A Happy Ending

It doesn't have to be the end of summer blooms if you have the right plants and, I guess I have to say this, are a consistent deadheader!

Some great phlox like this deadheaded Bubblegum will make your fall more enjoyable.  Not all varieties bounce back like this one!

Choose some late blooming daylilies like Sandra Elizabeth

Of course a Limelight Hydrangea will delight you through the summer, fall and winter.

Mary Todd Daylily has been trimmed down and a couple of weeks after it is time to pull out all of the brown stems you see to the left and voila you have a fresh green plant again!

Heucheras are in their glory this time of year not only for their colorful leaves, Pistache, but for the airy flowers they produce.

This is one of my favorites, Heuchera Purpurea, not so much for the leaves but their flowers are wonderful.

Heuchera Raspberry Ice is a very hardy one also with pink flowers.

Keep cutting the spent flowers down to the ground on heuchera and they will bloom throughout the fall.

Max Frei Geranium is interesting in that when you deadhead it in the early summer it just sits until now when it begins flowering again.

Look for shrubbery that has interest through more than one season like Ninebark Summer Wine.

This is another multi-season shrub Dark Horse Weigela, pink flowers and dark bronze leaves for three seasons.

You can extend the season with other non-flowering perennials like the ferns that are anything but green.

Japanese Painted Fern is one that is showy throughout the spring, summer and fall in my area, great colors that are more appreciated in the fall.

Autumn Fern becomes more showy in the fall with some of the fronds taking on an orange glow.

The Deadheads Are Alive And Well

Oh we all know who the deadheads are, we run around the garden clipping and cutting spent blooms and plants.  We also deadhead other peoples plants when we are visiting or walking by, even at the shopping mall, how could they let those dead blooms stay on their container plants?

I haven't been up to Wisconsin in two months and I am afraid my Knockout roses have been neglected.  I used the Bayer Systemic on them for Japanese Beetles and not one in sight.  In previous years they had just about been destroyed!  I can't figure out why I didn't have the same results at home.  Knockouts will produce new buds without deadheading but they look messy.

All the dead buds have been clipped off, fertilizer has been applied and it is ready to bloom again.  Do not use the five leaf method on this, just clip off the dead buds.

It is an action that is almost uncontrollable, we want growth to keep going, lengthening the season forever.  I have had a few questions lately on deadheading the hows and when and the difference between deadheading and rejuvenating.

Coreopsis Zagreb benefits from a shearing in the early spring to promote spreading and then again after bloom, clean up with pruning shears for stray spent flowers. 

Coreopsis Zagreb ready for rebloom

Dianthus Firewitch is certainly ready to be sheared back for rebloom before the fall coolness takes over.

Shearing does not mean taking away any of the lower growth but removing all of the spent flower stalks down to the bottom.

Shasta Snow Lady needs to be cut low if it going to rebloom, sometimes it does and sometimes I get just a couple of blooms.  However, it does form a lovely green mat going into the fall.

My May Night Salvia in Wisconsin has been let go or it would have rebloomed a couple of times by now.  I will cut it low down to the green stalk and expect some rebloom before fall.

The Walker's Low Nepeta can be sheared down low or can just be pruned taking off all of the spent flowers.  It will rebloom lightly before the fall.

Ater you have pruned your earlier phlox for reblooming you might want to have Phlox Eva Cullum which is a later blooming phlox.  It is not as mildew resistant as some of the new ones but I plant it in back of my Rainbow Knockout and also pick off the mildewed leaves.

David is also a later blooming phlox and taller than most.  I moved mine last fall and it is doing well but it sure doesn't look like my daughter's!  Mine will probably never be this full or tall because I have it in not quite full sun whereas hers gets a good dose of sun all day.

I have been taking care of my daughter's garden while she is away, but this is who I found patrolling when I arrived to photograph David.  It's convenient that rabbits play like they are a statue when threatened long enough for me to snap this picture!

Phlox David

Tetrena's Daughter is shown in the header, a mid-season to late bloomer approximately forty-eight inches tall.

The Layered Garden

When you have a layered garden like mine it is important that that spent plants be deadheaded and cut down so the next show can begin.

Bubblegum Phlox is ready to be deadheaded cut just below the spent flower buds.  This is one of the most mildew resistant phlox but it obviously has had some other issues that did not affect the blooming.

Daylilies play a big part in my garden all season but the early bloomers take up room with messy foliage and no blooms.  Underneath these earlier daylilies I have interplanted Plumbago which is late to appear in the spring and blooms in late summer and fall.  The daylilies are cut back to develop smaller clumps of fresh leaves and let the Plumbago peek through.

Daylily foliage from Dark Ruby

Dark Ruby foliage trimmed down to expose Plumbago.  Daylilies will sprout fresh leaves and the Plumbago will bloom in the late summer and early fall.

Deadheading clematis can be very rewarding such as this Hagley Hybrid which will put on a show as long as those fuzzies are cut off.  The flowers are not quite as large as the springtime flush but just beautiful as a background.

Carefree Beauty will bloom off and on all summer if deadheaded and fertilized.

