September Blooms

Greenthumb, I've seen several stands of 'weeds' that look better than many 'gardens I pass!

Here is a shot of my Hardy Begonia both pink and white. These seeds are easy to save..Just 'plant' the whole stalk once pods turn brown and dry on top of a pot of potting soil and as it gets cold mulch the pot. In Spring, gradually remove the mulch and wait for the seeds to germinate in late spring. Good luck.

GT, We use to have a few thistles growing down behind the barn. They really are pretty. Now we try to pull them before they flower and spread their seed, really I don't want them but I still think they are very pretty.
Coleup, I like your Sweet Autumn I would like to have one of those not sure where I would plant it though. Too big for my lamppost bed with the other clems. I'm thinking that I could plant a couple at Josh's house he has a nice arbor with old roses growing on it. Maybe the addition of a Sweet Autumn would work nicely.

Holly, my sweet autumn loves to 'scramble' so maybe with the roses would work well. Remember that it can really be trimmed back to keep it in line. An old fence also works as does a 'shade trellis. With a little help it will scramble over a wall or roofs of say a shed or garage.

I'm also enjoying the blooms of this flower which I don't know the name of. I's in the 'swedish ivy family and has very dark leaves

Judy--

When do you start taking cuttings from Coleus? Seems a bit early, as they are all still growing OK.

I think I took mine later last year--and I had to re-pinch them twice more (and root the pinchings)
before out plant Swap. That took a lot of time and space--and interfered with my seedling space....

The ones I gave you were the end result....

g.

Gita, in my experience, coleus cuttings will root better before nite temps get below 55 degrees. Like you, I try to take tip cuttings while internodes are not stretching for the light. I am taking and offering cuttings now because I won't have opportunity to do so until mid-October.

So, taking cuttings now 1) Gives best cuttings
2) Gives best chance for rooting
3) can grow 'outside'
4) avoids the message to 'flower' as weather cools

I take 6 to 8 inch cuttings and pinch out the tip. If I am lucky two new 'tips' will grow which I can then take to winter over indoors. (May need to provide bottom heat for them to root and grow at lower temps on my porch .

I usually put two cuttings per container. At lower temps they are not in 'active growth' but more in a holding pattern until I bring them back to active growth as temps warm up.
In other words I grow them on the cool, dry side. I have never been successful overwintering them like a house plant as my house doesn't have enough natural light to do so.

Lots of good info on the DG Coleus Forum

This message was edited Sep 13, 2010 10:22 AM

Judy--

I have been pinching off the bloom spikes on my Coleus as i go.
My Coleus are huge! You have seen my pictures....
They have many side growths, which i will take as cuttings.

Last year, I put them in asst. small pots...What size pot do you use?
Do you think a 3" or 4" is OK? By my 3rd pinching--I used cell packs...

I used my seed set-up shelves for these until I needed the space for my seed-sowing.
It worked good--as I would turn on the lights for them..

Here......

Hi all. I haven't been on line most of the summer - my gardens are in the worst shape this year than ever before. I got so frustrated with the weather conditions, the deer, and no time to spend gardening. The heat and lack of rain looks like it prematurely killed most of my plants, and what is left has been eaten down to nubs by the deer. But, I have loads of weeds that are thriving UGH. Spring blooms were beautiful, but summer blooms have been practically non existent. I just hope the perennials aren't truly dead and will bounce back next year. No pictures to share, so I'll enjoy yours! Terri

Terri - Welcome back! Thought you had fallen of the face of the Earth. Was told this was a photo of your demise.

David (your almost neighbor)

Terri, most of us were in the same boat this year...Hopefully we'll get some more rain next year

Teri, I have been thinking of you especially when I see my frogs LOL
You have been missed.
How is your pond doing with this lack of rain?

David---

Haaa..haaa.....My Ex always used the term "The Edge of the World'....as in--"The World is coming to an edge"!

Your photo above sure exemplifies that.....something falling off the "Edge of the World"....

Thanks for the chuckle! Gita

David, too funny - I DO feel like that picture! Looks like your plants are doing pretty good, that greenthumb of yours is really working. I've started bicycling down to the elementary school - I may get ambitious and try the loop down by your house one of these days. Maybe I'll catch you and Pat outside in your gardens on the way by.

