What\'s Blooming #3

I've been MIA, my DH and I had a business meeting in TX. I waved to you guys as I made my way through IL and MO. We were a hit in TX as we packed and gifted them with some cool weather.

Donna I'll get on that Deutzia layering and let you know when she's ready to ship.

Oh wow! You're the best!

So I've been out and about with the camera and I have a few photos to share on, "What's Blooming" here:

Clematis (planted earlier in the season)
Center stage in the 2nd photo are the Autumn Joy Sedum which great so many seasons with a different appearance.
Lots of the burgundy self seeding annual celosia(photos 2-5) that prides me in coming up and being a show off during this season.
In the 4th photo background are some titan asters just starting their bloom - so tall.
In the 5th photo - most of the red castor beans (background) self seeded and my neighbor thought they were Japanese Maples.

So I've been out and about with the camera and I have a few photos to share on, "What's Blooming" here:

Clematis (planted earlier in the season)
Center stage in the 2nd photo are the Autumn Joy Sedum which great so many seasons with a different appearance.
Lots of the burgundy self seeding annual celosia(photos 2-5) that prides me in coming up and being a show off during this season.
In the 4th photo background are some titan asters just starting their bloom - so tall.
In the 5th photo - most of the red castor beans (background) self seeded and my neighbor thought they were Japanese Maples.

I am very envious of all that I see with your fall gardens. We have mums and asters right now but not much more.right now.

Brenda, so beautiful! I was asked by a group of my fellow master gardeners to identify ricinus. I've been growing it for year and it is all over planters on Michigan Avenue (the Magnificent Mile) in Chicago.

I love your color themes and textures. You good write a book about planting for seasonal interest and use the pictures above!

rouge21 - Great comment, thank you. Your mums & aster are ahead of mine as for the blooming. I'm still waiting on most of those to be in full bloom.

Donna - Thanks for the feedback and yes I love the color of the red ricinus (castor bean). I'm imagining what it must look like in its glory on Michigan Avenue. Do you recall what they have accented the ricinus with? Writing a book would take years for me - but thanks for your forethought on that. How kind of a thought!

I've got to say I'm a little envious too Brenda, great job getting all that color into your landscape for this time of year. I'm waiting for Chrysanthemums to bloom now too.

Do all those 'self-seeded' annuals reseed politely, or do you have to pull a bunch of them? So they perpetuate themselves from year to year without any help? The color this time of year is awfully nice.

We have a community college about a mile from here which has the most magnificent ricinus I've ever seen - it is a gigantic clump 10ft tall and about 15ft across. Wild guesses as measurements of course, but just trying to give the idea that it's absolutely enormous. And spectacular.

The use of the Ricinus is awesome! I love the way it is combined with the other plants.

Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate' has seen better years with all of the summer drought we experienced and it's still blooming with profusion. The leaves are what suffered, they are noticeably smaller than normal.

I happened to pass by the big castor bean plant at our nearby community college.
Not a great photo from my cell phone stopped at the side of a busy road.
But it gives you an idea of the planting.
Not sure if it's dug up each year and replanted? Or somehow protected?
Certainly not hardy in our climate.

It's a good enough photo to see how magnificent the planting is. It looks like your weather is the same as ours.

Weerobin - Sure glad you could share that photo of castor bean planting. I was going to ask if you could get a picture. They are annuals. They selfseed. It looks like they have been watering those to keep them so full and thick leafed as I see what looks to be a hose there at the far right base of the plants. Looks like they chose to plant a low growing plant at the base. Enormous and spectacular is right for that planting. Love it!


My self seeders are pretty polite. They sure save me a lot of work by planting themselves. I believe it is easier to pull a few out than it is to plant them in the first place. Sometimes I toss their seeds in other areas in the fall where I think there needs to be that color & height next year. It is funny how they pick and choose when (the season) they are going to pop up and put on their show.

Mipii - I certainly see the chocolate stems in your plant above. Pretty.

I was down at the Wetland Garden about an hour earlier and there were butterflies everywhere - They sure wowed me! They must have know it was getting ready to rain and got their nectar and got the heck out of there and me like a dork watched them and got caught up by the butterfly activity and doing some seed saving of the zinnia blooms and then I ended up walking back to the house using trees for umbrellas. Butterflies - There must have been 7 different species checking out all the blooms in the Wetland Garden. Lots of monarchs - glad my flowers can help them on their journey.

Perfect picture!!!!

