Garden Pics: Late Summer Beauties!

another container:

Rose 'What a Peach' - awesome performer for a narrow space

ornamental oregano whose name escapes me. (guess I could check the tag!!!)

I will be taking cuttings of this for next spring...

container - front courtyard

exploding Salvia in courtyard - a.k.a.: Hummer Crack.

One of my favourite containers this year that does not photograph well due to lighting (harsh or shade). It will get moved for next year. I can't believe I am already thinking next year...I think we need a RU for end of Summer recovery.
OK - no more photographic nonsense from me. I'm going out to play with my new rocks.

Your containers and surroundings are beautiful!

I had an ornamental oregano last year, love it, didn't survive.

Lovely Kathy!!

Awesome, Kate. I had a chance to walk around Kate's garden on Saturday morning before we headed off to Tacoma -- as you can see, everything looks fantastic. And this at a time of year when most plants are winding down . . .

Holy Toledo, Kathy. Those are all beautiful!

Yeah! I am finally back in the world of reality and may be able to keep up with the forums again!

Again, I'm not going to try to comment on everything as I would be here all day, but RC and Pony, the kitty pictures are too much!!!

Willow and Bea, funny you should mention the eerrie toad walk...I went to turn my sprinkler off in my pumphouse last night at dusk, and saw something scurry across the floor. Was thinking it was a mouse, but I don't have much of a problem with them between the cats and the dogs, so had to turn on the light and have a look and see if I could still see it. Lo and behold, there was a tennis ball size toad trying his darndest to climb up the blade of a shovel and get away from me! Watching him try to paw his way up was just as bad as watching them walk!

I am sooo sorry that those of you who couldn't make it to roundup weren't there to enjoy with the rest of us, and Katie59, Katye, Susybell and Pony...we really missed having you with us on Sunday. The whole weekend was a fantastic time, and what a wonderful group of people this is!

Kathy, I am jealous...I would love the chance to walk through Katye's gardens...the colors in all of the pictures are just glorious!

I have a couple of pics from the last couple of weeks that are worth sharing. I really wanted to get this echie tied up before roundup, but it seemed like every time I came near it, almost every bloom had it's own bee!

Some daylilies are still hanging in there...this is Hello Heartstrings

I am surprised that Mom didn't post the pic of our firepit surprise when we went to EWA. We burn most of our garden debris there as it is too dry to compost well when we aren't there all of the time. We had left our firepit uncovered with a pile of yard scraps in it when we left a month and a half ago. This is the firepit that greeted us when we got there last week. It was glorious!

And there was just something about this guy...he was my favorite statue at Lakewold Gardens this weekend!

And Katye, I forgot to mention that I love your ornamental oregano pic! I had never heard of it and fell in love with it at Mt Tahoma this weekend. Had to buy two varieties from Rick as I couldn't choose between them. This was his display garden with one variety that I got (yes, still at home in pots and can't remember for the life of me the name).

Julie - I will be attempting cuttings soon. I will save some for you if i am successful. Apparently, not an issue for rooting. We shall see if that holds true. I have been getting into the oreganos over the past couple years. So far, they have overwintered well as long as they were in cement or high-fired clay pots. I am Z 7, but was recently told that my microclimate is actually Z6 for winter. Lovely.

Julie, Hello Heartstrings is gorgeous. I love those colors. And that firepit grew like that in just a month and a half? That's amazing. Instant flowerbed- just add yard waste. It's beautiful. :)

Katye, Would be thrilled with oregano cuttings if they work for you! Isn't it just a blow to find out you are in heavier zone denial than you thought you were? I had researched my zone a little more carefully a couple of years ago, and found that microclimates in my area range anywhere from a 6 to an 8. I think that I have the full range in my yard and am still trying (often by trial and error) to get a better grasp of where to plant the less hardy stuff to have a better chance of seeing it still there in the spring.

Pony, it's crazy what stuff does with a little water over on the other side. That's why we plant our tomatoes over there! We had a sunflower come up right by the front steps in the same time period, and as we got there in the dark this time, it kind of freaked us out because we couldn't tell what the mammoth thing that was lurking over our front steps was! It wasn't there before!

Julie - it's Oreganum 'Bristol Cross'. Hardy to Z 6 so it has a fighting chance. I wonder if I could get my Alpine bed made in time for transplanting...

