I'm A Believer

If the date wouldn't convince me this past weekend certainly did the trick.  Previous to this I think I thought that this was the summer that would never end.

Now I feel I must hurry up to get everything done, frost has nipped most of the tender annuals and pulling out will take almost as much time as planting.

Indian Summer Coleus (holds up well to a light frost) with Bedazzled Bronze Mum

 

I think this is the time of year that we need to notice which annuals and perennials go slowly into the fall season.  I have other coleus that have definitely been nipped, turning brown and will need to be pulled.

 

PJM (Elite Variety)

The wonderful attribute of this variety is that the leaves turn red in the fall and then revert to a rusty brown for the winter.  Note that mine is sending out very small flowers after this unusual summer.

 

Azalea Karen

This is an evergreen azalea and stays a beautiful warm brown color all winter.

 

Ninebark Summer Wine

It is in it's darkest color right now, almost a black/brown in the garden.

 

It looks so good with Gerald Darby Iris.

 

North Side Front

This is the area I put in last spring after removing the Euyonmous Wintercreeper.  Amsonia Northwind Select is slow glowing and will need some pruning next spring to keep it compact.  The Pennestium Piglet is a wonderful addition.

 

Pennestium Piglet

What a surprise this one was, much more feathery and showy than the other Pennestiums.

 

 

 

This is my designer pumpkin and so far it is still intact.  I think it has been tested by the squirrels but so far they can't get through it!

 

Miscanthus Little Kitten is a late blooming grass and I am so glad to see that its plumes are opening.

This is not a "little" grass, at least three feet tall and over three feet wide. 

 

This is the front area looking through Miscanthus Little Kitten.  I love it this time of year but it does need more room than what they say in the catalogs.

 

I was not thrilled with the Alley Garden this year as many of the plants flopped, even with supports, and learned that a lack of water will cause this to happen.  I have since put in a water drip hose system and will prune plants in the spring to spread rather than grow tall.  We will see if this is a remedy or a sign to replant something more adaptable like all sedums.

 

Panicum Shenandoah is spaced throughout my back garden hopefully to give a four season effect rather than seeing just the sticks of the rose bushes.  Shenandoah is usually more reddish this time of year, but I am afraid that I do not get the right amount of sun to give me this effect.

 

Phlox Franz Schubert

I do not want to constantly talk about this phlox, but it is still around and wanting to re-flower, what could be better?

 

I have many varieties of phlox but there are only a few that would still be performing in October!

 

Phlox Blue Paradise is the other one that is a consistent performer in my garden, with deadheading goes into the cooler weather of fall.

 

Bob's Blunder has become one of my favorite geraniums because it is a non intrusive plant just working through whatever is there.  Notice the muscari just coming up through wherever!  It also has two sets of leaves, larger and darker on top.

 

Heuchera Autumn Leaves

 

Heuchera Southern Comfort

Just beginning to develop its wonderful reddish colors

 

 

 

 

Cantigny

Cantigny was an area in France that Colonel Robert R McCormick (1880-1955) wanted to memorialize by naming his twenty-nine acres in Wheaton, Illinois, "Cantigny."  He had fought at this area in France during World War I and was intent on making his property a War Museum to honor the brave soldiers who stood beside him.  At Cantigny he had experimental gardens that tried new species of plants and tested theories of planting and harvesting.

Colonel McCormick became the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune Newspaper.

He was 6 feet 4" tall, 200 pounds and an excellent horseman.  His grandfather was Joseph Medill a publisher who the Medill School Of Journalism is named after at Northwestern University.

Robert thought of himself as an aristocrat who came from a long line of famous people, John and Cyrus McCormick, inventors of the reaper and owners of a company that would later become International Harvester.  He was an older cousin of Madeline Albright former secretary of state.

The visitors come now to his home, children climb on the tanks, visit his home and the war museum on the grounds.  However, the most beautiful areas are the many gardens.

The pumpkin people are already set up for all to enjoy.

 

King Tut Papyrus

 

The display areas are a gardeners delight because just about everything is labeled.

 

Mums, asters, carex and daisies

 

The interplanting of kale and grasses was very effective breaking up the placement of mums.

 

Cleome Seniorita Rosilita and Castor Bean

 

It was important this year to see the annuals that have held up to the summer heat.

