“Nature bestows her own, richest gifts
And, with lavish hands, she works in shifts…”
~Gertrude Tooley Buckingham
Dahlia growers know that autumn is a time of great abundance in the garden. While other gardens are winding down, the dahlia garden is gearing up. But it’s not just dahlias as you’ll soon see.
Many dahlias will have multiple blooms on one stem. The purple one below, Thomas Edison, is proof positive. Angelina Francesca to the left is putting on quite the show as well.
The zinnias are still going strong, and they really attract the butterflies. We have seen several varieties and they are always out there. The no-care zinnias are a step towards our lower maintenance garden. No, the dahlias aren’t going, but the zinnias are pretty much plop ’em in and walk away. The butterfly show was constant all summer.
Other flowers are more at the point of looking like Jurassic Park. Cleome is one of the few invasives I allow to grow in my garden. How can I resist when they look like this? Its kinda like once you have cleome, you always have cleome. Fortunately, the leaves have a unique look in the early spring and they can be edited by pulling out the extras. No digging required.
We even had a lotus bloom in our pond on Saturday. I think that was just God showing off that if he was only going to give us two lotus blooms all summer, and they last just a few days, one of the blooms was going to be on the day we host Dinner in the Garden for our Willow Creek Church friends. This picture is actually day two, cuz I want to focus on the pistil – yep that yellow salt-shaker looking part. (Consider that your new word for the day.)
The ornamental kale is starting to have a presence. We try to buy ours in the spring when you can buy them in cost-effective flats just like other annuals. (Consider that your money-saving tip for the day.) Be sure sure get the ornamental version, not the edible one. I learned that the hard way,
Here’s another show-stopper that can be reasonably priced. Caladiums are high-priced at the garden center and don’t always transplant well. We buy the tubers at Costco in the spring and plant them after frost. It takes them a while to do anything at all, then boom! Ours thrive with morning sun and afternoon shade.
Sweet autumn clematis is a standard for autumn gardens. Be sure to give it growing room and a strong support. We cut ours down to the ground in spring and it still takes over the fence. The mirror stays up all summer and comes in for the winter. Its resin and survives just fine.
Ok, one more, just one more. This is turtlehead from my shade garden. Well, actually it’s from Pam’s shade garden, and now lives happily in mine. Soon it will be blooming all the way down the stem.
We’re enjoying the cooler weather and this time of less work in the garden. Hope you are too.
Beautiful!!!!!