Just thought I'd start a new thread for the end of this crazy summer! I'm guessing the only things that look great in our gardens at this point are:
1. Plants we coddle
2. Plants that survive anything and still look great
3. Plants that we just planted within the last two weeks
4. Garden art : )
That said, here are some pics I took today. All plants pictured fall into one of the above categories!
And one more - the classic late summer plants, Black-eyed Susan and Hydrangea paniculata (this one is Pinky Winky.
This season not much now. these BES and a couple of zinnia ,are all now
Oh my gosh, Sherri, your flowers look gorgeous!!
I haven't even bothered taking many pics because we've been so dry my plants are really suffering. I've done a little lurking in some of the gardening forums, but that's about all, spending most of my time in the bird and other wildlife forums (we have lots of wildlife). We're on water restrictions right now even worse than our normal Summer ones. We can water every other day from 6AM -9AM and if you go over a certain amount of water usage, the cost of your entire bill will triple!
That said, IT'S RAINING, YAY!!!! Boy I hope it continues for a while. I do have a (very full) rainbarrel, but I mostly use it to fill a watering can. Glad I didn't bother with veggies this year.
Juhur7, how are your veggies doing?
Well I guess we all have some Black-eyed Susans. These are being enjoyed by a Goldfinch.
The vegies are semi alright ,rained all night last night and is rainy today.I sure hope all this rain helps!!.I have seen Goldfinches swaying on Coreopsis blooms amazing how they do that.
From the garden a couple of cucumbers,several tomatoes,.not much besides that.Some small Cantelopes about the size of a nickel have set on,and a few watermelons up to a couple of pounds are growing. Watering caused chlorosis,one more of why I- do- not -like- to- water!
Here's a Coneflower that is still blooming,one of my volunteers,almost six inches the bloom.Not much of a pic from mw only that is reall nothing new(lol) Your BES look they are having a good time,weather lovers aren't they!!?
Well, I hope your your drought lets up soon ,it appears ours is ending, with any hope anyway!
Adding I forgot that is one nice pic of that Goldfinch!! I Coudn't get a pic like that if my life depended on it!! Great shot!!
That's a pretty Coneflower, Juhur7! Yes the BE Susans seem to do well in nearly all weather (guess that's an advantage of natives). My Coneflowers have done fairly well and some others here and there, but in general, a disappointing year of blooms. A few of my perennials didn't grow at all or barely grew.
I had planned to add some annuals, but I had hand surgery in May and it took a while before I could have planted anything. By that time we were in "full drought".
Our rain has basically stopped, but we may still get more over the next day or so (my fingers are crossed). Our temps are supposed to be in the high 70's for the next several days. Boy is that going to feel good!
Edited to add: Thank you for such a nice compliment! You're too kind!
This message was edited Aug 9, 2012 2:25 PM
Nutsaboutnature, thanks for the compliment, but, if you'll notice, all the pics are closeups - that's because the yard as a whole has the August "overgrown in some places, fried in others look"! That goldfinch shot is BEAUTIFUL! Juhur, kudos to you for getting even some veggies out of this horrible drought year!
Sherri, Thanks for your lovely compliment! You're so right about the, "overgrown in some places, fried in others look" comment! You might notice that I only posted one picture. That's because it's one of the few plants that really look good. Others only have a few blooms (when they should have lots) or no blooms at all. Some of my foliage plants are okay, but most are kind of so, so and my Astilbes gave up in June.
Well, we did have a fabulously long and heavy rain yesterday so I assume you did too. It's too late for some plants, but I'm sure others got some benefit. Once the rain eased up a little the birds mobbed the feeders. It was quite the feeding frenzy in my yard.
Yes, we had a good rain here, too! Well, soon we'll have cooler weather and COLOR - in the form of leaves. I always enjoy that!
Well, we had a little taste of cooler today and it was sooo nice! I'm definitely looking forward to Autumn!!
Hi - I've been in drought mode, and not taking pictures of my poor babies - hosta, perennials, annuals - as they've been so stressed, especially the hosta. But it's amazing what rain, that giver of life, gives immediately to our plants. I took a few yesterday of tropicals, annuals, and the woodland. These fit into one or more of the categories above. They looked SOOO happy yesterday -- Dax
1) Caladium, Elephant Ear, Impatiens, Hosta
2) Japanese Forest Grass, Hosta, Caladium, Brunnera
3) Impatiens, Caladium, assorted perennials -- I left alot of plants (and trees) in pots over the summer rather than planting them -- this is generally a plant nursery right now. Hopefully, I can plant them in the fall.
4) Various hosta, Creeping Jenny
5) Woodland hosta -- since I never supplemented water up here, I am pleased how well they all did
Love the photos, dax080..what a beautiful garden you have!! It looks so lush. I especially like the contrasts between all the foliage colors. Thanks for sharing those lovely pics!