This is what I have been finding each morning when I go out to water!  They are not something I want to pick off and put in soapy water, Yikes!  I usually spray them with a strong stream of water, doesn't work, they hold on for dear life.  Sevin works, but another group is back the next morning.  I even used the Bayer product that is supposed to stop this.

Pink Promise seems to have escaped the Japanese Beetles but it is battling rose midge.  I can barely keep up with all of the aliens in my garden.

Certain roses still have to be deadheaded to produce continual blooming, the Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, and some Shrub roses to keep them within bounds.  The Knockouts supposedly do not have to be deadheaded to produce flowers but I prefer to keep up with the dead blooms for appearance.

Duchess Of Albany is a later blooming clematis in my garden because it it along the fence that has the lilac peeking over from the neighbor's yard.  It is a huge clematis and I have often thought about saying goodbye to it, but this year it has sort of begged to stay on by being a bit more controlled.

As we are saying goodbye to some of our early bloomers we are saying hello to others that herald the waning of summer.  This is Ligularia Rocket and comes up behind my sun plants in the back border.

Platycodon is in full bloom below the island phlox and rose garden.  It is too large for the edge and may have to be moved so it doesn't fall over.  Oh, we love moving things don't we?

Volcano Pink Phlox with a white eye has taken over for Bubblegum Phlox, not as vivid but definitely acceptable as a replacement.

This plant certainly reminds me of fall, Boltonia Nana, earlier than the other Boltonias and smaller.

A beautiful coneflower and I do not have the name, don't think it is Kim's Knee High as I have this in another location.  It is pretty short only about fourteen inches high, help!

Tetrina's Daughter is a mid-season to late bloomer and is more yellow than the photo.  It is tall and slender about forty-eight inches in height.

Miss Bateman is blooming later than usual but it is in  part shade and had been sheared down by the rabbits in the winter.

And Cut Some More!

My geraniums have had a hard time this year, just when they would begin setting buds or break into flower the rain and heat would hit.  When cutting geraniums don't just snap off the flower heads - prune all the way down to where the flower stem joins a main stem.  You will set flowers faster, and don't forget to feed them.  Geraniums are cold tolerant so will last into fall and past a light freeze.

Heuchera Villosa Purpurea is my favorite, not the showiest leaves but more floriforous than any of the others.  Keep trimming off the dried blooms and it will keep going all summer into fall.

Heuchera Southern Comfort has performed well in its first year.  Home Depot has had lots of this one at a reasonable price.

Flowers of Southern Comfort Heuchera

Cutting the daylilies back after blooming will give you a fresh green groundcover for the remainder of the summer into fall, no brown leaves.

Sedum Autumn Joy will flop with too much moisture.  You can cut it back in the spring but the flower heads will be small.  It is too heavy to tie up now, but it can be put in a circular open cage in the spring.  I don't like using too many supports, but I will definitely do this for an upright sedum.  Sedum Autumn Fire is similar to Autumn Joy, stays upright but the flower heads are not as impressive.

Amaranthus Love Lies Bleeding can be pruned so that it forms many pendulous flowers.  Mine has never looked like it should because I planted it too close to the miscanthus.

I cut the Unique Hydrangeas down to about two feet high in the spring and they still grow to about seven feet tall.

The Unique Hydrangea flowers are beginning to turn to that rosy pink that I love, so I will be cutting them this weekend.  You can leave them on the shrub, however, they do not hold up as well as Limelight over the winter months.

Keep Cutting!

As I walk through the garden each morning, I snip a little here and a little there.  It has really paid off in this very hot summer with continued blooms from my top performing plants.

Phlox Blue Paradise has been a real winner this summer.  I just keep cutting the spent blooms and it puts out more beautiful blooms.

Phlox Eva Cullum has never been a favorite because it is more prone to mildew.  However, this year it has outdone itself, less mildew and more blooms.  It doesn't seem to make sense with all of the heat and rain!

This is Phlox Laura.  I put it in last year and it really did not bloom very much, but it has been a strong performer this year showing no mildew so far.

Henryi is a Type 2 Clematis (just trim a little each spring to cut out dead vines).  However, this year after blooming I cut it to the ground to revitalize it after becoming very woody.  It has grown to about six feet tall and is reblooming.  So don't be afraid to cut back overgrown or woody clematis in the Type 1 and Type 2 categories.

This is my daughters Autumn Clematis which is a Type 3.  It is cut back each year to the ground and this is the growth it puts out.  I see many that are not cut back and just put forth top bloom above lots of old wood.

I cut my Heliopsis Lemon Queen down by half after its first growth spurt usually when it is about a foot tall to control the height.  As you can see, it is still about seven feet along a narrow walkway - not the best placement but nowhere else to place it!

Mango Meadowbrite Echinacea has been my best performing coneflower this year.  If you cut off the dead blooms it will continue to flower up until frost.  It is a more delicate looking coneflower but it seems to have more blooming stamina than many of the stronger looking coneflowers.

Rozanne Geranium went a little crazy this summer and crawled over everything in this bed, so I went a little crazy and cut it to the ground.  I am not sure it will rebloom this fall, but it is rejuvenating and looks a lot more normal.

Since this is getting a little lengthy, I will keep cutting around the garden moving into the front garden on my next post.