Monday, September 15, 2008

Late Summer Blooms Into Autumn


Where DID the summer go? It seems like just a couple of weeks ago, I was hustling to get August Garden Blogger's Bloom Day photos posted! However long ago it was, there's no doubt about it now - we're beginning to experience fall in the garden.

I've begun some cleaning up. I can't stand the crispy brown leaves on the lower parts of some of the annuals, so they've been pulled out. With the hot dry weather we've had for so long, powdery mildew has also been a problem with some of them.

But we got lucky and got three inches of rain over the weekend, the first we'd gotten in about two months!
In spite of all that, there are plants that are just coming into their own. The mums are beginning to show color, the toad lilies are opening, and one of the new roses I bought this year - 'Cinco de Mayo' - is screaming for attention with its new flush of blooms.





The various sedums have been blooming, with 'Autumn Joy' and 'Autumn Fire' being the stars at the moment.

Zinnia angustifolia in the foreground, with
Zinnia
'Profusion Apricot and Fire' behind them.


The brugmansias have been throwing out their huge and fragrant blooms since late August.








Sweet Autumn Clematis is in full bloom and smells wonderful as I walk through the arbor it covers, up by the house and also the trellis out in Max's Garden.
The fragrance is more intense in the evening.






























Rudbeckia 'Henry Eilers' is a vigorous grower and bloomer and I love its unusual spiky petals. I'd tried to grow these from seed last year and had 0% germination rate. This year, I got plants from Great Garden Plants and they grew like gangbusters in spite of the hot, dry weather we've had.





After their usual slow start, the morning glories are growing and blooming like there's no tomorrow. 'Chocolate' threatens to take over the gazebo. "Death by Chocolate" - what a way to go! LOL.












I grew Verbena bonariensis for the first time this year, by seed. I'd read about it on so many other blogs and how everyone loves it. Now I know why they do. The strong, tall stems with the purple clusters of flowers at the top look great at the back of the garden by the fence. It's a favorite of the butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, too. I've heard that it self-seeds - I hope so!










Caryopteris incana
'Sunshine Blue'
is starting to bloom now. It was just planted this spring, as a replacement for 'Dark Knight' that didn't make it through the winter. This one has grown quite a bit since planting and I'm hoping its vigor will carry it through the winter.



Until I planted these delphiniums (Delphinium elatum 'Magic Fountain') last year, I had terrible luck growing them. These even self-seed for me and we've enjoyed their blooms all summer long.

Whatever the secret is to growing delphiniums successfully, I've stumbled upon it and I don't even know what it is. Sometimes it's best not to ask and merely enjoy!



Second only to the mums, nothing says fall like asters. I have more luck with them wintering over here, so I've been looking to add more asters to the garden for fall color. This one is Aster cordifolius 'Wood's Blue' and as you can see, is covered with blooms!


The patio is covered by the pergola, so it's quite shady. There is a stone table with two benches and I've got an ironworks basket of sorts, sitting on the table. This year, I planted white impatiens and a Japanese painted fern in it and there has been an abundance of pristine white blooms all summer.

There are many other blooms, thankfully, so the season isn't over yet. We have all of fall to enjoy, with its deep blue skies, crisp air, and changing colors. It's one of the best parts of living in the Midwest.


13 comments:

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Lovely post for GBBD Kylee and what a lot of blooms you have to show. Death by chocolate, hmmmmmm, that could quickly become all the rage, don't you think? ;-)

I'm so glad you tried the Verbena bonariensis this year and loved it (and the butterflies did too). Yes, they do seed themselves all over the place but seedlings are easily recognised (square stems) and even more easily pulled out or transplanted.

Love your gorgeous Delphiniums, aren't you happy now that you gave them one more try?

The pic of your beautiful Caryopteris made me realise that I've forgotten to buy one for my new border. Must rectify that omission pronto!

Happy GBBD Kylee!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Goodmorning Kylee, It was wonderful to wake up and see all your blooms here. I haven't found the right place for delphiniums to grow. As a matter of fact I have trouble with asters too. I have a wild aster that grows to 4'+ tall that blooms like crazy that I can count on but those short ones I can't seem to keep.

Carol Michel said...

Hi Kylee, Lots of blooms on your little acre in September. I like the Asters, too and want to add to mine which are mostly passalongs so I don't know the varieties. Mine have tons of buds, but no blooms yet.

On the Caryopteris, here in my garden (and perhaps in yours) they die back to the ground each winter like a butterfly bush, so all those woody stems have to be cut back. I had some for several years, but after awhile, they just got so woody at the base that I got tired of dealing with them and pulled them out. Maybe I'll try the variety you added this spring.

