Wordless Wednesday

A small sampling of what can be found in my garden right now.

Centaurea montana Black Sprite

Digitalis too-lazy-to-go-check-labelii

Baptisia australis

An unidentified Opiliones who clearly hadn't had her coffee yet

(these are commonly known as Daddy Long Legs or Harvestmen and they are ALL OVER my garden this year)

Trasdescantia too-brightus

No, she's not quite that bright but I like the level of detail so I included it anyway

Miscellaneous Saturday

Trees are like people. Most of them I'd rather not see naked.

This reblooming iris would be nice if the color of the blooms didn't match the color of fallen leaves quite so much.

The Baptisia seed pods rattle until they start to open and spread their seeds. They make for winter interest but also for LOTS of seedlings in the spring.

At least my hollies like lively and colorful. And they will until sometime in February when we get a thaw and the berries are exposed to the hungry Robins and Cedar Waxwings. I guess they're still cheerful when the bushes are full of birds.

Foliage Follow Up July 2014

While the flowers are all orange there is still some gorgeous foliage to be found this month here on The Edge.

I bought two gorgeously dark Cimicifuga [Actea] simplex Brunette and planted them in a partly shady area - this one kept some dark pigment and developed these complexly colored leaves. The other one is mostly green (bleh). They're supposed to get big, which is good since they're in a shrub border with lots of Viburnums.

I'm not sure if this Panicum  is Heavy Metal or Cloud Nine. I bought both and can't really tell the difference in my garden. Still, it's nice and [very important] it's dog-resistant. Even when My Little Predator tried to dig it up to get at something hiding deep inside the plant.

Ah, Physiocarpus opulifolius Diablo [ninebark]. Go ahead, tempt me, you sexy thing!

What's mid-summer with Hostas? I'm a fan of the jumbo sized leaves on these two: Guacamole (on top) and DamnIForgotToRecordTheName (on bottom).

Sambucus [elderberry] Black Lace

And a surprise appearance by Baptisia australis. Not normally known for their foliage they do form a nice shrub sized clump during the summer. Unless it pours down rain. In which case they flop over like drama queens.

This is Gaura lindheimeri Guadi Red. I bought it to bring some more dark pink genes into the gene pool of the volunteer reproducing Gaura in my yard. It hasn't bloomed yet but I really like the colors in the foliage.

Ferns are always good for foliage photos. Lady in Red on top and Ostrich on bottom (note the dots on the underside of Ostrich's leaves? Those are the spore producing structures)

 And let's end this month with a close up of a very nice Canna leaf (possibly Tropicanna). 

Thanks to Pam at Digging for this meme

Wordless Wednesday

Salvia nemerosa (May Night, Viola Klaus, Caradonna)

Iris idontrememberbuyingthisii

Heuchera (supposed to be Frosted Violet but two of the five I bought look like this and the other three look like, well Frosted Violet)

Heuchara mislabeledus

Dianthus Great Wicked Witch

Geum Totally Tangerine in front of Siberian Iris fromneighborii

Aqueligia fragrans scented varieties I started from seeds I bought from Plant World Seeds in England 

Fragrance is subtle and is overshadowed by my neighbors Lilac that's also blooming now

Baptisia australis

Siberian Iris lostustagus

Support Your Garden

I have a chronic problem that plants in my garden grow larger than the tag predicts (and larger than the same plants in the garden down the street... I think it's because of the ritual sacrifice I do every spring). Sometimes these plants get so large they need support. If I was a controlling (and organized) gardener I would cut them back half way through the growth cycle so they ended up shorter.

I'm not that controlling (organized).

These are the plants that get too big for plant hoops.

So I'm experimenting. My Baptisia (that I wouldn't want to cut back anyway, it blooms too early) gets top heavy and in strong rains it tends to flop over - I'm trying chicken wire with the hope that new growth will grow THROUGH the chicken wire and hide it. We'll see.

My October Skies Aster (either Aster or Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) could be cut back. But I love it's oversized exuberant blooms in the late fall. I'm trying the square tomato cages. They're nearly invisible already, we'll see if they can carry the load.

Speaking Typing of tomatoes... They're always problematic. I got this idea from a neighbor. Tomato cages combined with stakes. The cages support the lower branches and the stakes are to support the weight of the tall plant. It worked when we did our community garden and had 8 foot tall tomatoes so it should work here.

Now we just wait and see which ones work and which ones look least annoying.

Or I could get on the ball and cut things back. 

Just not the tomatoes. 

Or the Baptisia. 

Hmmm... I think I'm sensing a problem...