A Quick Garden Walk

 Hues of purple dominant the garden this evening.

But some new colors are coming:

Blush Pink Peonies

Watermelon Pink Poppies

A Planter for Vines

 In past summers, I've planted vines that did not perform for me. 

This year, I'll try producing again but I'm putting three vines in one pot 

so maybe one of them will be happy 

and fill out my trellis during the summer and into autumn.

This year's star is a Passionflower vine, Passiflora 'Aphrodite's Nightie'.  

It will bloom purple with curling tendrils to hold it to the trellis.  

It should bloom best when the nights warm up in summer.

To accompany it, I planted a Moon Flower vine, Ipomoea alba, 

which will bloom in mid-summer through fall -- and at night with a sweet fragrance. T

hey should be good companions in terms of blooming. 

Moon flowers are poisonous, but not as much as a night-blooming Datura vine.

And just to make sure I get some full-time bloom

 and coverage of the trellis, I planted a pink Thunbergia Sunny Susie 'Rose Sensation' too.  

It should bloom in the daytime when the Passion flower has passed its prime. 

And to cover up the bare bottom of the trellis 

as the vines grow up, I planted a Euphorbia 'Blush'.

It should mound at the base with green leaves

 blushed with red and a profusion of small pink blooms.

The show must go on.  

Let's see which one is the star 

and which one is the understudy.

Container Plants for 2023

 

This year's potential showstopper: 'Canna 'Tenerife'.

I'm hoping it doesn't  grow 6-8 feet like last year's.

It is not supposed to...

To complement it in the container:

Fuchsia 'Autumnale' with colorful leaves and pendant blooms.

 

Colorblaze Coleus 'Wicked Hot'

Superbells 'Double Orange'

Beedance Bidens 'Painted Red'

Flambe 'Yellow' Strawflower, 

trailing with silvery foliage

Most are Proven Winners brand plants,

Now, we'll just see if they can live together

in their containers.  I have two on either 

side of the clubhouse entrance.

It's a contest to see which one

does better.

The Last Garden Moment this Year?

 

I was out cleaning up the beds, 

discarding old blooms in pots and found this!

On a holly bush!

Oh, my! First one I've seen in my garden here--

and it's been 14 years.

What a treat!
 I hope he/she had some babies for 2023.

End of October

Well, the end of October is not the end of the garden this year.  After a prolonged drought we have had a first month of the fall season that is wet and sunny and warm (not hot). I've emptied the rain gauge of two, three and five inches several times.  And the plants show it!  They held back during the drought, but are giving it their all with some increased rain, clear and sunny skies and moderate temperatures,

I've been emptying the planters as they look bedraggled or slipping in some mums to keep then looking full. We've had a couple light frosts but nothing has been hit hard.  The stars of the planters this year have been:

Fishnet Stockings Coleus, a Proven Winner. It hit 3 feet high and the burgundy veining was outstanding. https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/plectranthus/fishnet-stockings-coleus-plectranthus-scutellarioides

Redhead Coleus was in the same planter and stood its ground with the Fishnet Coleus, growing to 3 feet high and blazing red in the sun. https://www.gardenia.net/plant/solenostemon-redhead

Each planter had Salvia, two different colors. Ember's Way Salvia bloomed coral and grew to at least 3 feet tall also.  Its texture was a nice contrast to the coleus leaves.

https://www.gardenia.net/plant/solenostemon-redhead

The Sundial Mix of Portulaca created a lacy skirt to the rectangular, brown planters.  The large blooms went on all summer even in the drought. https://www.burpee.com/portulaca-sundial-hybrid-mix-prod000348.html

But the absolute stunner of the planters at the clubhouse entrance were the Praetoria classic Cannas.  They great at least 6 feet high in the 2 foot high planters, towering over the other showy plants. The variegated leaves looked great with the tangerine blooms which slowed during the drought but not much, only to give a blast of bloom with rain in September and October.   https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/canna/pretoria-canna-hybrid

Uh, oh! I just read that I can keep the tubers for next spring.  I let them die back naturally and then dig the tubers out.   Rinse them well with water to remove all dirt.  Air dry them. Then wrap them in newspaper and store them in peat moss.  That's a  "no! no!  No Go! " so I'll need to find a substitute.  More reading will help solve that dilemma.  I guess I should give it a try. I'll be visiting the compost pile to retrieve them tomorrow. All the plants came out in a solid mass!

Last Day of Summer

 Today it is rainy and stormy. Autumn begins at 9 p.m. tonight.

Yesterday was sunny, clear and cool.  Fortunately, I did a bit of

deadheading and then went looking for my phone to use the

camera. The garden was full of bloom and bees and butterflies.

Here's a sampling of the colors, but no scents or flutters or buzzing.

Roses put on another show

Perennial Geranium reblooming

Gerber Daisy reblooming

The Lamium blooms look like

tiny orchids.

Cleome at starting to go to seed

Burgundy Sedum, White Balloon Flowers,

Cleome in Background

and a beautiful blue spiked bloom

in a pot that I cannot name.

It's the one plant I'd like to 

have again next year, of course!

Hints of autumn

and the Monarchs on the deck!

Good-bye, Summer!

Lazy Days of August

 We might be sitting listlessly on a chair on the patio

near the garden, cold drink on the table,

but too hot and lazy to reach for it.

Meanwhile the butterflies are busy

sipping nectar and pollinating, 

right-side up, up-side down

and sideways--

never pausing.

It's more movement 

than I can do

to capture them!

Back to the chair

and a cool drink.