Magic is not confined to the vegetable garden. We are nourished as well by the visual beauty of flowers and shrubs. Throughout the year, a garden lavishes its gifts upon our senses.
Patricia Monaghan
At this point in mid-September, the weather is usually warm and sunny. But in staying with the weird weather these past few seasons, summer is now ending with a cooler should I say cold snap. The warm weather veg garden has ended and the cooler fall veg garden is under way now.
Of course the flowers in my gardens are still blooming away. Many are still blooming weeks later than usual and I am fine with that. So what has been blooming here in my Central NY zone 5b garden? As I profile my blooms (like the Gaura above), I will be linking in with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol@May Dreams Gardens. I am also linking in with Judith@Lavender Cottage who is hosting Mosaic Monday.
And as we are closing another season, I am joining in with Beth@PlantPostings for her wonderful Garden Lessons Learned meme.
Quick Note: the winners from my blog anniversary giveaway: Andrea@igardendaily; Michelle@Rambling Woods, Kris@Late To The Garden Party and Jennifer@Three Dogs in a Garden. Thanks everyone who dropped by and for all your lovely congrats and well wishes.
My native Rudbeckias are pumping out the blooms and I have really enjoyed their months of blooms even as they decline.
And native Obedient plant continues to keep going much to the glee of the hummingbirds that are lingering.
These unmarked petunias were the only annuals I planted that I did not grow from seed myself this year. And they were rejected by both insects and hummers all summer. I did ask the grower to let me know if these were sprayed with any chemicals including insecticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. All they would say is that I could use an organic fertilizer when I got home and they would still do fine…which is garden speak for yes we used chemicals.
What they failed to tell me was that they also used other chemicals that kept the critters away. I have never been to this grower before, and my lesson is to stick with those that I know are growing flowers responsibly and for pollinators. I think the first clue for me will be to see if there are any pollinators hanging around the flowers before I purchase them. If not, be suspicious.
Sunflowers are still going strong…especially my 10 foot plant that is covered now with over 30 flowers….the pollinators are like kids in a candy store.
Native asters are finally starting to bloom which should be covered by butterflies soon…I hope.
And the native perennial Helianthus are going strong covered by bees.
With the subtle changes in the garden, I am starting to see foliage beginning to move toward fall. I am linking in with Pam@Digging for her Foliage Follow Up on the 16th, and Christina@Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for her Garden Bloggers Foliage Day on the 22nd.
This Lady Fern’s underside was lit up by the morning sun. I love the completely different look it has.
And grasses are blooming all around the garden. The ones I planted like this dwarf Pennisetum, and……
the ones I didn’t like this simple lawn grass that grows from my neighbors yard inside my fence.
In A Vase On Monday
One of the best ways to show off your current blooms are by picking the pretty flowers and putting them in vases. As I do every Monday, I am taking flowers from my garden inside with me to savor all week. These vases have proved to be a wonderful, creative endeavor that I look forward to weekly. I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her meme, In a Vase on Monday. And I am also linking in with Today’s Flowers hosted by Denise@An English Girl Rambles.
This week I went around the back gardens looking for lovely small blooms that are showing their stuff…namely miniature roses, hardy geraniums reblooming, asters, daisy mums, tall phlox, sedum, burnet, peppermint blooms and a bit of lemon balm. All I picked would fill one large vase, but these filled three small vases. The weather has been gray and cool so the pictures of the vases were taken indoors.
I am really pleased with how they look even as a collection.
Slightly different view….
Here is the taller vase with asters, pink fairy roses, blooming peppermint, lemon balm and ‘Clara Curtis’ chrysanthemum.
In this vase are the same roses, mums, mint with hardy geranium, small asters and Phlox paniculata ‘Sherbet Cocktail’ with its pink and green flowers.
And finally here is my little Polish pottery creamer with another miniature rose, this one coral in color. I added small flowering sedum, the same mums and miniature asters, some flowering mint and the maroon burnet.
A few more views of these little vases. They certainly don’t look like fall is here….it looks more like late spring in my house, and I love it.
Seasonal Celebrations Meme
There is still time to join me in celebrating the new season coming soon to your part of the world.
Just write a post between now and September 21st. Leave a link with your comment on the kick-off post of Seasonal Celebrations-Autumn’s Blessings. I will include your link in my summary post on September 22nd.
I am collaborating with Beth@Plant Postings and her Lessons Learned meme at this same time. What lessons have you learned this past season of summer here in the North and winter in the South. Write a separate post or combine your lessons with your celebrations in one post.
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Visit my new blog:
I wanted to thank all the wonderful people who visited me last Thursday and this past Sunday as I continued to post at my new blog, Living From Happiness. It is a blog to celebrate life, lessons, change, challenges and creativity.
I do hope you will join me there.
There will be a new post again this Thursday.
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Next up on the blog:
Wednesday I will have another Garden Book review. And next Monday, I will have my Seasonal Celebrations wrap up post with a few autumn vases.
I am also joining in I Heart Macro with Laura@Shine The Divine that happens every Saturday.