The Four Seasons

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Four Seasons with Alan Alda and Carol Burnett,  The concertos by Vivaldi were mesmerizing as they wove through the story of these couples lives, and whenever I hear them I think of not only the movie but of all the seasons of the year.

My favorite season is spring with fall running a close second.  I am sure you can guess which are my least favorites, summer and winter, funny because as a child summer and winter were my favorites.  Oh, but that must have been before I became a gardener!

Could this be the last rose of summer, I hope not!  This double Knockout has put forth one beautiful rose after not blooming much all summer.

I am really liking the look of this Chocolate Chip Ajuga that I put between the cracks of the new bluestone walk under my arbor in the back garden.  Right now, it seems like a very controlled ajuga and you can walk on it without any damage.

I wish I had paid a little more attention to Boltonia Pink Beauty by caging it in last spring rather than letting it flop until the summer.  It is really stunning under the dogwood but not as pretty as it could have been.

One lone white campanula amongst the allysum

This was a $1.97 mum from Home Depot last year that I wintered over in the veggie garden and then transplanted into the border.  It is now about two feet tall and two feet wide.  I did pinch it back all summer, but I just don't have room in my summer garden for mums.  I might have to do them in pots for the summer.

This is Festive Ursula in the blue resin pots back by the arbor.  I am sure it is an early mum, but I just liked the color.  This one I might winter over in the veggie garden.

Helga is one of my favorite mums beginning to bloom by the garden shed.  Even though it is classified as an early mum, it lasts a long time and is not susceptible to insects or slugs as are some of the white mums.

I began cutting my Limelight today for drying, strip off as many leaves as you can because they do not dry well.

When they are stripped of leaves, you can put them in a tall bucket or vase to dry - no water, usually takes no more than a few days.

The Unique Hydrangea is handled in the same manner, leaves stripped and put in a vase or bucket to dry.  They are more pendulous than Limelight

Unique Hydrangea with Limelight Hydrangea

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.

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!