"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Monday, August 29, 2011

Lots of pretties at the end of August.

It's hard to believe August is almost over and school is just about to start.  It feels like summer just began.  There is still a lot blooming and still a few more flowers to come.  I've been working on having more blooming towards the end of summer and going into fall.  It seems though, that a lot of the late summer bloomers don't last quite as long.  There are other flowers that seem to have been blooming for months like hardy fuchsias, agastache, hydrangeas and Monarda.  
I've also been moving lots of plants around.  For some reason that urge always seems to strike when we are having our hottest weather of the summer, which means extra watering trying to save the freshly moved plants.  I know it's not when you are supposed to move plants, but aside from the extra watering, the plants seem to do fine.

 Rose of Sharon 'Minerva'.  It seems to bloom right when the leaves decide to yellow and fall off every year.  I love the flowers, but it's not my favorite looking plant otherwise.

 Chelone or Turtlehead is looking really pretty right now.  It would probably like more water than it gets.

 Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' bloomed very late and has lots of tiny flowers this year.

 Daylily 'Ruby d'Oro'

 Hydrangea 'Nikko Blue'

 The entry garden - Hydrangea 'Nikko Blue', Fuchsia 'Pat's Dream' and Rose 'Harlow Carr'.  This rose has really prickly canes.

 Echinacea 'Green Envy'

 Dahlia

 Sedum 'Autumn Joy', Red Valerian on the right and Crocosmia, that was sent to me by Darla a couple of years ago, on the left.

 Kniphofia 'Border Ballet' is new to my garden this year.

 Sunflowers are just starting to open.

 The unknown pink rose ('Heritage'?) with Cupid's Dart behind it.

 I planted what I thought was supposed to be a small sunflower (18" high on the packet) in the raised beds.  The leaves on this are HUGE.

 It was a bit overcast when I took pictures today.  The small shrub by itself is a replacement Mexican Orange (Choysia) for the one that didn't survive the move when I divided the bed back in February.

I've started pulling annuals out of pots and thinking about what I'll plant in them for fall.  It's sad getting rid of the summer bloomers, but it is fun starting fresh with at least a few containers.  I've sown seeds for fall vegetables for the first time.  So far I've got Chard 'Bright Lights', Carrots, radishes and beets.  I plan to start some Kale and Pak Choy soon too.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress. Pin It

24 comments:

  1. Your plants are beautiful. You definitely have a green thumb. Love all the color!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am envious of your echinacea, what a beautiful bloomer! Your clemantis is so pretty too. Very cool that you are planting some winter veggies, in your maritime climate they should do wonderfully! I'm doing that internal debate about whether or not it's time to make fall flower containers. Doesn't help too see all the gorgeous color at the stores :) Have a great week, Cheers, Jenni

    ReplyDelete
  3. Catherine, Your blooms make me drool. That rose of sharon is like candy. I know what you mean about the yellowing leaves. My 'Ville de Lyon' looks or should I say, "looked" a lot like yours. It's finished now. 'Ruby d'Oro' is a stunner. It must be a repeat bloomer. 'Green Envy' is beautiful with the asters behind it. Did you buy that dahlia at Costco? It looks very similar to one I have. That sunflower is HUGE! Have you considered using one as a cast for a cement leaf? And, I know this is off subject but, are you planning to post a photo of your daughter's new purple hair? :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Caterine you have lots of great looking plants. I am also pulling out the annuals from the pots, just done if you know what I mean.

    Eileen

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, Catherine! Such gorgeous beauties! Love your Rose of Sharon, clematis, dahlia (!!!) and all the blues and golds. Everything is so perfect - even those big leaves on the sunflower.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your dahlia is just gorgeous, Catherine. Love your echinacea and asters too. Lots of beauty in your garden still! The clematis is really a stunner. My turtlehead hasn't bloomed yet - it needs moved as it's being taken over by my callicarpa bush. I agree the pastel pink rose looks like 'Heritage.' I saw 'Heritage' at the BH&G test garden, and this looks like it. Hugs to you, the girls, Gracie and the bunny!
    Beth

    ReplyDelete
  7. So many pretties in your garden, one with loads of color. I am thinking about removing and cutting back already. Everything is getting a little weather worn. The sedum here is just starting to open. Some plants are a bit behind.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The garden is looking wonderful. I have also been pulling annuals and thinking about fall flowers. The kids go back to school and my thoughts turn to fall.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's looking Wonderful over your way, Catherine~~~ I've truly enjoyed my stay! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lots of pretty's indeed!.....love from me....xxx...

