Fabulous Fall

All it took was a few falling leaves cutting down some of my dicey hosta leaves, the bulb shipment arriving and my orange Hannah mum breaking into bloom (header) for me to take on fall full steam.

The Sweet Autumn Clematis growing atop my pergola is only this glorious from my bedroom window.


It's time to bring a little real along with faux to the inside fall decor.

Faux sedum, gourds, pumpkins, nuts and birds in a vintage etched bowl.  The birds adapt to all seasonal themes.

The plumes of Miscanthus Udine soften the roughness of the woven basket, sedum and faux pumpkins and gourds.

Miscanthus Udine

Begins with tan pinkish plumes and then opens to soft fuzziness

This is a faux grass I bought at Hobby Lobby last year and it looks pretty realistic.

In past years, faux plants and vegetables were something I would never think of using.  By spring I had petrified pumpkins and gourds that were either rotting or turned into shakers.  The pumpkins, gourds, grasses and seasonal vegetables look so good now you would have to bite them to know they were not real.

The buffet is decked out with faux pumpkins, dried gourds and Indian corn.

My buddy the chipmunk is keeping watch on the fall clean up outside!

Annual Rudbeckia is one of my new fall favorites for containers.

The small cabbages I bought for $1.25 are getting bigger by the day.  I have to keep up with the slug bait.

Some pumpkins and gourds amongst the violas and cabbages.  Most of the faux decor is now coated for the weather and already have the spikes on them for anchoring into the soil,

Last year I used real gourds and small pumpkins and there were bites all over them at the end of the season.

I haven't put out any Halloween decorations yet, but I think I may put my large pumpkins out in front next week.

Dried Hydrangeas are wonderful for fall decor, Unique on the left, Limelight on the right.  They can also be spray painted for Holiday containers. 

A little bling for the coffee table in the living room, a great hand painted container with woven spheres, faux and dried gourds and a little sparkle.

A Long Goodbye

For most flowering perennial plants fall is not an overnight goodbye.  We notice less flowering, yellowing stalks and leaves and finally shades of brown.  Our annuals usually say a pretty quick goodbye sometimes overnight a shriveling and then gone!

Now is the time of year when we need to look at what we have outside that we want to keep going by bringing them inside.  Remember, whatever you bring inside can also contain some of the outside like insects.

The Rex Begonia was a Victorian houseplant, however, this year at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show it was shown as an outside bedding plant.  I used it on my patio and it did very well but I will try to winter it over indoors because it has become quite a large specimen.

This Dracena will be coming in because I love the colors.  The containers on each side are my fall lettuce crop, gave up trying to sow it in the veggie garden because of the rabbits, chipmunks, etc.  I saw lettuce planted in containers for the fall at a local nursery and they were beautiful.

Persian Shield was an impressive annual this year, not going to save this one, but so far it has weathered our first cold snap.

This was a star on my patio this year and I will try to replant it in a container for the winter.  I cannot remember the name, but it was very hardy in my basket containers.  The Algerian Ivy will not do well indoors, at least not in my house.

Rainbow Knockout is a favorite and had a very difficult summer with insects.  It is one of my longest blooming roses and is not disappointing me at the end of the season.

The phlox is winding down but with deadheading and some warmer weather could still put out another burst of blooms.

I grew Vinca this year for the first time in many decades and along with allysum has really been a long time bloomer.

I have never had an Echinacea that looked like Kim's Knee High at the end of the season.  I came across a quote by Alan Armitage that said if he had one Echinacea to pick it would be Kim's Knee High.  I agree!

I went on a search to find more Kim's Knee High and it was not available anywhere.  So, I ordered  Kim's Knee High Red from an online nursery.  The plants are large and look very healthy, must get them in the ground.  They were already trimmed and cut back to curtail dieback when transplanted.

Knockout double and single have come back strong but it is a shame that through most of the summer they suffered through rose midge and Japanese beetles.  They will bloom through October unless we have a hard freeze.

The roses are such a staple in the fall garden, Blush Knockout in the foreground, Home Run, All The Rage.

Carefree Beauty

The Alley Garden is sometimes forgotten but adds an atmosphere this time of year that is welcome as we say goodbye.  I have cut back the Agastache Blue Fortune because it was leaning so heavily, next year plant hoops.  It was just about done with less bees visiting each day.  The plantings in the alley are all xeric and watering is minimal.

Sedum Autumn Fire

Does not flop but is a lighter color than Autumn Joy

Centhanthrus Alba

Blooms all summer into fall (a weaver)

It is probably fitting that I end with Ajuga Chocolate Chip since I didn't think I would ever see it again.  It came back in very late spring and never flowered but it looks wonderful now.  We will see if it chooses to grace us with its presence next year!

Mum's The Word

I have been trying for years to cut back on my mum consumption, and I think this year I have taken a few steps forward.  I have only bought one so far Hannah Orange (Early).  It is that big ball of pinched blooms that almost doesn't look real, but it is the color of pumpkins so I couldn't resist.