Julie, love your pictures of Rick's place. Go figure, I wanted so badly to go to Mt. Tahoma (I did get my Paris polyphylla), but was halfway down the trail before I realized I didn't have my camera. Just means I need to come back, I guess. Of course, I neeeeed to come back to see your garden and your mother's garden both, as well. It was a bummer that I couldn't hang out the weekend, but between my dependents and work, well, you know . . .

...I think this warrants a private tour!
I too, wanted to stay but there were furgrrrrls to feed.
The pictures you got at Mt. Tahoma are great. I will go to select more rock this weekend - definitely going to include the verticals for crevice features...
Must learn how to do concrete troughs, too.

Kathy and Kate, Boy do I have a lure for you! We are actually on the way to Mt Tahoma via the backroads, AND the rocks that Rick used to make some of his crevice gardens are Wilkeson sandstone, which is found at the quarry (odd chunks sold by weight as rumor has it...am going to be looking into it soon!) at Wilkeson which is less than 5 miles from our place. If you guys made a road trip, not only could you get a private tour of our gardens, we all could hit Mt Tahoma again, pick up wonderful rock in Wilkeson for cheap, and with notice, we would even promise lunch or dinner depending on the timing. Hmmm?

We all understand the needs of furbabies and (ick) work.....

oooooooh - this is such a wonderful idea you've got!
YooHooooooo.....Kathy?!?!

*ears perk up*

Rock? For sale? Please do let me know what you find out. I'm having a hard time finding the kind of rocks I want for free. (all I find is river rock- not so good for building walls.)

Just e-mailed them as their website does not have prices listed. Will give more info as it comes to me. If you want to check out the website, the link is:

http://wilkesonsandstone.com/default.aspx

Ooh. The 1/2 and 1 man are exactly what I want. Here's hoping they aren't too expensive! Thanks Julie! :)

Wow. I'm glad I stopped here before going to bed. Julie and Kate: I'm in. I love good rocks!!

Still waiting for a response from the quarry in terms of prices, but will let you all know as soon as I find out. Katye and Katie59...you are welcome any time...just let me know a few days ahead of time to make sure DH hasn't made other plans for me! If we do want to go back to Mt Tahoma, we need to remember to get in touch with Rick ahead of time. Pony...same goes! If you decide to put your new baby to the test hauling rock, plan to stop and pick me up (as long as it's not a work day) and I can help you load....then we could rest/relax with a garden stroll and lunch or dinner. Tracy is welcome as well. After all...it's not often that I can lure people out this far!

So I am back to that yucky time of year that it is too dark to take good pics before work, and too dark afterwards as well. Guess I should be thanking my lucky starts that it is still LIGHT before and after work...that will go soon enough.

This was the best I could get of my patio garden tonight. I just love the colors in this garden right now....

Highmtn- Gunnera is actually a wetlands plant native to the higher elevations of Chili. I have 3 - two of the manicata and one of the tinctoria. Gunnera tinctoria, I think is a more spectacular plant, with bigger leaves but has a more sprawling habit than the manicata. Other than high water needs they don't seem difficult- in the fall when it starts falling apart I just bend the leaves over the crown for winter protection. In fact the leaves are great to lay over less hardy plants for the winter. I usually remove the leaves from the crown in March just before new growth begins and side dress with manure. At that time the crowns appear like big piles of dinosaur dung.(Especially if the sun hits it and it starts "steaming") They prefer a shadier location unless their feet are wet. This is a great plant that makes a statement with very little care.

The new bed I put in this year is looking nice now. The zinnas and dahlias in the back didn't do well when I didn't water them but the rest did very well.

The deer chewed on the cosmos. Who knew they liked that.

This message was edited Sep 1, 2009 9:40 PM

And a tiny visitor.

Thanks, Julie. It definitely won't be before October for me - I have so many things going on that I think I'll need to sleep the last week of September . . . LOL But I am looking forward to it!

Most of the roses were spent, but the colors are lovely. Taken at the Oregon Garden sunday.

Honeysuckle

A tiny tree frog was hiding in the Canna bloom.

This was an area in the Oregon Gardens that was so peaceful and beautiful.

Finch, I think enjoying some fresh seed.

Dahlia called Eye Candy

Bea, what a darling pic of the tree frog.
Where are the Oregon gardens? Was that all heliotrope in the one bed? If so, it must have smelled hevenly!

The Oregon Garden is here in Silverton. 2 miles from my house. It's a wonderful place. Yes that was heliotrope. I did not notice the scent early (7am) when I was there. It was cool so I think heliotrope releases it scent when it is warmer. Will have to go back on a warmer day.