Bloom When You Can

It's hot and it's dry.  Long established plants droop in the bright sunshine.  Some are turning brown or have disappeared altogether.  However, if you look you can see beautiful flowers in the garden. My Echinacea coneflowers look great and still attract butterflies.

Minus a few barely noticeable insect holes these Gloriosa Daisy flowers look perfect in the sunshine!

Ed and I planted these Bee Balm plants directly behind the woodland garden bench specifically so we could sit there quietly and observe Clearwing moths.  Where Ed is in the background, the Clearwing Hummingbird Moth, Hemaris thysbe is in the foreground

Now this is exactly what we were hoping to see.  Look how you can see the pink flower through the wings of the moth.  We have red Bee Balm too, but the hummingbirds do not allow the moths to share the red.  Yes, the garden is dry and the weeds are flourishing but there is still so much wonder to behold if you look for it!  

Survivors

Rain has not visited our gardens in quite some time.  What water that we have brought to the plants was delivered in a hand held watering can.  Needless to say only a select few  were watered this way.  Neither plant featured here saw any of this water.  Different plants have different methods of surviving a drought.  Our shade providing Sumac trees drop some leaf filled stems every day.  Just how the tree selects who must fall is unknown but every morning new dropped leaves litter the ground.  There is not enough moisture to provide for all so some must go.

This Rose campion flower may define the color called magenta.  The white center is easily seen but the dark colored veins remained unnoticed here until seen in this picture.  Our original source for this plant is lost in memory.  It seems to have always been with us but now survives here strictly on its own.

A striking feature of Rose campion is the color of its foliage.  Some combination of the words grey, white or green are frequently used in written descriptions about this plant.  The combinations of color are stunning and are reason enough to keep this plant.  It chooses where to grow here and seems to prefer the edges of our stone filled paths.  Initially six inch deep trenches were filled with the stone bits sifted out of what would become garden beds.  We planned on the stone paths remaining weed free but that did not happen.  Rain washed rich garden soil into the paths and plant debris rotted down into a black colored compost because of contact with the stones.  Perhaps our richest soil can be found in the area between the planting beds and the paths.  If a plant prefers poorer soil, it can easily grow more toward the center of the path.

Rose campion usually survives our zone 4 winters perhaps because of the extra warmth captured and held by the nearby stones.  With no effort on our part, this plant appears in several different locations.  As can be seen this plant is having a banner year despite the lack of rainfall.

Believe it or not these flowers are descended from Black-eyed Susan seeds that were chemically treated to add to the plain yellow flower color.  Ours were a gift from Elle and she told us that reddish brown colors would fade in time and that new seeds would then be needed.  That was perhaps two decades ago and the stunning colors live on.  Some of these plants do produce solid yellow blossoms but we cut those flowers to prevent them from setting seed.  Our patches continue to appear year after year so some of the plants may be self seeded while others may be perennial.  New plants also appear along the edge of the stone paths.  These are easily moved to areas that need a color boost.

One year many plants displayed solid yellow petals that were lightly marked with brown.  Each petal held two parallel brown rectangles near the center disc.  Every petal in each flower held the pairs of exactly the same sized brown rectangles.  Needless to say the symmetrical order appealed to the math teacher in me.  Sadly this color sport soon disappeared and has yet to return.  The pictured plants remain constant giving us no need to buy new seeds.  These plants may represent the greatest plant gift ever given to us. Thank you Elle.

Fighting Back

Our weeds have really taken over this year.  Early weeks of nearly daily rain allowed them to grow unchecked.  Recent hot days have limited the number of hours that we can safely work outside.  Our gardens have always exceeded our ability to properly care for them but this year has been a real nightmare.

These stones peeking out between rampant flower growth and runaway weeds is our signature wall identifying the location of Stone Wall Gardens.  Close to the road, it usually stands out easily seen by drivers speeding up the road.  Today this mess finally saw some much needed attention.

Several years ago the farmhouse was purchased by a young couple.  Proud of their new home, they worked feverishly to restore the appearance of their grounds.  At that time our efforts were directed toward gardens out of sight up the hill.  Only a couple of passes with our walk behind mower kept the driveway passable while weeds freely grew on the rest of this ground.  The new owner approached me to talk about a screening fence to separate his manicured lawn from my untended mess.  I suggested a garden instead.  This dry stone wall was built to define the beginning of the garden.  Each year we would work to keep the finished sections of the garden presentable while converting new ground from pasture to properly planted ground.  Some weeds are always present but this year they simply took over.

Just over half of the length of the wall was cleared of weeds today before the sun drove us inside.  A new layer of reground bark mulch was spread on the now weed free area.  We intend to finish the section near the wall tomorrow.

Despite the heavy presence of weeds, many flowers can be seen by people speeding by.  Red Bee Balm has colorfully held its ground for weeks.  Three different Daylilies now peek out above the wall.  Gloriosa Daisies make a bold statement closer to the road.  Cardinal Flower adds its bright red flowers next to the planted side of the wall.  A Ruby Spice  Summer Sweet bush is just now coming into bloom.  Somehow we have plants that provide a changing display of colors that tends to hide the presence of weeds.  That image is possible largely because of the speed with which the cars fly by.  Also, the farmhouse is some distance away so all that the neighbors see is patches of color.  Recently a highly respected gardener of many years identified the presence of weeds as a necessary component of gardening.  Most would agree that we have taken that reality to new limits.