 

Begonia Fortune Pink

 

These Begonias (Party Pink) are in full sun.

 

Dahlia Mystic Illusion

I grew this one and it performed great all summer.

 

Gomphrena Audray Pink

 

Gomphrena Fireworks

 

 

Verbena Bonariensis

 

This variety of Cosmos was not labeled, but still going strong.

 

Zinnia Uproar Rose

This is one I will be looking for next year.  Horticulturist on staff said this was one of the best they have grown.  My little fingers were dying to deadhead, even if just for looks!

 

Tamarix with Fine Wine Weigela

The Tamarix is a large tree like plant with red flowers, you need room for this one.

 

New Zealand Sedge Prairie Fire

 

This was the most beautiful cranberry red mum with a fascinating grass, could not find the name on either of these.  We couldn't tell if the grass was a Molinia or a Pennestium?

 

 

Pennestium Piglet

The use of smaller grasses in the middle of beds really works.

 

Pennestium Jade Princess

Isn't this a great looking plant, would remind you of cattails.

 

Calamagrostis brachytricha (Korean Feather Grass)

This was a most impressive grass!

 

I don't usually plant annual groundcovers but I will have to rethink this for next year.

 

Alternanthera Little Ruby

This is a great groundcover that easily goes into fall, however, it is an annual.

 

Purple Sage (used as an annual groundcover)

 

Almost forgot to mention the hawk that was swooping around our heads supposedly looking for a mouse!

The Summer Of Discontent

I really hate to call it that but for me it really was a summer I do not want to repeat.  My ideas of gardening have changed drastically and I am not totally sure it is warranted.

I have to rethink the amount of space I am giving to the roses, first the beetles, then mildew and rose midges.  It is recommended that all of the mildewed branches be cut off, bagged and put in the garden waste bag.  There is really no cure for it and spraying is a preventative not a cure.

I don't want to be burned again, and I use this term loosely!  I was like the mad waterer but I know many people lost large amounts of landscape material including some large evergreens and trees.

The south side raised bed has been redone (except for the Miscanthus Udine) with a move for Helopsis Loraine Sunshine and the rearranging of Chicago Apache Daylily with the addition of Eryngium Big Blue in the middle.

I have kept Miscanthus Udine in the middle of the raised bed but it is really getting too full, flops in a storm, so I will really have a decision to make in the spring.  I love the look, so if I can't keep it up away from the path I will have to find a more controllable grass.

This one is a keeper Cimicifuga Atropurpurea such a treat this time of year, adds a softness to the back border.

This is the opposite view facing towards the front of the house.  I love the way this is another see through plant that blooms in the fall.

Verbena Bonariensis will probably be back strong next year as it reseeds quite easily.  I don't mind because it is another see through plant that doesn't interfere with anything.

Our weather had turned cool in fact too cool in certain areas and I am hoping that fall does not go to the extreme as that we experienced in summer.

Even with the cooler weather Blue Paradise Phlox is getting ready to rebloom, hope it makes it before a frost.

Pink Knockout is reblooming and seems to have escaped the rose diseases.  Jack Frost Burnnera looks good until the end with just a few black spots on the leaves.  Bob's Blunder Geranium just loves to weave through whatever it is near.

Pulmonaria Raspberry Splash was cut back after blooming and it is rewarding to see all of this fresh new growth for the fall garden.

I am really beginning to love the dark foliage in the garden interspersed with greens and variegated foliage and especially the colors of the perennials flowers in the spring summer and fall.

Eupatorium Chocolate stays dark all summer and begins to lighten as it produces flower buds to bloom in the fall.

Weigela Wine and Roses replaced Helianthus Lemon Queen.  It just wasn't right for my small pathway, gave some to my daughter who has a much larger area to place it.

Geranium Bob's Blunder is a groundcover geranium which is dark leaved and winds its way through other perennials (Heucherella Sweet Tea) without overshadowing the plant.

Geranium Bob's Blunder produces both large and small leaves with the smaller leaves producing the abundance of flowers.  In my opinion this is a wonderful creeper!

This is a mum called Bedazzled Bronze which is bred to grow in a rounded shape by Yoder, who is a major mum producer.

Bedazzled Bronze

 

 

 

We forget about snapdragons but manytimes they come back and bloom from spring through fall.