Wordless Wednesday: Sunset

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - September 2010

Being The Queen of Procrastination carries with it much responsibility.  That never-ending chore of being late for everything can get wearisome for the people who wait on me. But someone's got to do it, right? This month, I've really outdone myself in being late for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I may have accomplished this feat in the past, and if so, I must be perfecting my technique.

Yes, this is the actual color of the grass. No joke.

With the extreme dryness we've experienced in the last two months here at Our Little Acre, I began to wonder if any plants would be left standing by now, let alone be in bloom.  The grass is the color of wheat and leaves have begun to fall prematurely without turning their beautiful autumn hues.  The trees are losing them due to stress.

During a recent dig for a foundation, the ground was found to be bone dry at a depth of 36 inches. It was first thought, as the digging occurred, that they had hit rock. It was just our usual horrid clay with zero moisture content.

But life goes on, and incredibly, plants bloom...

What used to be known as Acidanthera bicolor is now been
renamed Gladiolus murielae. In any case, this late summer
bloomer emits the most lovely fragrance, especially in the
evening. It's commonly known as Peacock Orchid.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Sunshowers', which I overwinter
in the house every year. I purchased it in 2007.

Cosmos 'Rose Bon Bon'

This rare Short's goldenrod (Solidago shortii) is one I
received at the Cincinnati Zoo during the GWA Region III
meeting this spring. They're attempting to bring it back through
propagation and distribution. It's doing fine in my garden!

Everywhere I look, the bumblebees are sleepily gathering
nectar, then promptly settling down for a nap right in the
middle of the flower. Here, a bumblebee has chosen
Gaillardia 'Oranges & Lemons' for a bed. You can see the
effects of too little water in the incomplete bloom.

Globe thistle (Echinops ritro) seems to be another
bumblebee (and spotted cucumber beetle) favorite.
This is an unexpected rebloom.

I'm so happy to have found a delphinium that performs like a
champ in my garden. After trying several species and cultivars,
this Delphinium x elata 'Magic Fountain Series' returns each
year and blooms twice during the summer.

Cosmos bipinnatus 'Picotee'

I planted these Colchicum 'Water Lily' corms last September 
and they bloomed bigger and better this year. I want MORE!

This sweet autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora) is really
much too much for the small trellis it's on, but I cut it back all
summer long and it produces this fountain of bloom come fall.

A closer look at the sweet blooms on the clematis against the
backdrop of the corn field drenched in light from the setting sun.

Blooms on the Bougainvillea 'Imperial Garden' are
sporadic and elusive. I never know when I'm going to be
graced with their presence.

This sedum (Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'), also known
as 'Autumn Joy', is a huge favorite of the bumblebees and
other native large flies.
They're always here - it must have really good stuff!

The New England asters (Syphyotrichum novae-angliae)
are just beginning to put on a their usual flashy autumn show.
These are also known as the Michaelmas Daisy.

Ahhh...my signature plant. I adore toad lilies because they bloom
in full shade at a time when not much else is going on. Fall is
their season to shine! This one is Tricyrtis hirta 'Hatatogisa',
which apparently is the same as 'Seiryu'. It's simply been renamed.
Imagine that.

I've always liked Liriope, but I love the variegated version!

There are numerous other things blooming in the gardens now, and thank goodness. While I wouldn't want to wish summer away, I'll be happy when the consistently cool days of fall are in full swing. I imagine my gardens will be more comfortable, too.

 

Be sure to visit May Dreams Gardens, where you can find a big, long list of other gardeners that have blooms to show!

Our Little Acre Blooms in July

What with Buffa10 and OFA taking care of an entire week, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day just sneaked up on me! I'm really late with posting my July blooms, but that doesn't make them any less lovely.

The garden is in full swing right now, but the heat and no rain is quickly taking its toll.  I'm trying to keep up with their thirst requirements, but I fear I'll lose some things that just aren't cut out for extended hot, dry weather. There are lessons to be learned from that, though, too.

For all the times I've said I really don't like pink flowers, you'd never guess that from seeing my gardens. It's really just a matter of which flower we're talking about and what I really mean is I don't like certain flowers in certain colors. They say actions speak louder than words, so I'm thinking I'd better stop saying I don't like pink flowers. I really don't like pink zinnias though.

In bloom now are:

The window boxes on the pool house (soon-to-be potting shed!), except that the verbena, which is a deep pink, is not in bloom at the moment.


The Salvia 'Black and Blue' seems to be screaming at someone! It actually reminds me of a snake with its fangs out.


Pentas that I'm trialing for Athens Select


The wonderfully scented oriental lilies I purchased at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show in March.


Echinacea 'Green Envy' before they've deepened to their true colors


Two kinds of daisies - 'Wirral Pride' on the left, and 'Aglaia' on the right


Coreopsis 'Golden Dream' that I'm trialing for Blooms of Bressingham


My best hybrid Echinacea - 'Coconut Lime'.  It blooms like crazy and each bloom lasts nearly two months!


