Sunday Snapshot: Bumblebee on Bluebeard

Bumblebee on Bluebeard (Caryopteris ‘Longwood Blue’)

Read Full Post »

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: September 2012

As we move into fall, the garden begins to take on an overripe, languid feel, an aging beauty going to seed, in this case, quite literally. However, it is still a beautiful place to stroll and take in the sights.

Lemon Queen sunflower (Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’) dominates the central island. I didn’t get around to staking the Queen earlier in the season, and now she is so well-attended by bumblebees, I am content to let her tumble out over her lesser neighbours.

The ornamental grasses are taking on a starring role in the border as their seedheads mature.

My favorite is probably Redhead Fountaingrass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Redhead’), which has already been magnificent for weeks.

Its little cousin Piglet (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Piglet’) has a softer look, with gently arching stems.

In addition to airy seedheads, the blades of switchgrass add colour interest. Here is Shenandoah (Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’) touched with scarlet.

The various ligularia species have been brightening shady corners since midsummer. Here is Desdemona (Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’).

Of course, fall is the season for asters. Here is Pink Bouquet (Aster dumosus ‘Pink Bouquet’) backed by Silver Brocade artemisia (Artemisia stelleriana ‘Silver Brocade’).

By autumn, the annuals have matured and are adding touches of brillant colour. The caryopteris, or bluebeard, is adding a pretty blue and the deep wine-cerise of Angelica is outstanding with phlox and sedum. Here is a selection of other garden highlights.

To visit other September gardens, please drop by May Dream’s Garden Bloggers’ Day roundup, linked here.

Cleome

Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Longwood Blue’

Angelica gigas

Rainbow Knockout Rosa ‘Radcor’

Calamintha nepeta ‘Blue Cloud’

Echinacea ‘Green Jewel’

Black Adder Agastache and Hosta Krossa Regal

Anemone hupehensis ‘Pink Saucer’

Joe Crow

Woodland Walk

Tamarack Walk

Shade Walk

Japanese Painted ferns and hostas underplanting Amur Maple with Tiger Eye Sumac in background.

Royal Standard Hostas

Read Full Post »

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, September 15, 2011

Wow, can it really be a month since the August Bloom Day? Can it really be September? It can and it is and the garden is lush and full, moving into its final display before frost ends the show for another year. There is still plenty to see. Welcome to my Eastern Ontario Zone 4a USDA garden. Let me take you for a little tour and we’ll enjoy some of the highlights together.

Near our front door, the white bottle-brush blooms of snakeroot (Cimicifuga ramosa ‘Atropurpurea’) stand tall beside the curious ropes of the annual Love-Lies-Bleeding (Amaranthus cauditis). Annuals that reach their peak just as many perennials are dying back can really enliven the fall garden. Certainly, Love-Lies-Bleeding has both a catchy name and an eye-catching form.

To the other side of the doorway is our ornamental pond, where the pink impatiens have filled out and brighten the shade.

The large island bed is edged by Coreopsis grandiflora ‘Mayfield Giant’. I have several coreopsis species, but I have to say this reliable bloomer is a favorite. I generally prefer stems that stand upright, but the sprawling nature of Mayfield sets off the grasses it fronts in a pleasingly natural manner.

The grasses come into their own in the fall. Behind the coreopsis is Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’, which features wine-red leaf tips and reddish flower heads. When the grasses go to seed, they will feed wintering birds.

Interplanted with ‘Shenandoah’ is Panicum virgatum ‘Prairie Sky’, a blue grass. The grasses are at their finest when bejeweled with tiny dew or rain drops. Echinacia purpurea ‘Ruby Star’ looks good with both grasses. I never cut back dead flower heads until the spring. The echinacea and coreopsis seeds will provide another winter food source for wildlife.

A pair of Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) did well this summer. This moderately sized plant does well in a shady section of the garden and features interesting seedheads in the fall.

Agastache ‘Heatwave’ has been a fabulous performer this summer. It is backed by Helenium ‘Helena’ in yellow and rust red. To the left, you can just make out the tall stems of Andropogon gerardii (Big Bluestem), which doesn’t have seed stalks yet. To the right is Miscanthus gigantus (Giant Maiden Grass). The plumes in the centre belong to an unnamed Miscanthus species.

