Late Summer Gold

Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldstrum’

As the summer begins to wind down, shades of gold can be found in every corner of the garden. Here is a sampling of August gold.

Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’)

Daylily ‘The Goldilocks Effect’

Inula racemosa ‘Sonnenspeer’

Annual Sunflower

Coleus species

Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum)

Hosta ‘Journey’s End’

Goldenrod (Solidago ‘Golden Dwarf’)

Perennial Sunflower (Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’)

Ligularia dentata ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’

Helenium ‘Double Trouble’

Rudbeckia nitida ‘Herbstonne’

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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day August 2012

Wow, the middle of August! Hard to believe, although we can’t complain that we haven’t had plenty of hot summer weather this year. My garden is at its peak in July, when the 140 varieties of daylilies are in bloom. There are just a few late daylilies blooming their last blooms now.

Here’s Flaming Wildfire, so brilliant and intense it seems to glow. And below is Cameroons, a 1984 Munson introduction, showing off the washed eye pattern shared by many of the Munsons.

By August, there are hints of autumn as the ornamental grasses begin to put out their seed heads and the bright gold of rudbeckias dominates.

Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldstrum’ is in full bloom. Named Perennial of the Year way back in 1999, it is a very reliable standard for the late summer garden.

Here’s Goldstrum anchoring a planting with its taller cousin, Rudbeckia nitida ‘Herbstonne’ (Autumn Sun). Behind Herbstonne is the very tall grass Miscanthus giganteus, Giant Maiden Grass. To the left of Herbstonne is a tall switchgrass, Panicum virgatum ‘Thundercloud’. Between the Goldstrum clumps you can see the reddish seedheads of Redhead Fountain Grass (Pennisetum ‘Redhead’). At the right of the photo are stems of Willow-leaved Sunflower (Helianthus salicifolium), which has yet to bloom.

My Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum) has really matured this year and is putting on a terrific display. Some of the stems are drooping, which allows you to see visiting pollinators. The sprays of yellow flowers are mostly held so high, well above my head, that it is hard to admire insect activity up there.

Silphium is a native plant and quite appreciated by pollinators.

This spring, I split a clump of Lemon Queen sunflower (Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’), and thought it would take a year or two for the new clump to take hold. However, it apparently loves its new home and the hot summer we’ve experienced, and has filled out enthusiastically. Here’s the newly-established clump, just coming into bloom, embracing a bird house post with Phantom Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium ‘Phantom’) in the foreground.

Another brilliant gold bloomer is Golden Dwarf Goldenrod (Solidago ‘Golden Dwarf’). It has taken me a while to get used to seeing goldenrod in the garden. It is a prolific native wildflower (aka weed) in these parts, and I have had to suppress an urge to yank it out of the garden every time I pass! It is actually quite well-behaved and its brilliant yellow is set off by an assortment of pink and purple phlox plants.

Here’s a newer phlox, just introduced to the garden last year. In addition to pretty flowers, Phlox paniculata ‘Nora Leigh’ offers interesting variegated foliage.

Phlox produces a wonderful blaze of colour that sets off other perennials beautifully. Here’s a hollyhock backed with phlox.

And here’s Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ set off by phlox.

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ was chosen as Perennial of the Year in 2008 and is a deserving winner. It has proved drought resistant and hardy, and blooms over a long period with no attention from the gardener. Here’s Rozanne tumbling over the edge of a path.

Kniphofia ‘Shining Sceptre’ was new this spring. It settled in well and wasn’t disturbed by drought conditions. I was a bit surprised and pleased to see this attractive preview of the future clump of sceptres I’m hoping for. This winter will be its first test for hardiness.

Most of the echinaceas have been in bloom for a while, but Echinacea ‘Green Jewel’ is just hitting its stride now.

I’m very fond of the agastaches, mostly because they are beloved by pollinators of every stripe. Unfortunately, I haven’t found many of the varieties I’ve tried to be very hardy here. The sturdiest has been Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’, shown here with Coreopsis ‘Sweet Dreams’ in the foreground and Echinacea ‘Prima Donna’ to the left.

They’re not flowers, but I couldn’t resist including the showy berries of this pokeweed (Phytolacca acinosa).

I don’t really think of hostas as flowering plants, but their wands of mauve or white flowers can be quite attractive. Here’s a clump of a small, unidentified hosta with violet blooms, backed by Hosta ‘Ryan’s Big One’, with an hydrangea bush in the background.

Thank you for visiting the Willow House garden! If you would like to tour other gardens, visit May Dreams Gardens for more August Bloom Day links.

In closing, I’ll leave you with this Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) visiting Monarda ‘Cambridge Scarlet’.

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Monday Morning Garden Tour: August 8th

Sadly, the height of the daylily season has come and gone. The garden is surely at its most colourful when awash in daylilies, but as we move into late summer, there is still lots to see. Here is a look at some of the plants that are in bloom today.

This is Campanula punctata ‘Purple Sensation’. It bloomed earlier in the season and is now reblooming. I love its large, pendulous bells.

There are still a number of daylilies with a few buds left. This is Purple Storm.

After I cropped off the spent flowers on this little rosebush, ‘Knockout Rainbow’, it set about putting forth a new crop. That’s Artemisia stelleriana ‘Silver Brocade’ in the background.

The sunflowers look both stately and cheerful and happy at the same time. I can take no credit for their presence. They are volunteers that sprouted all around the winter bird feeder, a bonus for both me and the birds.

These yellow flowers of Rudbeckia nitida ‘Herbstonne’ are just about as tall as the sunflowers, about 6 feet.

Another sunny yellow, this time Helenium ‘Helena’.

These brilliant flowers are Coreopsis rosea ‘Heaven’s Gate’, also blooming for a second time this season.

The ornamental grasses have just about reached their full height and are starting to produce flower stems. Soon, they will be among the most eyecatching plants in the garden, sparkling with morning dew. This is Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ with Echinacea purpurea ‘Ruby Star’.

Except for a few daylilies, orange isn’t a common colour in the garden. This is a milkweed, Asclepias incarnata ‘Cinderella’.

Finally, here is an ornamental goldenrod, Solidago ‘Golden Dwarf’. This is its first year in the garden and I must admit that every time I see it, my first impulse is to weed it out! It is a nice accent, once you get past having goldenrod, a common weed here, in the garden.

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