Yes, yes, tis a wondrous thing. Getting a bit wet was probably worth the vision, that is a great photo too.

I love Castor Bean and that is a primo planting!

Those castor beans are very dramatic. We use it near the entrance at our community garden and it always gets some attention. I don't have a great picture of it though.

Brenda, you are lucky to have all that celosia reseed. I have trouble keeping that plant going mostly I think because they are already rootbound in the flats.

There's my shady deutzia, probably Nikko, to the bottom right, grown over by the ginger in pic 1. I really can't move it without destroying the ginger which has priority and it stays small and blooms delicately enough to make me happy. I know I am sacrificing the big show it can put on. I could always pick up another if I have a spot. That is one plant that is always leftover in the fall.
There is hardly any chocolate left on the Eupatorium rugosum that reseeds like a weed but I can't resist leaving a few around. You might notice next to it I picked up Whirlwind anemone which happens to be offered this fall and 50% off. After I bought this, I did find Honorine Jobert, my other favorite which you say is a better survivor so maybe I'll consider going back for it. I'm a sucker for white anemones. Last try though.
Angelica gigas going to seed, another weed that I let stay.
A couple of late blooms on Sally Holmes. This one I dug out of deep shade this year and have high hopes for it becoming spectacular over the next couple of years.
Do any of you overwinter Lantana?
Finally my bottle gentian. I wish that one would reseed. The Gentiana acaulis I picked up in the spring browned and disappeared some time during the summer.

So I don't know if my one annual mum is blooming or if it survived so I have to check. I do have asters. The tartarian aster is in bud but the volunteer asters are starting to bloom. There is another weed for you.
And speaking of weeds, the yellow hyssop likes to spread as much as it can. Another foolish seed trade. I guess I like the velvety green candles so I never completely eradicate it.
Then there is tropical milkweed that after growing a few years started to reseed itself. At first, it never returned. Now it starts itself and blooms on time which I like. And it was a jackpot year for monarchs finally.
I picked up some white turtlehead - Chelone glabra which is suppose to attract the azure butterfly. We'll see. I saw some mature plants at the Highline in NYC yesterday and it wasn't as nice at 'Hot Lips' but that isn't suppose to be a host.

Very nice Loretta, even though your Asters split the colors are really beautiful. I have no idea why they would split like that if you had cut them back. I have yet to see if my Chrysanthemum dendrathemum 'Cambodian Queen' will splay as much as it did last year after cutting it back this summer. It sure didn't look very good for awhile after cutting it back.

I'm hoping your Gentian acaulis just took a summer hiatus, going dormant for the summer heat...maybe?

Let us know if you see any Azure butterflies, if you do I'm going to do some shopping. I've already picked up a few types of milkweed seed to grow for the Monarchs. I like your Angelica, I should plant some of those seeds too.

Yes I overwinter my Lantana. I cut it back and let it slow grow in an unheated basement.

Eupatorium is way too aggressive for my climate - I spent this weekend trying to debulk eupatorium & persicaria before they reseeded everywhere. Almost overwhelming.
Loretta, I'm totally jealous of your Asclepias currasivica - I'd love to have it reseed and return each year. You didn't do anything special to encourage it?

Wee have you tried E. Chocolate? I'm in the same zone as you and have had mine at least 5 years with nary a seedling to be had. The clump I have is only slightly bigger than it's first year size.

Has anybody else found it aggressive?

Well, the plants I have were from someone who gave me his seedlings of Chocolate (which I gave to him) so he may have been mistaken since the species grows here and he lives by a woods edge. Some of the seedlings do have a dark blush but nothing is as dark as Chocolate. The do reseed heavily for me. I didn't get any seedlings when I grew Chocolate but then it never came back for a second season either. I think I tried it twice.
Wee. if you want to try and see if you get seeds to overwinter for you, I'll be glad to send you some tropical milkweed. You can try starting some and let some start naturally and see what happens. I've had it come back now for three years. They aren't the same plants though.You have to be careful at first since the seedlings look similar to persicaria Lady's Thumb but you can tell by the stems what is what.
Mipii, Rouge is the one with the colorful asters. I hope you're right about the gentian. And thanks for the info on the lantana. I may try. How do they do after overwintering? Are they farther along than starting with new 4" pots?

I'm still wondering who I promised Lauren's Grape poppy seeds to? Was it anyone here?