Wow, your plants are gorgeous, Dax! Did you have a lot of unusual heat? Just wondering because none of your hosta leaves are burnt! I love the garden pics that look like gold fanciful aliums in picture 2, too!
Thanks! Did I mention my OCD? We've beat the records for heat this summer, and so I couldn't really get out for weeks! But the last week has been in low 80's, so I've been out there all day every day. I've trimmed the leaves of the hosta by hand -- otherwise they would look pitiful. However, the coleus and caladium seem to thrive on the heat, and took off in July (as long as I watered them). Here's a few more I took a couple days ago --
1) Coleus on the patio in pots
2) Caladium and hosta around the oak
3) Hosta along path in woodland
Dax
Lovely! The Caladiums really pop! Do you dig them out and replant each year?
Beautiful!
Sherri,
Fun thread~ thanks for starting it! :) I love (and don't recognize) the first two flowers you have pictured... Can you id them for me? We are in the Chicago 'burbs too~ what crazy weather! Three cheers for the last day o' rain! :)
Photo 1: Our parking strip ~ mixed bed (canna, Red knocokout rose, Autumn Joy Sedum, Karl Foerster Grass, Russian sage, etc...)
Photo 2: Phlox paniculata 'Shockwave'
Photo 3: Two plants that seem to enjoy all the dry weather we've been having! (Russian stonecrop & perennial verbena)
Photo 4 (clockwise): Pink turtlehead, Floristan White Liatris, Miss Manners Obedient plant, Lambs ear (when all else fails, the lambs ear thrives~ go figure!), Viola 'Etain', Scabiosa columbaria 'Butterfly Blue' & Clematis recta (bush form~ it's small/new but blooming right now!)...
Hi, BlueBlossoms! Your flowers are beautiful. I love verbena, too - they survive anything! The first two of my pics are Pardancanda norrisii 'Dazzler Series'. They are hybrids of belamcanda (3rd pic) and pardanthopsis dichotoma (vesper lily). Very strange that the pardanthopsis is a different genera because it's practically impossible to hybridize between two genera and the vesper lily is so much like the tiger lily - belamcanda. I really believe one of them was mis-taxonomized (if that's a word!)
The flowers are wonderful!! I always love this thread.
Zinnia from my corner; Still it brightens up my little corner!
A different computer and no web cam at all.lol
Hi, Sherri! :) Thanks for the id! I have actually looked at that exact plant (at my favorite local nursery "The Growing Place" in Naperville), but thought the blooms were dark (more on the maroon side)~ Yours are absolutely gorgeous! I will definitely have to revisit the possibility of adding them to our little patch of earth!
Just out of curiousity, do they fall into your category 1, 2, or 3 (I'm ruling out garden art~ lol!)... If you have found them to need coddling, then I will probably just admire them from afar! I have four year old twins to keep up with and am sticking to low maintenance beauties for the time being! ;}
juhur7~ love your zinnias! Do you start them from seed? (if so, indoors or out) We started some indoors this year and had some success, but only with the red Benary's giant variety... My "Green Envy" didn't make it... so I'm thinking I will try direct sowing them next year! :)
BlueBlossoms; I keep some of them that I don't dead head ,dried, and then, in an old ice cream container or bag(if the bags secure so small friendly visitors can't get to them)dry flower and all unless I try(lol) to clean them for trade.
Then the following spring I break up the heads about an inch or so thick,mulch, seeds, and all in one quick sow. In this zone I can sow them anytime from May through July.In fact these you just saw didn't come up until July after being sown in May. (usually that would make weeds a problem, not this year!!)
If you try that sow method you might remember the gloves,some of them get a little spikey!!
BlueBlossoms - they are category 3 - just planted about 3 weeks ago! No, I don't coddle anything either. Uh, except my hydrangeas! As far as the color, they are really variable. Both pic 1 and 2 are the same species and you can see how different they are. Juhur, love your zinnias! I'm going to do some annuals from seed next year. I have shade so I have lots of foliage plants and need color!
sherriseden;I have been looking for color foliage for the sun .That has turned out to be a tough search!! I have seen a few though, there is a phlox with red leaves and a queen -annes lace also with red leaves .I cannot find either !!
I use to think I was good at looking things up until now!!lol
BlueBlossoms, your garden is just gorgeous! It's amazing you've been able to keep it looking so good with this hot, dry weather we've been having. I hope you've had some of the recent rains we've had up here (we're North of you). Expecting more tomorrow. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Juhur7 - Love your Zinnias! I've had them in the past with excellent results, but have forgotten about them for a while...that is until I see some growing and wish I'd planted some. In the past I've "direct sowed" in Spring since they grow so quickly. I just saw a beautiful bed of one of the "giant" varieties a few days ago and, once again, kicked myself for not planting any this year.
