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.

Fall Is Just Around the Corner

This is a fall grouping by my garden shed, mums in baskets, faux pumpkins, faux Reggie, Vera Jameson, Bronze Sedge, Rudbeckia (peeking out) cabbage, superbells, pansies, curly willow all with a background of still blooming summer perennials.

The concrete urns on each side of the garage are planted with deep colored cabbages, Vera Jameson Sedum, Bronze Lights Swiss Chard, rudbeckia, purple pansy, faux grass which has been separated out to give a more natural look, and marine varnished faux pumpkin on florist stake.  I used to use real pie pumpkins but the squirrels climbed up on my container and made a big mess.

I have tried to use my summer plantings whenever possible.  I  left the Creeping Jenny and the Profusion Orange Zinnias and added some violas and Coffee Twist grass.

I used smaller different colored cabbages along with a red swiss chard with orange and blue pansies.  The pansies are small this year so I hope they grow fast so we can see them.

I kept the cordyline from the summer as a backdrop and added peacock cabbage to the brown ceramic planters.

The cast iron containers are out in front with a very tall blue green grass from the summer plantings.  It looks very nice with the blue-green cabbages and frosty looking sedge.

Becky Rudbeckia is an annual in my area but I have had luck with Prairie Sun up in Wisconsin coming back three years in a row.

Fall begins next week, so I will be adding some gourds and small pumpkins  to the containers.  Halloween is a big holiday around here, so I will get to put out some big pumpkins and spooky things! 

Around The Garden

Pretty soon there won't be much to see around the garden except for sticks and mulch!

Heliopsis Lemon Queen

Boltonia Pink Beauty

Boltonia Nana is a light blue and blooms most of the summer (much shorter than the other Boltonias)

Phlox Miracle Grace (this phlox bloomed in the container for two weeks before I planted it)

Laura and Franz Schubert Phlox (still blooming if you deadhead)

 Plumbago and Marigolds planted when Becky Shastas were cut down

Cinco de Mayo has bloomed very little this summer, eaten alive by earwigs and japanese beetles,  happy to see it back for a grand finale!

One lonely Becky Shasta has come back

Mango Hibiscus (getting much deeper as the weather cools)

 Coleus Redhead

The above coleus is not mine but a planting at my local nursery.  I will definitely be looking for this one next year.

Coming Fall Containers (I'm working on them)

Have a great weekend!

Amaryllis and Paperwhites

Each and every fall for many years I have grown amaryllis and paperwhites for the holidays.  They are very easy to grow in a good potting soil. I am really a fan of the Christmas Amaryllis because it blooms in four to six weeks rather than the eight to twelve of the regular amaryllis.

Rock 'n Roll Amaryllis

Merry Christmas Amaryllis

Razzle Dazzle Amaryllis

Paperwhite Ziva

There are double and single Christmas Amaryllis and I find that the red twig dogwood stems sold in many nurseries around the holidays are great for holding up the stems of both the amaryllis and the paperwhites.

It is time to order both bulbs now and keep them in a cool place until ready to plant.  http://www.johnscheepers.com/ or http://www.vanengelen.com/  I better get going as I have already ordered my spring bulbs but not my holiday bulbs!

A Little Break

We had a little break this weekend at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  The weather was cooler, so I was able to test out our furnace, change the filter and put some new batteries in the thermostat.  We also brought in the succulents on our front porch and deadheaded most of the perennials.  I do not plant any annuals up here anymore because there is no watering going on when we are not up here.  Even a few perennials didn't make it this year because of the heat, but overall, most of the plantings look better than at home.

The Vera Jameson Sedum and Nepeta Walkers Low look much more vivid in my Wisconsin Garden than back at home.

This is also supposed to be Vera Jameson, but since planting a couple of years ago, it has always had a different look.  Vera Jameson always looks better either hanging over something or planted in front of other plantings just peeking out.

Sedum Autumn Joy

Rudbeckia, Knockout Roses and the Juniper that fell over last winter (seems to have recovered)

We even got in a little kite flying

On Sunday, we made our way to Elkhorn to the Walworth County Fair.  The fair dates back to 1850 and is everything you can imagine about an old fashioned county fair, rides, philly cheese steaks, corn dogs, cotton candy, homemade lemonade and even the church hall diner (where we ate).

Lots of horse races

The vintage church dining hall where we had lunch

We had come to the fair two years ago but it was so hot we could barely move through the congested aisles of concessions.  I remember lots of funnel cakes, my daughter riding a camel, a man carving beavers out of wood and my grandchildren posing on a fire engine.  This year, it was all about looking for the scariest ride, the tornado, silver streak, tilt a whirl, bumper cars, fireball and the octopus.

My favorite as a child, much to my mother's dismay, I came home with lots of goldfish!

Picture perfect veggies competing for a ribbon

Pastry ribbons, the one in the middle won first prize.

Crafts everywhere!

Pumpkin judging

This one won the blue ribbon

What a departure from my everyday life, miles and miles of farmland and open fields, a pristine blue sky and even though we saw many locals pulling out their BlackBerrys, there is still a feeling of the simple life.  I am not sure I could live there full time, but it is certainly a relaxing break from the daily treadmill of city life.