"The Goldenrod Is Yellow..."

September

The goldenrod is yellow,
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

The gentian's bluest fringes
Are curing in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges haunt their harvest,
In every meadow's nook;
And asters by the brookside
Make asters in the brook.

From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes' sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.

By all those lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer's best of weather,
And autumn's best of cheer.

- Helen Hunt Jackson

I read Jodi's blog post yesterday and as I strolled through my late September garden in the afternoon, I noticed that my garden wears a lot of yellow right now. Oh, I've got those oranges that Jodi speaks of, but it's the yellows that dominate.


Probably no corner shows off its yellows better than the one in Max's Garden where the Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) is in full bloom, behind the golden shrub that Mom gave me a few years ago. I don't know what that one is, but I love the colors it has in every season.


And beyond the Solidago is 'Henry Eilers' Rudbeckia. This is my favorite of all the Rudbeckias because of its spiky form. It's the punk rocker of the garden.


Around the corner from these is the Giant Yellow Scabiosa (Scabiosa gigantea). Each year, this plant gets more and more lush. It grows taller and the flowers get bigger. I don't know that I would call it yellow though. It's more of a cream color, but I'll include it here because I'm nice that way.


The Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'Golden Helga' is living up to her name, and this is actually one mum that has lived through two winters now. I had a horrible experience with other perennial mums in the Prophet Series not behaving like perennials two springs ago, so I'm a bit leery of planting more. Not leery enough to keep me from buying and planting more, but I'll be crossing my fingers all winter that they'll still be there in the spring.



Gaillardias are real troupers in the garden, no matter how hot or dry the summer is, and 'Golden Goblin' is still going, as are 'Lemons and Oranges.'





Calendulas just have to be the easiest things to grow. Ever. If I let them self seed, they'd be just as thick next year. I'll save the seed however, as I do every year, and then toss it on the ground and rough up the soil a bit. Without fail, I get a nice thick crop of it, which is nice to see this time of year. It's just so ... yellow.


Near the Calendula is the Tansy. Talk about invasive. I do love its ferny foliage and its little yellow button flowers, but I don't really want a whole garden of them. So each fall I dig some out so that other things can share its space. Things like the chives. Yeah, that's another one that likes to hog the covers. Maybe I should let them duke it out and see which one wins.


Not really a flower that's yellow, but pretty just the same, is the Yucca filamentosa 'Colorguard'. We've had the green yuccas for years - ever since we moved here in 1977 - but this is the first year for the variegated one. It stayed looking perfect all summer long and I especially appreciate its golden stripes this time of year when the garden is clamoring for color.


Brugmansia blooms don't last all that long, so when they bloom, I can be found sticking my nose and my camera into its big blooms. In fact, my next-door-neighbor, Tom, found me that way this evening. I asked him if he could smell them as he stood about ten feet away, and he couldn't, so I suggested he come closer. At about three feet, it hit him. He thinks it smells like soap, too. This one was given to me by Mom last year at the end of summer. It's variegated and my best grower. It's reaching "tree" proportions!


Summer ended today. *sniff* As fall has its glorious beginning with our wonderful weather, we'll look at the highlights of the summer garden tomorrow and bid it farewell.