Fall Blooms

9/18/16

Loriope

     I have several plants blooming now that we are getting into the fall season.  A lot of the plants that are blooming are in my backyard garden.  I have five loriope plants at each end of my long backyard garden.

hardy cyclamen

     There are two areas in the backyard garden where hardy cyclamen were planted years ago, and they still come up.

black cohosh

     I planted five black cohosh at intervals along the backyard fence, and this is one of two that has a bud.  This bud has been sitting there for a couple of weeks.  None of the black cohosh plants seem to be doing well.  They are not happy in this location. I don't know whether this flower spike is going to grow taller (they can get up to eight feet tall) or open.

white encore azalea

     This is the only encore azalea that has fall blooms on it.  There are four more encore azaleas in the yard that look full and lush but have no buds.  This rather skimpy looking one is the only one flowering.

hardy begonia

       There are several hardy begonia plants in the side perennial garden and this is one of them.  There are also hardy begonia plants at each end of the backyard garden.

gaillardia

       I planted two gaillardia plants in the side garden to fill in some bare spots.  With their fall colors, they brighten any garden area.

Japanese anemone

     There was a large stand of Japanese anemones in the backyard garden years ago.  I was surprised to find that there were two clumps left hidden beneath the nandina bushes.  I have mums and other flowers blooming along the front of the house and in the perennial garden.  I hope to post photos of them next.

Fall Happenings

9/27/15

back yard garden

     The leaves on the trees are just starting to turn here.  We have twelve hours of daylight now, and night temps are in the low 50's.  The back yard garden is so lush and full now with the fall plants flowering.  I know in six weeks it will all be gone.  Here are photos of  what is blooming in the back yard garden.

Japanese anemones

hardy begonias

raspberry lemonade zinnias

vinca

I bought some pansies to put in bare spots now that we have cooler weather.

I replaced some tired plants in my deck railing pot with ornamental peppers.

I also added pansies in another deck railing pot.

In the side yard garden, the goldenrod fireworks bush is in full bloom.

The bees were all over the goldenrod bush.

Out in the back yard the black walnut tree has been dropping its walnuts encased in green balls for about a month now.

The squirrels have been busy cracking the walnuts open revealing their black interior.

Most of the follicles on the milkweed plants have split open.

The wind has been carrying the seeds with their white, silky filament hairs all over the yard, making the yard look like it has cotton balls spread all over it.

The only thing I have seen on the plants are milkweed beetles.  There was not a single monarch caterpillar on these plants, their most preferred food.

     We will be moving in about a month to a smaller house and yard on the other end of town.  We have been looking for something smaller several months, and it is such a coincidence that our old house which we built and lived in for years came on the market.  We quickly bought it.  The yard and gardens have not been kept in good shape, so I have my work cut out for me.  It is always exciting putting in new gardens!

Summer Turns To Fall

9/21/14

mums in side yard garden

     Fall has arrived here.  After being in the 90's the first week of September, the temps in the last two weeks have been below normal.  We've been down in the 40's at night.  But on this last weekend of summer, summer weather returned.  It is supposed to hit 90 today.  Fall is beautiful here with warm, dry, sunny days.  I planted some mums in the side yard garden to replace flowers that are no longer blooming.  But there is still blooming going on in most of the yard.

The lavender is still blooming in the side yard garden.

The glossy abelia bush is loaded with blossoms

My goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) Fireworks just flowered last week.

In the electrical garden, surrounding the electrical box, the milkweed plants are full of milkweed bug beetles.

The coleus in my deck pot is full of blooms.

Since I cleaned out a lot of the cosmos from the garden, the Japanese anemones are much more visible.

A photo of one of two annual vinca (Caranthus roseus) plants that reseeded from last year.

The pink dogwood tree is full of red berries that the birds love.

The loriope plants have lots of purple blooms.

The back yard garden

 
     The back yard garden that surrounds the patio is lush and full of flowers and plants.  I wish it could stay this way all year.  At the first frost all this will be gone.  Sigh. 

Summer Returns

9/1/14

zinnia

     Now that it is September, summer has returned.  It was a very cool August, but now that it is meteorological fall we have a week of above 90 temps.  It was 96 degrees here yesterday.  Why couldn't we have had this in August?  We were at the beach for three days last week, and it was downright cold with temperatures in the 70's and 20 mph winds. 
     Like a lot of other gardeners, I haven't seen many bees, moths and butterflies in June or July, but I have seen more in August.  They love my zinnias.  I saw no monarch caterpillars on the milkweed plants, only one milkweed tussock caterpillar.There is a lot going on in the back yard garden.  Here are some photos of what's blooming.

hosta

     My biggest hosta just opened its flowers this week.  Blooming has been over weeks ago on all the other hostas.

garden angel

     My garden angel is overshadowed by the cosmos that have taken over part of the garden.

cosmos

     The cosmos which are about five feet tall are on the wane now.

zinnias

     I have a nice stand of zinnias in the back yard.  I hadn't originally planned for zinnias in the back garden, but I had seeds I wanted to use up.

Japanese anemones

     One of my favorite fall flowers, Japanese anemones, are flowering now.

hardy begonia

     I love the leaves as well as the flowers of my hardy begonias, which have just started to bloom.

black walnut fruits

         The black walnut tree is full of fruits that will drop in October.

Yoshino cherry

     Almost all of the Yoshino cherry trees in the neighborhood look like this tree in my yard with most of the leaves gone.  I don't know why they are so stressed.

     I am going to enjoy this week of hot weather.  I dread the coming winter after hearing The Old Farmer's Almanac prediction for a colder and snowier than normal winter here in the mid-Atlantic.

Fall in the Garden

9/24/13

Yoshino cherry tree

    

     Although the garden is still full of summer blooming flowers, fall has definitely arrived with its colder temperatures.  After a relatively cooler-than-normal summer, this area has had cool temps since September 1st.  It was 42 degrees here last night, and we turned the heat on a few days ago since it has been in the 40's at night for a week.  The Yoshino cherry trees in the front yard started dropping their leaves around September 1st. They are beginning to look a little bare.

     My fall flowers started blooming at the end of August and are doing well.  Here are a few photos of them.     

hardy begonias

Japanese anemones

I planted some mums in my patio pots

New Guinea impatiens are still going strong

purple alyssum seems to like the cooler weather

the late-planted cosmos started blooming three weeks ago

in the side yard garden the goldenrod just bloomed

the oriental fountain grass Karley Rose is at its fullest bloom

the zinnias are doing well

     I am reluctant to let go of summer.  I am missing the light of the long summer days.  But fall here is usually dry and sunny, and we have had many beautifully sunny days.  But come winter I may need to go to Florida.