Too Hot, Too Wet, Too Wild, Photos By Becky

 Even early in the morning  it was hot and steamy in the garden!  Heat advisory  warnings said that the, ahem, elderly should stay indoors and out of the heat.  We decided that would be the smart thing to do, but  Ed just had to pick some Oregon Giant peas for dinner and the ripe strawberries.  We might as well have been in a tropical rain forest instead of our upstate New York garden.  For several weeks we had been having a dry spell. Many plants were looking dry stunted and droopy.  Rain and heat changed all that.  The plants have exploded with growth.  Here the path is closed by Gloriousa  Daisies that made it impassible.  Here is another example of self seeded plants defining our garden.  We could not have planted this area better ourselves. 

Knowing I would be stuck inside, I wanted to capture images of some of the lush growth.  Bright orange Butterfly weed  against wet bright green makes for a hot photo!

This bed in front of the house gives every appearance of a carefully planned area.  The parallel rows of nearly buried stones soften the sloped ground here.  Rain runoff has yet to wash away any of the bark mulch and just yesterday we had severe thunder storms with heavy rain.  Ed does still need to finish the stone path and turn the corner for the garden at the west end of the house. 

I was delighted to get a picture of a white clover blossom wet with dew.  We seem to have a single white Red Clover plant and lots of pink ones.  Whether this clover is a garden specimen or a weed depends on where it is growing, but I think the white one will stay.

By the time I got to take this shot of a Swallowtail caterpillar on dill growing with the beets, I was  getting too hot and too wet.  As always  Ed managed to stay out a little longer than I did.  By 9:30 AM we were both cooling our heels indoors.  From then on the garden got hotter, wetter and wilder.  Heavy rain, thunder and plenty of lightning lasted until bedtime.  I was pleased to see lightening bugs in the garden undeterred by the wild weather. 

Bloom While You Still Can!

 DST is official.  We set our clocks back.   Daylight hours will keep getting shorter until the Winter Solstice on December 21st.  Flowers in the garden are getting down to a precious few.  If you are a Gloriosa Daisy you have no time to bother with a nice long stem.  Right down next to the still somewhat warm soil is the way to go.  If a few more warm days happen and pollinators fly by, this flower is ready!

Growing out over a stone path works pretty well too.  This Gaillardia, Arizona Sun, flower is not a perfect specimen but it is November and getting very nippy here at night.  Bright red and yellow color is  a welcome sight.
 

I don't ever remember the Malva sylvestris lasting this long.  After a magnificent showing this summer, this plant is nearly done.  Some of its leaves have rust.  Many of its seeds have already been dropped.  Something is nibbling on its petals.  This last flower  is still beautiful for November!

I never get tired of thyme plants and stones.  This wild thyme  takes the cold in stride.  When the snow comes, and it will come, this plant will be just as happy and green as it is now, but  the flowers are best enjoyed now.  I noticed that a large flock of slate gray juncos is hanging out in the garden.  I don't need a crystal ball to predict that a change of seasons is in our very near future.

Glorious Gloriosas

Several decades ago when we first ventured into the world of gardening, a few women of years took us under their wings and helped with our efforts.   They left the weeding to me but were generous with their gifts of plants and information.  Elle was one such person and she was the source of our first Gloriosa Daisy.  She is gone now but her gift of flowers lives on in our gardens.  Her gift came with the information that the natural color of the rays was plain yellow.  When the color became mostly plain yellow she advised us to simply buy new seeds.  So far we have not needed to do that.  One year I mail ordered a plant that was solid red.  Its influence can still be seen in our flowers of today.  I think that she would take pleasure in seeing what has happened to her original gift of plants.  She appears in my memory every time that I walk among her flowers.

If one assigns the term flower to the part of a plant that actually produces seed, then the tiny yellow specks around the edge of the cone are the actual flowers.  Pollination by insect is happening in this picture.  Soon the entire central cone will begin filling with developing seeds.  The red and yellow rays are attractive but their only function is to draw in the pollinators.

This natural mutation resembles a zinnia with its several layers of color.  If time were more abundant, we would save the seed from this plant.  It would be interesting to see the plants that grew from the seed that will form here.

This photo shows both a plain yellow flower and a dark bi-color specimen.  The variation that appears with no effort on our part is impressive.  We will likely remove the spent solidly colored flowers before they produce seed.  One year we found plants with pairs of small brown rectangles arranged in three layers at the base of the yellow rays.  Of all of the color variations that have put in an appearance here, those were my favorite.  If seed is ever offered for sale with the promise of that arrangement of color, I will buy and plant.