Holly, the pond level is down about 1 1/2 feet - not too bad considering the lack of rain. I had an irrigation system installed about four years ago that pulls water from it - concept is good, but implementation just hasn't cut it. I've only been able to use it a few weeks at a time until something breaks and takes months to get fixed - what a disappointment. My vision of lush landscapes from automatic watering is a pipe dream (get the pun, ha ha ha). At the beginning of this summer, there was a problem with the pump relay switch. Finally got that fixed, used the system for about two weeks, and then the foot valve went bad and the pump wouldn't hold prime. Foot valve replacement part took seven weeks to arrive - came in last week. Just in time to get the whole dang thing winterized. Trying to keep optimistic for next year. I'm curious what a full summer's use of the irrigation system would do to the pond level if there also was no rain (pond is 1 1/2 acres, and anywhere from 8 to 17 feet deep). Something for Rick to guess at :-) I was at an autction on Sat, and saw a pair of the cutest outdoor candlesticks with frogs on the base - thought of you and bidded on it - was hoping to get them for a few bucks to give to you, but some crazy woman really wanted them and had her mind set to outbid everybody - ran the price up. Oh well, thought was there.... Terri

I wanted to get a pic of Ric and I all dressed up sitting wiith a bottle of wine next to the frogs but this summer has been so hetictic that I never did put it together.

Terri - unfortunately my above pictures were of plants in the roadside ditch along St. Clair. I wish our gardens looked as good; my thumb seems to be more brown than green this year. By the way, here is a pic I snapped today at the corner of Spinks Ferry and Rt. 15, just down the road from the elementary school. Must be a coreopsis farm.

OOPS! See my ID faux pas confession in edit above, Sept 12, 9:50 PM

In-hand examination IDs plant as Bidens polylepis, commonly known as a tickseed sunflower.

David

This message was edited Sep 14, 2010 8:56 PM

This message was edited Sep 15, 2010 11:01 AM

That Sweet Autumn Clematis looks like something that I should have included in my order. Oh well, maybe next year.

The Dahlia's continue to be the stars in the garden at this time.

Roses---

i know for a fact that Jill (critterologist) has a huge Autumn Clematis....
She was talking about trimming it....

Contact her....

Thanks for all the Autumn Clematis source info.

Of course the roses love this weather and continue to bloom.

This one is Malibu

Roses---

Speaking of Roses.....:o)---I have7. All of them old and suffering.....My best one is "Sweet Surrender"---
an old, amazing, fragrant Rose....

The others are:
1--A yellow one--"Golden gate"
2--a very small, struggling, "First Prize"--has the most amazing bloom--but only one stem
and one or two blooms after 4 years.
3--An "Orange Passion" Rose--developed by Jackson Perkins just for Home Depot...
NOT the most hardy soul--but brilliantly orange!!
4--A "Proud Land" Rose---amazing red blooms on long stems...
5--A "Tropicana" that keeps hanging on in my "YUK" bed....How it survives there--I do not know!
It literally grows amid 2" roots from my Maple Tree.
6--And--Ta-Dah! My "Sweet Surrender" Rose--the hardiest of all! It smells just like Granny's perfume.
It has so many petals in each bloom--that it has double whorls!
7--And my Climbing Rose--"Autumn Sunset". Beautiful, multi- color stages--from reddish-orange
to yellow to pale yellow. Seldom blooms after the Spring flush.

NOW! I could post the most beautiful pictures of each of these--but all these just dazzle me in the Spring--
with their first flushes....from there--it all goes downhill.
The leaves get Black Spot in June and July and drop off.....With bare stems--they loose their vigor....
Also--Japanese beetles do a lot of damage--even though I have barely seen any for the last 2 years

IF I spray with Lime Sulphur in late Winter--it helps a bit---but I don't always get to it...Like this past year.

This time of year--they are trying to bloom a bit--but the blooms are minute--compared the Spring ones...

YES! I am a bit (???) negligent with all the spraying and feeding--so--I am to blame some....Or--a lot!

I almost want to dig them all up and start fresh--with more disease resistant varieties....but it ain't gonna happen....

Most of these Roses have been here for many years....Some of them with their roots, forever, entwined with those of my large Silver Maple.
Roses take too much care to be "dazzling".....I do not have the time or the energy to do all that has to be done...
SO--!
Perhaps i should buy my Roses from a more reputable Nursery than Wall Mart--Home depot--etc...
One of them I bought from "Valley View farms"--a La-Dee-Dah Nursery here--but they only give you a 30 day return policy. HD has a full year--on any landscape plants and Houseplants...WITH a receipt! NOT annuals!
People try to bring them back in october--b/c they are dead....Welll! DAH! They ARE annuals!!!

My newest one--a Knock-Out Rose--is by my shed. Bought it last year. Yes! At HD--
Not to worry about this one....It survives along all the roads and Malls and highways....

Oh, Well.......Gita

Here is my "First prize bloom---The best Rose picture i have ever taken.....