Mipii, you must be right - I guess Chocolate must be some sort of sterile cultivar? I've always been afraid to try it because of it's more aggressive kin. I've also noticed that some of mine have fairly chocolate-ish foliage, but nothing too striking.
And Loretta, I'm jealous you live near enough to enjoy the Highline sometimes. One of my favorite spots in the city any time of the year.

I don't think Chocolate is sterile. Maybe Robin is just a better weeder than me. The seedlings do look similar to many other aggressive reseeders in my yard.There are worse and if you deadhead on the quicker side, you improve your lot. The plant goes to seed very quickly and if you were really strict about it, you would have to deadhead while it is still blooming. If you have a soft spot for the bees, it is hard to do.

And that is the other good thing about it. It provides nectar along with the asters at the end of the season and so I let both reseed to a point. Probably drives a few anal retentive neighbors crazy but really, the more you think this way, the more you see how wasted and dead most yards are and how hypocritical most people are when they raise funds with their children for the rainforest and don't put up with a bee in their yard, let alone other crawlers and critters. Ok, sermon over.

The Highline was nice, Wee and it was the first time I finally made it there! But it really pointed out my plant hoarding when I found I had a representative of a large percentage of the plants there minus most of the grasses when the walk is over a mile long and my yard is about a third of an acre! Next time I will bring my camera.

Yes sorry, it was Rouge with the Asters.
Loretta, I sure liked your sermon! I'm probably not a better weeder, I only weed things out that I know for sure is a weed, everything else gets a chance to bloom. I often keep volunteers, they amuse me. I also grow for the seeds, not only to harvest for myself but to share with the wildlife and E. Chocolate is loved by the nectaring population in my yard.

As I recall they are growing the ricinus in huge planters with tropicals. It's an amazing sight. All over the city, but particularly on State Street and Michigan Avenue, there are enormous planters of plants. Lots of hydrangea macrophylla. I was shock to see smokebushes. Businesses on those streets have made their own displays, inspired by the city. And then there is Milennium Park, which must have 100 flowering trees. I no longer live in the city but when I take the train every month into it I am experiencing what tourists must see when they first come in - bursts of color and greenery.

The University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener program works with the Kane County Chronicle to provide articles for its readers. Usually we each write three articles, but I have found that working with clients (I now have nine!!!!) helps me to address the problems of gardeners in my community. I am submitting an article tomorrow on "Keeping the Color Alive" and for it, I am submitting pictures of plants in bloom NOW.

These are:

Eragrostis spectabilis

Ceratostigma -plumbago

Eupatorium perfoliatum - boneset

Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert'

Good luck with your article, Donna! Sounds inspiring!

Very nice Donna and Loretta, it's great to see whats blooming now. Loretta, what's the neat plant in photo #2?

That would be Mountain Mint - Pycnanthemum muticum.

I like the Mountain Mint. I work a Prairie and Rain Garden and I've been offered some. Might have to say yes!

Your caladium is very unusual and beautiful. You have some really interesting plants that you don't see often.

Nice!

Thanks, Donna! Take it! It's a good nectar source. The mint use to be in the ground but after a couple of years it started to run a little. It isn't as aggressive as spearmint. I was able to pull it and now I have large terracotta bowl where it stays all year. I may put it back in the ground again.
The caladium is Miss Muffet. Hopefully I will be able to overwinter it.

The Mountain Mint photo is a really nice one too, good job.

It's a good nectar source.

I loved MM when it was in our garden. The flowers are for sure not flashy but the plant is a pollinator magnet. But I was disappointed that I couldn't overwinter it although it has the reputation of being a bit aggressive. And the nursery that I got it from no longer exists :(.

Thanks, Robin. Mountain Mint blooms is one of those plants that photograph well.You know, like astrantia blooms. It's those dusty bracts.

Rouge, it isn't a plant I see a lot around here either. Next time I break the plant up, I"ll try to save some root cuttings.

Despite that the temperature is dropping some of my plants are still showy.1 Pink Japanese Anemone 2)chive flowers 3)purple Asters 4)Burgundy Gromphena

Very pretty, cytf! That anemone is a nice soft pink. Do you know which one it is?
I always love to place the purple and red gomphrenas around but for some reason they were hard to find this year. I guess there were too many vincas and petuntias on the shelves to make any room. (Nothing against vincas and petunias).

I'm enjoying all the pretties and knowledge there of. Mountain Mist - very very unique foliage & bloom. Wishing I had more anemone - I must work harder to get those babies going.