October in the Garden

Sometimes, in the middle of summer, when heat and drought have reduced the grass to a yellowed crisp, I think about replacing the main garden pathway with something more durable. But by this time of year, the grass is gorgeous, an emerald ribbon inviting you for a stroll in the garden.

Most of the perennials are done for the year, but the garden is still pleasant on a sunny day, and there is still lots to see.

I usually plant a few annuals and they are stalwarts that help to carry the garden into winter. Above are colourful cosmos, below, zinnias.

The larch trees that form an arching tunnel will shed their needles soon, but for the moment, the tunnel is still green and inviting. It’s watched over by the garden gnome who stands to one side in a clump of hostas.

Visitors usually refer to him as the Travelocity gnome, but I think of him as Gnome Chomsky.

The berries on this native holly, Winterberry ‘Winter Red’ ( Ilex verticillata), brighten a shady corner and offer a bounty for birds.

This White Angel crabapple tree (Malus ‘White Angel’), is covered in beautiful white flowers in spring, and brilliant red apples in autumn.

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is easily the most floriferous geranium in the garden, still blooming in October.

Coreopsis ‘Cosmic Eye’ has been a wonderful performer too. It is one of Darrell Probst’s Big Bang introductions.

The tall stems of autumn monkshood (Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Barker’s Variety’) are all topped with beautiful blue flowers now. This monkshood is often still blooming when the first snow flies.

Now that the Tiger Eye Sumacs have dropped their leaves, the red begonias that were overshadowed for the last months of summer have the stage to themselves and look brilliant with red bloodgrass (Imperata cylindrica ‘Red Baron’).

As ever, Joe Crow continues to watch over his patch of the garden.

Read Full Post »

Garden Walk: June 16th

One of the most difficult challenges in photography is capturing the essence of a garden. No matter how lovely the pictures are, they rarely evoke the same experience as being there in person. I’m in awe of photographers who do this for a living! And of course, no photograph includes the song of the birds, the buzz of the bees, the sweet scent of roses as you brush by them, the relief of cooler air as you move out of the sun onto a shady path…

One of my favorite views of the garden can be seen from an upstairs window in the house. I like to look out at the garden when I get up in the morning and see it at its freshest, before the heat of the day sets in.

Once the horses are looked after, I take a stroll around the yard and see what changes the new day has brought.  Pictured above is Geraniium phaeum ‘Samobor‘ and catmint Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’.

The slanting rays of the morning sun offer softer lighting than the midday sun.  Here are some of the first blooms of Morden Sunrise.

This view shows one of the garden’s three birdbaths, set off by Salvia “May Night” (Salvia nemerosa ‘Mainacht’). To the left is the Giant Fleeceflower (Persicaria polymorpha). It’s about five feet tall this year, and putting on a beautiful display. I hope that in another year or two, it will get to be another foot taller. To the right are daylilies, still a few weeks or a month away from their bloom time.

The old-fashioned shrub roses, ‘Dart’s Dash’ scent the air with a fragrance as beautiful as their brilliant flowers. Here, the roses are set off by the blue of False Indigo (Baptisia australis).

I’ve been keeping an eye out for a gnome to live in the garden for some time, and when I found this birdbath, I thought that this fellow would be just right for a shady spot at the edge of a garden path. I’ll close this post with a view of the path that leads into the garden from the driveway. You can spot the gnome just to the right of the path.

Read Full Post »