Blooming amongst the tall grasses is Rudbeckia nitida ‘Herbstonne’, shown below with a Monarch visitor.

Buddleja, or Butterfly Bush, is considered an invasive species in some areas, but there is not much risk of that here. This Buddleja davidii ‘Honeycomb’ struggles from year to year, and this spring, I considered digging out the rather unimpressive shoot. However, I let it be, and I am gratified to see that butterflies are finding it attractive, not to mention bumblebees.

A nice patch of Chelone obliqua (Turtlehead) is offering up its pink blooms to bumblebees too, and it is fascinating to watch the bees disappear into the tubular blooms and then reappear a second later.

Perhaps the star of the late summer garden this year has been this sunflower, Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’. If I were to stake it, the stems would be 6 to 7 feet tall. But I let is gently bow down and the huge bouquet of flowers is thus held at a perfect eye level. I wouldn’t want to miss viewing the host of pollinators that this beauty attracts.

Along a shady path, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and Anemone hupehensis ‘Pink Saucer’ are mingling. This geranium has been a wonder this summer, offering up its beautiful blue flowers over a remarkably long period.

Here’s another blue, Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Longwood Blue’, or bluebeard. I had no experience with caryopteris before I purchased this plant. It wasn’t until I travelled to Longwood Gardens that I made the connection between my caryopteris and the magnificent Pennsylvania garden, where I was delighted to view the “Caryopteris Allee”.

Of course, no fall garden would be complete without asters. This is Aster dumosus ‘Pink Bouquet’.

Likewise, sedums are also great for fall colour. This is Sedum ‘Carl’.

Although there are still other interesting sights to see, I’ll end our tour with this final plant, Phytolacca acinosa, or pokeberry, which is at its best when its colourful berries put on their show.

You can visit other gardens through GBBD Central at May Dreams Gardens. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Latebloomers

While some plants have a long blooming period, and continue flowering well into autumn, others wait until the very last minute to do their thing. The asters in the garden bloom at the same time as the wild asters. This is Aster novi-belgii ‘Professor Kippenburg’. Although it looks very like its wild cousins, it is a very well-behaved species. It grows in a neat, dense clump, about a foot tall and blooms profusely.

Bluebeard, or caryopteris was new to me when I came across it last summer and bought a couple of plants for the garden. I have been waiting anxiously all summer to see it bloom and had just about given up hope when it finally flowered. This is Caryopteris x clandonensis “Longwood Blue”. It is said to be attractive to butterflies, but it is blooming so late that it has pretty much missed the butterfly season. However, the bees seem to like it, and it is nice to have something for them this late in the season.

The last,the very last plant in the garden to bloom is my monkshood, Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Barker’s Variety’. While the bluebeard is new, I’ve had this monkshood in my garden for quite a few years and moved a clump to Willow House a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t want to be without this amazing champion of the latebloomers.

It has a pleasing presence in the garden all summer, growing in a tidy clump. It’s long stems, which are over 5 feet tall, are very sturdy and I’ve never needed to stake them. It is just now starting to bloom. It is usual for this plant to still have a few flowers blooming when the first snow flies, long after the rest of the garden has settled into its long winter’s nap.

As suggested by their common name, the flowers have an interesting hooded appearance. They have been attracting lots of attention from late-flying bees and other pollinators, and when they visit the flowers, the bees disappear from sight, entering deeply into the blossoms.

Not all monkshood blooms at the end of the summer. There are early summer and mid-summer bloomers as well. The flowers may be ivory coloured, like those of Aconitum ‘Ivorine’, which blooms in late spring, or pink, like Aconitum x cammarum ‘Pink Sensation’. They grow to different heights, too. There is even a dwarf variety, Aconitum ‘Blue Lagoon’, which reaches just 12 inches (30cm) or so.

The plants are well-known as among the most poisonous of garden varieties, but they’re not a problem to work around. Just don’t eat them or use them for herbal purposes.

If you are interested in learning more about aconitum (ak-on-EYE-tum), Canadian Gardening magazine has an article about monkshood in the Fall/Winter 2010 issue.

Read Full Post »