There was a red and white new hybrid zinnia at the hardware store this spring that I wish now I would have purchased and tried to grow,The new ones are gorgeous !!!!
Adding to that I still like the cal. giants and some of the older ones, so do the BF's HB's, They are a nice flower especially, as to people like myself that have never been to good with annuals.
sherriseden;I have been looking for color foliage for the sun .That has turned out to be a tough search!! I have seen a few though, there is a phlox with red leaves and a queen -annes lace also with red leaves .I cannot find either !!
I use to think I was good at looking things up until now!!lol
P.S. A couple new photos from today~ :)
PHOTO 1: Chelone (not sure if I have obliqua or lyonni~ I inherited this from a friend who was unsure of the species~ if anyone can suggest how to differentiate between the two I would appreciate it!)
PHOTO 2: Verbascum 'Southern Charm' ~ a very recent addition to our garden~ this is the first bloom! :)
PHOTO 3: Knautia 'Thunder and Lightening' ~ my favorite addition to the garden this year! I love the variegated foliage and it has bloomed non-stop!
PHOTO 4: Eutrochium purpureum (Joe Pye Weed), Cynoglossum amabile (a fun annual the kids and I direct sow each year~) & Salvia azurea 'Nekan'
PHOTO 5: Silphium laciniatum (a/k/a Compass plant)~ must give credit to this Illinois native~ adds some nice height to the garden and, of course, the bees love it! :)
A few more odds and ends ,as you can see not as nice as usual seasons still to enjoy though! From this evening. I am still not good with the cam.
BlueBlossoms;I think that Starfire phlox is one of the ones I was looking at. THANK YOU!! A couple more this eve. a sunflower and cutleaf coneflower
BlueBlossoms & juhur7 - your flowers are soooo pretty!! BlueBlossoms, it's hard to believe your garden is so young...very impressive!
Well, we got rain this morning, but not nearly as much as I had hoped for...but I'll still take it.
Juhur7, are you wanting flowers with colored or variegated foliage or just colored foliage? Because most Heucheras and Heucherellas can take from full sun all the way to mostly shady and come in an incredible array of colors with new ones every year. They do have tiny flowers (that hummingbirds like), but generally that's not the main attraction. Of course they need more water in full sun. Most of mine are in part shade, but I've considered trying a couple in sun.
I've thought about Heucheras in front of the susans,thing is with my vigorous plants whatever and put near them is going to have to have some resistance to being run over. That's my fault when it happens ,I know lol
Mostly a taller plant ,for the back of the bed is the difficulty.
For the moment a tall varigated phlox or a dwarf red blackberry looks to be the choice.
Juhur7, I came across this interesting website. I haven't checked them out on GardenWatchdog yet, but even if it's just to get ideas it was kind of a fun place to look. It's possible you've already looked at this site.
Not all of the plants were tall or for full sun. I wrote down many that were. I have to go run some errands now, but I can post some of the names later if you want. They may all be plants you've already looked at and have no interest in. Anyways, here's the link to the website.
http://www.variegatedfoliage.com/perennials.html
BTW, DG has suddenly changed the photo "upload" format. In fact, it has happened since the last time I was on here.
I always appreciate the search suggestions, not a matter to having seen the site before or not. I am not sure there is anything as a no interest plant with me.lol
That new upload is a thing ,saw that this morning. My garden also is overgrown or burnt,all those look much better close up on film than live eye.
When it started raining here this morning it decided not to stop,it has rained all day and is raining still.That rain is cold!!
Still my poorly looking plants may enjoy the cool and rain ,as they sure didn't take the heat or dry well!! Mums, Camo, and Blanket flower.
Kinda thought ya all might help me figure out where that cat flower came from.,sorry I couldn't resist. lol
Hah...now the uploader is back to normal so maybe it was just a glitch. Pretty Mums and Blanket Flower, but I particularly like the 'Cat' Flower!
Well here's another look of the Cutleaf Coneflower ,what not to grow,this things gotten huge.
And a chicory I believe growing in a corner.
Juhur, so sorry I didn't answer your question about colored foliage for sun sooner - got distracted with other things! I think the suggestions the others gave were great. Also, our native ninebark (physocarpus opulifolius), which was practically unheard of until a few years ago, now comes in many bronzy or burgandy leafed varieties. I have a "Summer Wine" and it's great!
sherriseden' What's to apologize for? You have always been very nice with the compliments and suggestions!!I looked that up and I really like those! like love, yes indeed!!The summer wine is pretty but I think I am going to look around a while for Diablo. I really like those ""Thank You""
You are welcome!
These decided to bloom today; Uploads from me are like Oh, well , you know.
