Monday, September 30, 2019

This Month in the Garden: September 2019



Fall arrived in the Northern Hemisphere at the moment of the autumnal equinox on Monday, September 23. I was not ready to accept that summer was over, but my gardens have since convinced me with their tangled mess of some-living and many-dying plants. In addition, today the weather turned most definitely fall-like with much cooler temperatures. I donned a sweater and headed out with my camera to capture those flowers surviving amidst the end-of-season chaos. (I really must begin the fall clean-up soon.)

At last, the cosmos are blooming cheerfully in the cutting garden. I don't know what they are called; they were part of a packet of free wildflower seeds that I scattered randomly.

Cosmos blooms atop their tall feathery stalks
The Kitchen Garden with cosmos in the top left-hand corner against the fence -- competing with zinnias.

The calico asters have self-sown aggressively at the bottom of the Kitchen Garden. Many gardeners find this wild plant quite weedy but I like its tiny white flowers with their maroon and yellow centers.

Wild calico aster (Symphotrichum lateriflorum)

The New England asters in the Cottage Garden are gorgeous.

New England aster

An abundance of leaves have fallen already and those that remain are taking on their autumn hues.

Compare the top picture of Serenity Garden taken a couple of weeks ago with the bottom one taken today.
The corn in our fields is turning to gold. The trees are changing too.

I need to transplant the shrubs that I put in large pots when I purchased them in the spring. The pots gave them height but wont survive the winter. I thought the diervilla would have a brighter orange color but its just yellow. Maybe the color will change as autumn progresses. The sweet autumn clematis on the trellis had few blooms this year. I'm ready to pull it out and plant something else.

Shrubs in pots: Left hand side - Diervilla 'Kodiak orange'. Right had side - Ninebark 'Tiny wine'.
The leaves of dwarf cutleaf maple (Acer palmatum) have started to turn red

 Some bee-magnets that are blooming in the Cottage Garden today:

Cockwise from top left: Helianthus 'Brown eyed girl', Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna', Agastache foeniculum Anise hyssop, and Caryopteris 'Dark Knight'

 The blooms on Japanese anemone are very sparse this year:

Top:Rose (Rosa 'Peace'). Bottom: Japanese Anemone (Anemone 'Honorine Jobert')

Duane planted this white pine a couple of years ago

It's nearly time to empty out the hanging baskets; the petunias and calibrachoa are very leggy. But as long as there are a few blooms, I'm loath to give them up.



The sedum that Jonathan planted in the bathtub miniature garden is blooming. I think it's common name is October Daphne.

October Daphne (Sedum sieboldii)

In the bug hotel mason bees are nesting in some of the bamboo tubes and in the drilled holes of the log chips. There is a butterfly chrysalis attached to the bottom but I believe it is no longer viable -- it has been there too long.


 Charm, the miniature horse, has begun to acquire his winter coat -- another sign that summer is over.


Summer was over too soon for me. Perhaps I feel that way because because it was such a wonderful one for me this year.  Last week there was an article in the newspaper about my GardenComm media award. You can read it HERE. I hope you had a great summer, too.

I'm joining Sarah at Down by the Sea for a September view through her garden gate in Dorset, England.

Wishing you a happy seasonal change, wherever you garden.

Pamela x



I love reading your comments. I hope you leave one so I’ll know you visited! 
I look forward to visiting your blog in return.

21 comments:

  1. Pam-I am enjoying your new meme and getting to see a wrap up of the garden each month. Also, congratulations on your well-deserved award and wonderful write up in the paper! That is something to be proud of! Your garden has some of my favorites, including salvia Caradonna which thrives here. I will have to try the Agastache again. I tried it once and it use did not fare well, but I’m not giving up yet! Your asters are beautiful too and a sure sign of fall...sigh. Enjoy the changing seasons!

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    1. Thanks, Lee. This meme forces me to go outside and take pictures every month -- I need the motivation. Salvia Cardonna is my favorite because it doesn't have the 'sweaty socks' odor of other salvias. (I'm sorry but I hate the smell of most of them.) Happy October!

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  2. That's how the season changed here, suddenly! Nights are now actually down in the upper 30s, which is cold for this early in the year. I love your kitchen garden and the white fence. I need to go out and smell my Ultra Violet salvia and see if it reminds me of socks! You sure have some huge nasturtium!

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    1. The weather is so unpredictable any more. The temperatures shot up this afternoon -- we are getting a couple of days heat then down to the 30s Friday night.

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  3. Your garden at the end of September is beautiful and an inspiration to us lesser gardeners. Congratulations on the award and the recognition you have received for that wonderful garden.

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    1. Thank you so much, Dorothy. You are very kind. Enjoy October!

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  4. I'm always loathe to let go of summer but there's no denying that autumn is well and truly here now, the mornings are so cold and there's very little warmth left in the sun, when it shines. Your garden is still looking lovely with so much colour around. Nice to see Charm, have the animals settled in together, do they get on well? In answer to your answer on my comment on your last post, I do miss the veggies from the allotment but I don't miss all the work in entailed. I just don't have the time these days to devote to an allotment.

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    1. The animals are getting along fine now, Jo, but none are bonding close like Dude and Billy did. Billy and I still miss Dude.

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  5. Cosmos, zinnias, and asters! And a late blooming rose - your garden is still looking very good!
    Have a wonderful day!

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  6. Even the yellow that isn't orange provides beautiful colour, to my eyes.

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    1. I agree. Actually, Diana, I think I prefer yellow to orange.

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  7. I especially enjoyed the before and after picture of the serenity garden. The changes were subtle but definitely there. I love that part of your garden. It really is restful.
    Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

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    1. The Serenity Garden is my favorite, too, Jeannie. Unfortunately, we are losing the second shade tree that is so important in that area. I'm not sure what the result will be.

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    2. I think a while back you said you are losing your catalpa tree so does that mean you are losing both trees? or just losing one? Well, I fear losing one will be bad enough.

      I fear I may have lost one of my beautiful maple trees in this drought. I tried to water it, but do I have enough water to keep a tree alive?

      Jeannie

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    3. When I said a while back that I was losing a catalpa, Jeannie, I had already lost a silver maple. Those two trees provided the shade canopy for my Serenity Garden. I am sorry to say, the catalpa was removed today. I am heartbroken.

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    4. Oh Pam! I am so sorry! Only another gardener can understand how important our plants are to us. It is horrible when something we enjoy so much dies. I understand.
      Jeannie

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  8. I enjoyed 'walking' through your garden. I am moving to a different climate zone soon. I will have a lot of learning to do going from 10b to 6a!

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    1. You face quite a challenge, Willow. I wish you the best of luck.

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  9. It all looks so fresh and well cared for! The heat did my garden in but now the rain is trying to make amends. This cooler weather came all of a sudden though, and it was a little bit of a shock. Still the crisp air feels nice. I was ready for it.
    You really can't beat annuals that carry their color into October. What troopers!

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    1. Thanks, Frank. I agree with you about annuals! The weather is cooler -- now I just have to get my act together and start the fall cleanup.

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