Monday, August 30, 2010

Around The Garden

Usually I do Around the Garden at the end of the week, but this week I am doing it at the beginning.  I am starting in the back garden, where things look pretty good.  There is more moisture in the back and except for the earwigs and japanese beetles the foliage looks great.


Blue Paradise Phlox keeps going as long as I keep deadheading.

Heliopsis Lemon Queen

Hibiscus Mango on the patio

Clematis Fireworks back but smaller than in the spring (see header)
Rainbow Knockout is beginning to recover from the earwigs and japanese beetles.


The impatiens are almost too big (looks like a smudge on my lens)

The Pineapple Coleus love this weather!

Gaura requires deadheading every so often to keep peeking out.

Plumbago blooming where I cut down the Becky Shastas

As I move towards the front on the south side of the house where it is a xeric environment, things do not look quite as fresh.  The tropical containers with crotons and sedums look great, gaillardia needs a haircut and dianthus firewitch does not look happy.

In the front Limelight Hydrangea is beginning to turn color and will soon be ready for cutting off those gorgeous blooms for drying. 


Limelight Hydrangeas is beginning to turn color, many different shades of white, green, pink and rose.  Cut them at different stages for drying if you want a variety of colors.





Unique Hydrangea



P. Allen Smith was on the Today show the other day and said to just chop those Knockout Roses for their last wonderful bloom, feed them, water and wait.  I did it and we shall see!  I have a yellowed yew which I think has been affected by the watering system.  I have shut off the particular sprinkler but don't know if it can be saved.  Sedum Autumn Joy has already flopped from all of the rain and I am going to have to support it.  Autumn Fire is a better selection if you don't want it to flop. 

Sedum Autumn Joy is beginning to change color but I am going to have to prop it up.

My Endless Summer Hydrangeas have not been great this year, a first flush of flowers and then nothing.  Euyonmous Wintercreeper has been growing like crazy many clippings, scale is back.  The hostas are pretty spent at this point, holes, brownish, not lush, but Solomon's Seal still looks pretty good.



Nasturtium under the dahlia

Just look at these dahlias that I transplanted to the veggie garden!  They obviously need a deep root system and lots of water.  I am all the way back to my hayracks which will work colorwise into fall, a few gourds thrown in for interest.

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14 comments:

  1. AnonymousMon Aug 30, 06:20:00 AM 2010

    Dear Eileen, I do so love your postings which make a tour of some of the highlights of your garden and today has been no exception. So much flowering its heart out for this late in the season and I am sure, with your attention to detail, it will continue to look good well into autumn.

    I was interested to read about your yew. Certainly they do not enjoy having their feet in too much water.

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  2. Granny Lyn's GardenMon Aug 30, 06:30:00 AM 2010

    Morning, your garden looks great.You have a lot more flowers still blooming than I have. I will have to take notes for my garden.I especially like the Pineapple Coleus. I love the white Gaura , is it a perennial for you ? It isn't up here but it does reseed. I brought my first Limelight Hydrangea this year, the blooms are huge and I am reluctant to cut them for drying. Is it better for the plant to cut the blooms?
    Have a blessed day,Lynda

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  3. Gatsbys GardensMon Aug 30, 07:05:00 AM 2010

    Hi Edith,

    I think I waited too long in regard to the yew. It is quite full, so to replace it with a new one would look quite odd. I kept thinking it needed more fertilizer each year. It looks the worst this year because of the rain and heat.

    Eileen

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  4. Gatsbys GardensMon Aug 30, 07:09:00 AM 2010

    Hi Lynda,

    The gaura is suppposed to come back, but I have not had great luck with previous gauras. Even if it is an annual it was worth planting for blooms all summer.

    My Limelight is huge so I cut blooms for drying each fall and give to family and neighbors. I leave some to dry on the plant for winter interest and cut down complete shrub in a semi-circle about three feet high in the spring.

    Eileen

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  5. KarenMon Aug 30, 09:28:00 AM 2010

    Thank you Eileen, for such a great post. You always inspire me to go out and prune & deadhead. I would have never thought about cutting the Knockout roses back, I'm going to give it a try and see what happens. All of your plants look so fresh yet, they are lucky to have you as their gardener!

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  6. meemsnycMon Aug 30, 08:08:00 PM 2010

    Your hydrangea are absolutely gorgeous! I love the mango hibiscus.

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  7. joeyMon Aug 30, 10:08:00 PM 2010

    I'm in awe of all the color in your late August garden, Eileen. Even though I prune back my sedum early in the season, many of mine are a bit floppy too ... but the bees sure don't seem to mind :)

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  8. garden girlTue Aug 31, 07:28:00 AM 2010

    Lots of bloom in your garden Eileen! I love Limelight! Hydrangeas seem to be a favorite food of the rabbits around here. They've killed a bunch of them continually eating them down to the ground. Eventually all of them have died except one. I put a fence around the only one left - an oakleaf. It seems to have fixed the problem, so maybe I'll try another Limelight and protect it with a little fence too.

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  9. Gatsbys GardensTue Aug 31, 07:48:00 AM 2010

    Hi Karen,

    I have never cut the Knockouts severely at this time of year, but they were pretty leggy this year and had been eaten by the japanese beetles, so we'll see if this works.

    Eileen

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  10. Gatsbys GardensTue Aug 31, 07:49:00 AM 2010

    Hi Memsync, the two large hydrangeas have been great this year, not so good a year for Endless Summer and Let's Dance.

    Eileen

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  11. Gatsbys GardensTue Aug 31, 07:50:00 AM 2010

    You are right Joey, I am afraid to go near them to prop them up - covered with bees.

    Eileen

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  12. CanadianGardenJoyWed Sep 01, 06:28:00 AM 2010

    Eileen your plants are looking so great still ! and .. I have followed the advice for roses because of my plans for next year .. so keeping them trimmed close to their frame and establishing a healthy root for the shock next year is my aim .. I think it works ! .. I had my jaw drop completely when I saw Pineapple coleus !!!!! I NEED THAT next year for sure it is gorgeous : ) is it fairly new to you ? Have you had it before ? I am totally in love with it and I don't do that with annuals .. except .. coleus .. I have had Henna, Rustic, and a few others that wowed me but yours is WOW !!! LOL
    Joy : )

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  13. Gatsbys GardensWed Sep 01, 08:21:00 AM 2010

    Joy, the Pineapple Coleus is a great plant. I have them in my Irish pots but you can't see them because they got so big. I saw a new one the other day full grown on the nursery grounds, called Redhead, stunning.

    I will have to look for it next year. I did pick up some Volcano Phlox, not in the ground yet!

    Eileen

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  14. MrBrownThumbWed Sep 01, 10:14:00 PM 2010

    The hydrangeas are stunning.

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