A Perfect November Day

The weather forecast for today predicted a fantastic day.  A hard overnight frost was followed by clear skies and temperatures that reached well into the 50's.  This glorious afternoon was spent running fallen maple leaves through the lawn mower creating perfect garden mulch.  The bags of shredded leaves will be piled and covered with a tarp.  If all goes as planned, we will find fine, dry, aged, ph proper mulch for our basil planting next June.  How much better than that does it ever get?

Our original Gloriosa daisies were given to us many years ago by Elle, an elderly gardener that took us under her wing.  Many of her plants still grow in our gardens so we remember her fondly and often.  This last of the season flower looks rather stunning dressed with frost.

Foxglove has found many locations around the garden to send down roots.  We prefer to have it grow at the base of stone walls.  That type of location seems satisfactory to the plant as it reseeds wildly there.  A generous coating of frost highlights the texture of these leaves.

Cone flower has been a favorite of the lady of the garden forever.  It now grows here in unmanageable numbers.  We hate to discard living plants but a run through the compost pile happens to this plant rarely.  An end of the season flower still holding petals and a perfect seed head looks lovely with its frost overcoat beginning to melt in the morning sun.

If our overnight freeze was harsh enough to end nearly all of the tiny biting black bugs, this will have been a truly perfect  day.

A Gardener's 50th Anniversary

Four years ago Ed gave me very special flowers for my 46th anniversary.  For our 50th the flowers are in the garden.  True you have to look for them among the lush weed growth, but who would not be thrilled with this huge red hibiscus that displays so much beauty for just one day?

The Gloriosa daisies given to me by of a dear friend years ago are almost past and gone to seed, but this beautiful flower is just getting started. It gives me a warm glow to look at it!

After all the years of letting these flowers reseed, this year I got this rare flower.  I have never seen one colored like this before.

The garden is filled with red cardinal flower now. It provides me with hours of enjoyment watching hummingbird antics in the garden.  No movie, concert or other night out on the town would give me more enjoyment.

Garden heliotrope not only comes in my favorite color, its "cherry pie" fragrance pleases more to me than some exotic perfume at any price!

Fresh picked corn, ripe tomatoes warm from the sun, new potatoes freshly dug from the garden are more delicious than food the best restaurant can provide.  This may all sound corny, but it is true!

 I thought I wanted a big garden party to celebrate our 50th Anniversary, and I guess I did, but now I'm so happy that Ed and I are still here together to enjoy the garden, weeds and all.  The rest just doesn't matter!

Hidden In Our Untamed Garden

With all the rain the garden is lush.  Just about anything could hide there.  The two wild turkey hens and their babies caught my eye first thing this morning.  They actually spent their whole day here just walking away until they could get out of sight behind a stone wall or and area of tall plant growth.

The spiderwort loves this weather and is covered with flowers.  It has been hiding under the Summer sweet for years, but this summer it has grown to the top of the stone wall. I love the purple fuzzy ball in the center of these interesting flowers!

In the past our history with Shasta daisies has been rather dismal.  This year the white flowers with yellow centers, or should I say yellow disc flowers with white ray flowers, are doing great.  They look great from a distance and would pass the speeding car test with ease.  Close ups of composite flowers are always fascinating!

Hidden beneath the raucous display of Gloriosa daisies are Ed's pinkster, cardinal flower, one of my favorite sedums, blue flax, a red hibiscus, closed gentian, Emperor of China chrysanthemums and more.  I think the garden looks wildly fantastic!

The late freeze/ frost greatly reduced the number of pink double poppies in the garden this year. In the past I have pulled out buckets full. The first batch of plants were eliminated by the cold and there are not too many in the garden this year.  Even so poppies that are not full doubles or ones that have thrown back to singles are supposed to be pulled as soon as possible.  This plant has been pulled, but bees have already spread it's pollen.  Add it to the list.  We do what we can, after all Mother Nature is in charge here.  We only referee.  Click on a picture to enlarge them.  Click on the pale grey text to go to a link!

No Hunting Necessary

In this part of New York today is the day that  large numbers of the population are out there hunting for the elusive deer.  It all seems so unnecessary.   Certainly  we don't have to hunt for them here.  This one was right outside my kitchen window.
 

Rare is the morning that I don't see  deer  in the garden pruning my plants and leaving footprints everywhere.  This plant  grows in my shade garden.  I never thought that the deer would jump up to get into that raised bed, but they do and they are very slow to leave when I yell at them from the bedroom window.  They simply feel at home here and are not impressed or intimidated by me.

The deer seemed to think that my Gloriosa daisies  needed to be cut back.  I don't know if I agree, but the year the deer horrified me by eating my tree peony turned out to be the year that the plant had more flowers than ever before.  Maybe they know what they are doing!

Plants that we do not want the deer to walk on or eat have to be well protected.  This cage protects the fringed polygalas from  the deer's munching.

Without the cage the plants look like this.  I just know that deer would make short work of these wildflowers that I treasure so much.  So my wild flowers live in a cage for their own good.  They might make it out in the woods where you have to hunt for deer, but not here.  This morning I counted 6 deer in the garden.  No doubt as hunting season progresses, there will be even more.  I think they know they are safe so close to the house and they like the buffet!