Tiger Lily 'Black Beauty'


Hibiscus syriacus 'Aphrodite', grown as a standard


Achillea millefolium 'Pineapple Mango' - Trialing for Blooms of Bressingham


Verbena bonariensis, caught in a rare moment without a bee or a butterfly

One of my favorite daylilies, 'South Seas'





These Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes) aren't hardy here, so I save the bulbs every year.



Hemerocallis 'El Desperado' is a strong bloomer and fragrant, too!


Cupid's Dart (Catananche caerulea)



Hibiscus syriacus 'Blue Satin'



Passiflora 'Empress Eugenie'



Echinacea 'Hope'. A portion of the sales of this coneflower go to the Susan G. Komen Center for Breast Cancer Research.



Gentiana dahurica



Blackberry Lily (Belamcanda chinensis)



Double Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)

Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpurea')

We finally received some rain overnight and the plants look much happier.  Though we've been watering to try and keep things hydrated through these 90°+ days, there's nothing like rain from the sky to perk things up.

About This Environmental Thing . . .

I'm just a little more aware of environmental issues as I am political ones. Sometimes the two converge. But my level of commitment fluctuates, so when bloggers recently posted their thoughts on the environment on Blog Action Day (October 15th), I didn't post. But I did read. And it got me thinking, which was one of the purposes of Blog Action Day in the first place.

It's not that I'm opposed to green efforts or anything, it's just that I've never been one to champion any cause very forcefully. As opinionated and outspoken as I can be, this probably comes as a surprise to those who know me, but maybe it has to do with my lack of knowledge and understanding about "issues" and that my procrastination habit keeps me from reading and researching them.

In the last two-plus years, however, I've learned a lot about my outdoors environment as a result of my taking up gardening pretty much full-time. I've discovered much of it intimately and in a hands-on kind of way. Immersion, I think they call it. And while I'm still not totally organic, nor may I ever be, I'm certainly much more aware of the impact my actions have on the world around me.

Last Tuesday, my 92-year-old grandmother and I had a nice chat about some things along those lines. This proved to be interesting for many reasons. She and my grandpa made their living by farming and Grandma was a gardener of not only flowers, but vegetables and fruits that she preserved for her family. She has seen changes in farming over the years and they aren't all good, where the environment is concerned.

I don't remember how we started talking about environmental issues, but it may have been the Monarchs that led us to it. I told her about the one that was born in our house, then explained to her about the dwindling milkweed supply and how this is affecting the Monarch population.

Is it important that there are fewer Monarchs? Maybe. Maybe not. Certainly other species have become extinct over the years and we and the rest of the world have gotten along just fine without them, right? I'm sure the earth won't stop turning without Monarch butterflies. But that's not the point, is it?

Here's what it is for me: In all the time of existence of earth and everything on or in it, things have been in a state of change. Nothing stays the same. Some changes take place quickly, some take eras. Man had nothing to do with the changes that occurred thousands of years ago, for example, glaciers used to move over the very land where Our Little Acre now sits.

But now we're told that we're destroying the protective ozone layer that blankets the earth and if we don't change our ways, we're going to really mess up the equilibrium that exists in the environment. I've seen An Inconvenient Truth, and I'm not going to say that we aren't doing some very detrimental things nor that we shouldn't modify the way we do things. But I don't believe that what we're doing is going to have the monumental effect that the über-environmentalists would have us think.

What I do believe is that the present use of chemicals by the agricultural community, which includes gardeners like me, is causing diseases like cancer. (Grandma agrees.) I believe the world would be a better and healthier place to live if we did more recycling and used less non-biodegradable disposable materials. I believe if people lived with the rest of the world in mind rather than a "me first" mentality, huge strides would be made in making the world a cleaner place - cleaner air, cleaner water, cleaner land. I believe if more people had greater respect for all living things, it would affect life for all of us in a positive way.

So what am I doing now that I didn't do before? I've got a compost pile. I collect rainwater in a barrel for watering plants. As a geocacher, I practice CITO (Cache In, Trash Out). We continue to recycle aluminum, plastic, glass, and newspapers.

Being a Certified Monarch Waystation, we purposely grow Asclepias species for the Monarchs, that being the sole food source for the caterpillars. And because of all the butterflies and beneficial insects that live in our gardens, we don't use pesticides, other than Safer® Insect Killing Soap or Neem Oil, and then only when absolutely necessary. As a result, sometimes the foliage or petals on blooms don't look perfect, but that's okay. Our kitties appreciate our efforts, too.

So while there's more that I could do that would benefit the environment, I feel pretty good about what I do do, and I don't hesitate to advocate organic practices when the opportunity presents itself. At the same time, you won't see me look down my nose at anyone who doesn't consciously practice good green basics, because that once was me. And thank goodness living things have an incredible ability to adapt.

Don't look at the environmental issues as something so overwhelming that you don't think anything you do will make a difference. Every little bit helps. Just do something.

Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf's edge and the beach. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.

The man was struck by the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached, the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.

As he came up to the person he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference." The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and pick up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It made a difference to that one."