle between Herb's bed and the Little Indians.

Herb's bed is looking great with the 'Autumn Joy' Sedum flowers coloring pink, echoed by the sedums in the Little Indians bed. The feathery seed heads of the Muhly grass are just starting to emerge-- the yellow and orange Chrysanthemums add splashes of color as the Amsonia hubrichtii's feathery foliage begins to turn yellow.

 

Autumn asters (Symphyotrichum laevis) and Amsonia hubrichtii

My veggie patch

 

My veggie patch is currently producing a nice crop of wax beans. When these die back I'll plant some garlic cloves from this season's crop. As soon as the asparagus roots I ordered arrive, they'll go in where the dying flowering peas are now. The flowering peas were a disappointment--I must to face the fact that our hot and dry Virginia summers are not a suitable climate for these old-fashioned, scented climbers.

I'll be expanding the enclosure to include the asparagus. Deer generally don't eat asparagus, at least that was the case in my previous garden, but here, who knows? Better not take any chances. I love the way the wild goldenrod and woodland asters left to grow around the enclosure decorate it--they may be weeds, but much more interesting than plain grass.

 

The Badlands

The rear bed which we call "The Badlands" continues to improve despite the depredations of the deer. The Purple de Oro daylilies managed to display a few flowers despite being frequently devoured, but the Shasta daisies don't appear to have many flower buds this year--the hot and dry summer was not to their liking. I was hoping that the aromatic asters (Symphyotrichum  oblongiflolium) behind them would grow tall enough to be seen behind the Shastas, but for some inexplicable reason, this one plant stays short in this bed, whereas the one I have next to the house is at least 36-40" high with a similar spread. These will soon begin to flower along with the swamp sumflowers.

 

Black cotton (Gossypium herbaceum 'Nigrum')

I grew several black cotton plants from last year's seeds but only two of them have grown to blooming size. The deer invaded my front yard several times earlier in the summer, and ate some of these back as well as other potted plants. After moving the pots onto the deck, late in the season this one plant decided to unfurl several flowers at the same time.

 

Butterfly bush (Buddleja Lindleyana) with red-hot poker flower (Kniphofia)

Buddleja lindleyana

The new Buddleja planted last fall is growing well despite being attacked by deer--it's classified as deer resistant, but only a garlic oil clip on it kept the deer from chewing it down to stubs. It finally started to bloom in late August, and hopefully as it gets taller the deer will do less damage. The hummingbirds loved the flowers!

 

Colchicum 'Waterlily'  bud

Close-up of Colchicum bud

I was surprised to spot this lovely pink bud coming up out of the bare earth, until I remembered that I'd planted an autumn crocus, Colchicum 'Waterlily,' there. A little earlier than expected--the autumn equinox is taking place today. I hope the Colchicum will produce a few more flowers than last year, and begin to multiply.

Herb was looking out from the deck while I was out take these photos, and I couldn't resist including him in the last photo. We finally had the stairs sealed this past summer and the deck got another coat of sealant.

Herb overlooking the back yard.

Soon I'll be going into my fall planting frenzy once again. Fall is a wonderful time to plant in our area!

Mid-Summer Garden Ho-hums

Hydrangeas in the east garden.

 

My garden was sadly neglected during my absence while I was at the Red House in June. It was very dry and so hot that despite Herb's tender ministrations, the weather and creatures have taken their toll on many plants this summer. The deer ate just about everything in sight: my roses, daylilies, the shrub Clematis, the Calendula seedlings. Even plants they'd not bothered with previously were chomped down, like my Rudbeckias and even the black cotton growing in pots on the front walk!

Hydrangea 'Tiny Tough Stuff' and gladiolus

Fortunately, deer don't eat hydrangeas or they would have gone after these too. This year my hydrangeas have bloomed better than ever before, despite the drought. I've been watering them whenever they showed signs of wilting, but I attribute the blooms to not cutting back the stems in early spring. I learned that both the lace cap and the Macrophylla types bloom on old wood, so I didn't prune them at all this spring. Not having any late frosts also helped, I'm sure. In any case, this is the first year that the lacecap hydrangea has produced more than one or two flowers. The flowers of both of the formerly blue hydrangeas are pink, indicating the soil is still alkaline, despite yearly treatments of soil acidifier. The new hydrangea 'Tiny Tought Stuff' is proving to be very floriferous.

Lacecap hydrangea.

The Asian lilies have finished blooming, and the daylilies' buds were eaten so quickly I didn't get a chance to see many flowers this year. Right now the Little Indians bed has very little in the way of color--a scattering of phlox flowers and towards the back, the white hibiscus and the butterfly bush.

The Little Indians bed.

Hibiscus and butterfly bush in the Little Indians bed.

 

Herb's bed has a little bit of color, and hopefully will have more as we get closer to fall. At the moment only the red Crocosmia 'Lucifer' are accented by the blue Centaureas. The perennial red salvia I planted this spring (on the right) finally produced its first spike of blossoms, and more should follow.

Herb's bed.

The cone flowers in the back bed continue to multiply; they blossomed well this year, although the flowers are now a bit past it. The goldfinches are starting to come around to check out the flower heads--I expect to see them gorging on the seeds in a week or two. I've been looking for some good companion plantings for this bed--I think it needs more variety and texture. 

I put in a plant of a red bee balm and one of a baby's breath, but thus far neither has prospered much (the deer ate back the bee balm). The dry soil here may be one problem, but deer are the biggest one. I must find some truly deer-resistant plants for this spot that is so prone to their depredations. So many of the plants advertised as being deer-resistant are anything but--there's nothing else but to try out some new plants here and see how they perform.

Coneflowers.

The current star of the garden is the bed of zinnias I planted this spring. The zinnias haven't filled out completely yet, but there's a nice variety of colors in the Benary's Giant mix I purchased. The deer don't seem to go for zinnias at all, so they've been spared, while the four o'clocks right next to them have been so badly chewed back I don't know if I'll get any blossoms out of them before the first frost comes this fall..

Benary's Giant zinnias

Pink zinnias

Orange zinnias

I'd forgotten how lovely these zinnias are, how easy and fun to grow. The bright colors of  these flowers are hard to beat!