    ReplyDelete
  11. You have a lot of bloomers for the end of August. Love the color on the Clematis, the Dahlia is an eye catcher and holy smokes those sunflower leaves are quite impressive! Glad to see the Crocosmia is thriving, yours looks way better than mine!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sedum Autumn Joy with hydrangeas and red hots amazes me! But since I've been blogging I've had to learn plants around the world don't bloom on a Tennessee schedule. Lots of beauties for sure it looks like spring!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Your garden looks so beautiful Catherine. The clematis is beautiful even if it may be smaller this year. I love the blooms. The Kniphofia is so pretty and I love the unusual blooms on them. I planted two different bunches of Crococmia Lucifer this spring and none of them came up. Drats! Your Nikko hydrangea is so pretty. Mine grew like crazy this summer but not one bloom. This summer garden blooming has been awful here.I have never grown Turtlehead's before but I like the idea that they may bloom later in the summer. That is just the prettiest dahlia. |Did you make those little flowerpot planter stakes? They are the sweetest things.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a huge lovely beautiful awesome garden you have!!!!
    I would imagine the birds love your yard...are there feeders or birdbaths?
    I would love to have a seat and knit the afternoon away in your yard!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for stopping by!

    Grace - Yes the Dahlias are from Costco. The Costco Dahlias are the only ones that came up this year.
    I need to get a picture of her hair while it's still really dark purple.

    Lona - Yes, we made the flower pot stakes. I bought the smallest clay pots I could find, spray painted them and tried to glue them to the stake, but the glue came up through the hole and looked bad. So I just sort of set them on the stake off to the side - even easier than gluing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. HI Catherine! Love your "lots of pretties" post. We were thinking alike a bit as I have Rose of Sharon 'Marina' featured on my blog as well as a daylilly, I love your clematis Ville de Lyon, the color is amazing. I leave for a trip to Lyon in a couple of days so it really spoke to me! Also love Nikko Blue and the Dahlia. Your garden looks amazing so lush and fresh!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You DO have lots of pretties blooming! My goodness. Very nice. Looks more like June to me.

    ReplyDelete
  18. That clematis is stunning Catherine. I don't think that sunflower is gonna be small. The echinacea Green Ivy and the dahlia are so pretty. Looks like your gardens are at their peak. I need to be pulling out the old dead stuff. I'm hoping to get my seed order placed so I can revamp my gardens and place some new plant seeds down.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Your garden looks very summery, although I was a little surprised to see the Clematis in bloom this late. That said though, it's been a bit of an odd year weather wise along much of the west coast. I can't wait to see what transpires with that monster sunflower though, the leaves are enormous! What are you feeding it?!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Absolutely Beautiful. I too envy your lovely blooms, It's so nice to still have pretty flowers to look at as the summer winds down.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I've been trying to put in more fall blooming perennials too Catherine. I still don't feel like I've been that successful but I'm going to keep working at it. I've been wanting "Green Envy" but haven't found it locally yet. I may have to break down and order! I love that last shot of your garden ~ it's so pretty & it looks like you have a lot in bloom. I'm totally not ready for fall even tho my daughter has started back to school.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hello Catherine,

    I always enjoy 'visiting' your beautiful garden. I just love the cool colors of pink and blues that you have :-)

    Noelle

    ReplyDelete
  23. My goodness, but your entry garden has grown tremendously since you cut back so ruthlessly and dug out plants and put them elsewhere and brought others in. It was so bare at the end of winter. Just LOOK at what you've achieved!!! It's all looking absolutely beautiful...a showcase garden!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and leave a comment. I try my very best to answer any questions you may have, but usually don't have time to respond to each comment. Please leave a link to your blog so I can visit you in return.