I think the garden is as exhausted by our sweltering summer as I am. 15 days above 90 degrees in a month where temperatures are usually pleasant, has done it in.
Above: front garden = tired & messy. The only thing really thriving are the Nasturtiums.
Most of the perennials are heat weary and if I could guess, more than ready for a rest.
The one thing I'm loving, the Dwarf Hameln' grasses, planted this Spring:
I know they'll only get better from this year forward.
It's been a rebuilding year for me since I removed two overgrown evergreens last fall. The voids left, created two huge spaces to re-design & fill.
At first it was an exciting prospect, but the front border has been decidedly harder for me to pull together than the back. Something I'll keep contemplating over the upcoming winter.
It was interesting what randomly popped up (out front) in the empty space left behind.
'Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate' (Polygonum orientale) must have germinated from seeds left dormant from several summers ago.
I sure didn't sow them but I hope they seed around some more!
Also 'Lauren's Grape' poppies showed up in profusion.
And purple Larkspur "magically" appeared as well.
Dahlia 'Yellow Bird' (not a surprise, planted in early summer) performed underwhelmingly.
I'm also still waiting on a few other (dinnerplate) Dahlias to bloom that I'm not even sure will make it before frost hits.
In late August, I finally started seeing a few Monarchs.
They really like my 'Honeycomb' Buddleia.
Sadly, I haven't had caterpillars on my milkweed for several years now. I suspect because my plants keep having infestations of Milkweed aphids. Try as I might, I can't seem to get rid of them.
Now I'm slowly getting the garden ready for Fall. I pulled up the sunflowers, cut & collected the heads & put them all in a basket for the birds.
At least those were my intentions ~ but I don't think the birds got a single seed ~ every time I looked, squirrels were carting them off. They didn't stop until they'd hauled them all away.
I can't believe it's already time to prepare for winter. I've already brought in my Ivy & Myrtle topiaries and will slowly gather together everything else I want to save over the next few weeks. As usual, summer came and went in the blink of an eye, despite being brutally hot. I'm never, ever, ready for it to end....
I think it still looks great--the Nasturtiums and Polygonums really add bright pops of color! My daughter spent some time in Denver this summer (in fact she's there right now), and she noticed how dry it was. She was glad to get back to the green here. But we mentioned this was a weird growing season--you were drier than normal and we were wetter than normal. I'm still waiting on some Dahlias, too. :)
Posted by: Beth @ PlantPostings | September 30, 2018 at 08:30 PM