Hannah Orange Mum with Carex grass and Vera Jameson Sedum

Cabbages, Pansies and Violas in the Shed Hayracks

Pansies by the veggie garden, clip off wilting flowers to keep them going throughout the fall.  I have added a little slug bait to the pots because the slugs love to eat pansies and mums.


Instead of mums I have put in more cabbages of various colors, grasses (on sale), violas and pansies.  More and more rudbeckias are coming on the market for fall planting, long lasting and sometimes return if planted in the garden.  Pansies are also a good filler for containers, however, I have learned through the years that if they are too small they don't have the time to mature in the colder climates.

I kept the Rush Mohawk Blue from the summer and added a faux pumpkin and willow branches.

As I ready my containers for fall I am surprised by Pink Promise Rose, a Rose of the Year a few years ago.  It has never looked like this and each year I consider pulling it out because it has never been really pink, plagued by rose midge and Japanese beetles just not a keeper.  It is very tall, a hybrid tea, and always wondered where it belongs.  It is fragrant and I guess it is telling me it belongs here!

Boltonia Pink Beauty is another surprise this year, looking more dainty than ever such a delight in a late summer garden!

 

Violas will fill out quickly if you deadhead the faded ones, a little slug bait and some liquid fertilizer, not super bloom this time of year.

Swiss Chard, Violas and Pansies

If you plant too late in the colder zones the plants will not have a chance to mature and fill out the containers.

I found a dwarf Sedum Sieboldi that looks like Vera Jameson and works well as a spiller and blooms a littler later.  These will come back if planted in the garden before the ground freezes.

Dwarf Sedum Seiboldi

Cabbages with Red Mustard, Pansies and Sedum.  I left the Euphorbia Diamond Frost for now but I may change this out, not sure it will look right with gourds and pumpkins.

The Cordyline and Dracena have been saved from the summer, faux autumn leaves with rudbeckia, cabbages and pansies.

Who am I kidding, I know I will buy a few more mums for the front garden!

Well, I did it Bronze Mums and a White Aster.  I do not have room in my garden to winter over mums and asters so I am not too concerned about my mum buying this year, three mums and one aster.

Please don't count the cabbages, pansies violas mustard and swiss chard!  However, all of the aforementioned do last longer than mums!

Summer's Gone

I am a big fan of Paul Anka but I do not remember this song.  My guess is that as a teenager I would not have liked to hear the words of this song so I must have dismissed it.

However,  with maturity I am more realistic and know that the signs are everywhere announcing the forthcoming season.

Heliopsis Lemon Queen is the first sign that Fall is inevitable.

Autumn Fern is turning color more and more each day.

Vera Jameson Sedum is in full bloom.

Endless Summer Hydrangea is not in my good graces but its fall coloring is earning it some points.

Arnie's Choice daylily is fresh and green again surrounded by Plumbago and cabbages.

I used several Gerber Daisies in my plantings this year, most not successful.  These are the best looking planted by my front walk.  They will succumb quickly to the cool fall temperatures.

I have several Crotons and they will not do well below 50 degrees, so I will bring them indoors for the winter.  They do well inside and do not get buggy, etc.

My best petunias, Bubblegum, Bordeaux and Tidal Wave will stay around for awhile since petunias are cold tolerant.

Phlox will continue to bloom as long as it is deadheaded, Laura in foreground and Franz Schubert.

Blue Paradise Phlox in a shadier area

Miscanthus Udine is just beginning to send up its pinkish plumes with aster Purple Dome in the foreground with just a small hint of purple showing.

Autumn Fire Sedum is beginning to show its colors, more upright than Autumn Joy but not the same intense coloring.

The gauras love to peek out in the fall, both pink and white are beginning a profuse blooming period.  You can only wish they come back!

Agastache Blue Fortune in the alley garden tends to lean because of the fence behind it.  I will have to encircle it next spring to keep this from happening.  This plant has a wonderful licorice fragrance but is a bee haven so do not plant near a walkway.

Rainbow Knockout is a rose that fills the fall with blooms until November.  It was especially hard hit this year with the midges and Japanese Beetles, I had almost forgotten how beautiful it is.

Unique Hydrangea is turning pink which will eventually become rose colored.

The herbs will soon need to be cut and tied for hanging in the garage ready for use throughout the winter months.

All of the Heucheras are wonderful in the fall with their colors and blooms.  This is Heuchera Purpurea Villosa.

Home Run Pink, what can I say, it has weathered the insects has virtually no disease and has grown by leaps and bounds.  The pink is electric not purple/pink but a warm reddish pink.

Home Run Red with Kim's Knee High Coneflower and Rainbow Knockout

The Home Run Rose Red is a royal red with a gold center.

I have trialed these two types of Home Run roses this year in all areas of my garden even in part shade and they have all done very well.  I did fertilize them with my other roses with the Bayer 3 In 1 Formula Systemic.  There was some rose midge involvement but very little interest in them by the Japanese Beetles, no black spot or mildew.  They do not need to be deadheaded and will produce rose hips along with continual flowering.  Let's look for these next year distributed by Proven Winners Choice.