Thanks for posting for bloom day. Isn't this about the earliest you've post? :-)

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

The sedum is so lovely and the brugmansia is absolutely gorgeous! Your garden looks so beautiful in its fall attire. I'm glad you got rain too. That must have been a relief.

Hugs,
Cindy

Sky said...

wow - such a lovely autumn garden! your photographs capture the beautiful blooms all over your garden. the zinnias are absolutely stunning. i miss them. i just don't think our summer sun is hot enough or that the summer season is long enough for us to enjoy zinnias here like we did in the south.

sedum joy is always just that - joyful. i even love it when it turns to chocolate brown. :)

Bramblemoon Farm said...

Wow, great fall blooms! I've never grown Delphiniums, they always seems to difficult. I also grew profusion zinnias--mine is the orange. Aren't they neat? SO many blooms, even when it was hot and dry!

Unknown said...

Kylee, is it just me or are others having a hard time getting your site to load with the new background? I finally had to stop it because it was taking so long and giving me so many error messages. Maybe my computer is sick too...:-(

Kylee Baumle said...

Yoanda Elizabet ~ I'm glad to hear that the Verbena b. will reseed. I just love it! And yes, I'm definitely happy that I stuck with the Delphiniums. Yes, you must find a Caryopteris and get it going at Bliss! I love the shade of blue in their blooms and the airy look to them.

Lisa ~ I'm sorry to hear you have trouble with asters! I don't know what I do in particular that is pleasing to them, so I can't really offer any advice. We've got heavy clay soil here and they grow just fine in that - unamended! Now that I know better, of course I amend the soil, but before I started gardening for real, I did nothing and they still grew great. Just luck, probably!

Carol ~ Oh where is that smiley with its tongue sticking out when I need it? LOL. Actually, I've been on time with my post for GBBD a few times, but I DO have a reputation to uphold, you know. "The Queen of Procrastination" and mostly proud of it. LOLOLOL

Any advice you can give on growing Caryopteris is welcomed! I like them too much to lose them again!

Cindy ~ Yes, we were really happy to have gotten that rain and we could use twice that much more! As I buried my nose in the brugs this evening, I thought of you! I hope yours is still doing well!

Sky ~ I feel the same way about the sedums. The flower heads are pretty in all stages!

What zone are you in, Sky? I know you don't get a lot of direct hot sun like we do here, but I had no idea that zinnias would be a problem. Have you tried growing them there?

Brenda Jean ~ This is my first time to grow 'Profusion' and I do like them a lot! I know what you mean about the Delphiniums - I haven't had the best of luck in previous attempts either. These particular ones just seem to like my garden, fortunately!

jodi ~ I haven't had anyone else say anything about my site taking any longer to load or with error messages. But I hope it's not your computer either! You've had way too much to deal with already without having a sick computer!

Anonymous said...

Kylee, your garden is still so beautiful. What a gorgeous property you have with such a wonderful variety of plants. Makes me sigh. :) (I didn't get any error mssgs, but your site is a little bit slower to load with the new background..just FYI.)

Unknown said...

What a great list, Kylee--your garden is looking just as lovely now as most of ours do in the height of June, it seems. And even though I don't like pink, I do love that 'Chocolate' morning glory... I guess it's just enough brownish-pink for me to be okay with it! *grin*

I adore that 'Cinco de Mayo' rose, by the way. Such fun to see the yellow at the base of those red petals...

Kerri said...

I love the mounding habit of Profusion Zinnias. Must grow some! And Verbena bonariensis! I keep seeing it and wishing I had some planted by one of the fences.
I'm Oohing and aahing at each bloom shown here. Your autumn garden is beautiful.
Where did the summer go indeed! We could use about 3 more months to get all the work done, couldn't we?

Kylee Baumle said...

Nancy ~ Hmmm... I can't imagine why it's loading slower, because I merely inserted a different photo via Photobucket for the background, which is how the other one was hosted. That bothers me that it takes longer! I know how I hate visiting sites that take a long time to load.

Kim ~ I should have posted a list of everything that's still blooming. It's amazing, really. I've got way more than I posted. This is when my plant addiction serves me well. LOL!
I'm sure to have a lot of 'Chocolate' seeds, so if you'd like some, just let me know!

Kerri ~ Yes, I'll grow 'Profusion' zinnias again. Maybe some new colors next year. I think the Cherry one is pretty.
Yes, here the summer is at an end and I'm still behind with blogging about all the things I did! I'll get caught up eventually. I have the same problem you do - I take way too many photos and it takes me forever to wade through them and resize them.

Rose said...

Kylee, you certainly do have lots of beautiful blooms for this time of year! Your delphinium is beautiful; I have never had any luck with these either. I'll have to check out this variety.
A little Blotanical bird told me this was a special day for you--Happy Birthday! My daughter turned 27 yesterday, so the two of you are probably about the same age:)

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