Gorgeous!


My tuberose finally opened

Chinese forget me not, spread seed from the ones in my wildlfower garden into my blue yellow and white garden, they are finally blooming

Guess they attract buckeyes

Cyclamen, I almost didn't see it.

Jen--

How is the Chinese Foeget-me-Not different from the one that blooms allover here in the Spring????

Yours look so fresh and pretty! Do they make seeds????? She asks......hoping....

Ya, those are the ones that usually bloom in spring, I just took off the dead seed head when they were dying back and spread it around, didn't even cover them, barely watered them, too

Great pictures as usual, Jen. Gita, that rose is beautiful. You're right about being a slave to roses if you want them to survive all their perils. Unfortunately, I've been hooked on them since childhood when my grandfather had them growing all over the periphery of his vegetable and fruit garden.


The rose bushes are getting ready to bloom prolifically for the last time maybe. Then I will start cutting them back hard to prevent them from being broken by winter storms and wind. If I cut them back too late they will try to bloom when it's too cold.

Malibu has done very well this year.

In the better late than never category--
greenthumb, I nominate Late flowering Boneset as the wild Eupatorium you were looking at
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1585/
You're fully excused for your Coreopsis mis-ID of course. The Boneset was IDed by some tiny scales on the tiny 1/8 inch flower bracts.

I also love the way any wild half maintained lots turns into huge patches of white, yellow or other muted tones, this time of year. Mother Nature landscaping

Sally, I'm pretty sure that my posted "Eupatorium" I think you are referring to is Conoclinium coelestinum http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/625/ , formerly (and for most, still) known as Eupatorium coelestinum. I have nursery-sourced plants blooming in my yard that are identical and blue, but I could be wrong.

One result of my glibb drive-by "Coreopsis" ID (besides my chagrin) is that when I did a serious examination I discovered that the plant was erroneously listed in the Plant Files as a synonum for another species. I sent my findings to DG and now the Plant Files have been ammended. In this case the two Bidens species are distinguished by marked differences in the flower bracts as in the Eupatorium you mention.

Those unmaintained lots full of color suggest to us what we might plant if ease of cultivation is our only consideration. Surprisingly, sometimes they are actually native plants, not alien invasives.

This message was edited Sep 16, 2010 8:24 AM

Hey Jen so glad your tuberose bloomed isn't the smell heavenly, well worth the wait! I don't think mine will flower this year I was so late getting them started.
My poor pathetic roses are putting out a last hurrah, too. I have several getting ready to bloom and with the wetter weather they have been looking much better in general.
How about some fall sedums They are looking great, the dry summer didn't bother them at all.


This message was edited Sep 16, 2010 9:21 AM

The Toad Lilies are blooming.

Roses--

You cut your Roses back before Winter??????

I always though that was a no-no???? Because cutting Roses back in late Fall would
encourage new growth, which could be killed by the winter weather....

My Roses are leafless sticks this time of year....Yes--they are trying to put out a bit of puny
late blooms....puny is the word.

Gita

Went out and took a picture.
The orange one is "Orange passion" developed just for HD by Jackson Perkins some years ago.
The one on the left is my red Proud land".....Pathetic!!!!

Gita, I cut the roses back at the very end of Summer in September so that there won't be much tall growth for the wind to break during the winter. I will cut them back after the blooms that will appear during the next week.

The name of this one escapes me for the moment.

ooooooohhhh Terri.. I like that last one

Thanks Jen. Coleup, I am in zone 6a and I try to trim as much as possible now so that the bush won't be trying to push up new growth when the frost hits. I trim a little more after a couple of frosts and then I hard prune in late winter or early spring. The lower branches are covered with topsoil and lots of straw during the winter after a really hard freeze.

looks like you are right Sally... I have that plant.. should have caught the photo

Sally--

We have a lot of Mona Lavender HB's at HD. All in full bloom....
They don't seem to be selling--and yes! The have deep green leaves and are the Plectranthus....

We also have Russian sage sitting around....
Lots of Sedums and other perennials.....

People no longer think of planting too many things--just fall stuff--like Mums...

I went to "MD Flower and Foliage" and bought 3-8" Mums--BIG ones! 3/$10.
They also have quite a large area behind all the mums of all kinds of left-over perennials in 5"-6" pots----
ALL for $1 each. I bough a tray full (8). One for a man at HD. he was dying to have the RED Monarda...They had one pot.....I grabbed it...
The others I got were----one Hen and Chicks---Two interesting colored Dianthus--Two Blanket Flowers--and two white Phlox "David"....
Nice buys!

Gita