August Color

Just a few quick photos of the garden in late August:

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Lamp post flower bed

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Dahlias

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Creek and patio bed

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Look at these gorgeous black Elephant Ears. Love these!

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Around The Gazebo

Here are some photos of the beds surrounding the gazebo, a mix of annuals, ornamental grass, perennials and shrubs.

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The view from inside the gazebo, my favorite place to sit. The slope bed has ornamental grass, bee balm, Laura Bush petunias, creeping phlox, coneflowers, agastache, loropetalum, and much more.

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The pea gravel path that goes around the gazebo and up around the slope bed.

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Magellan and Zahara Zinnias, Black Pearl Peppers, variegated Caryopteris

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Click any photo to view larger.

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Fall Garden

These are (probably) some of the last photos I’ll be posting of my garden this year. I have already dumped a lot of pots and cleaned out some areas of the garden (I hate to pull out still-blooming plants though, so I usually just leave them all until the frost knocks them down). Most of the flower beds still look good — even though poplar leaves are falling by the thousands all over everything right now. As always, click on any of the photos to view larger versions.

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“Hearts-a-burstin” (Euonymus spp.) are native and plentiful in the woods here. This one in the Secret Garden is a small tree about 8 feet tall and is filled with fruit right now.

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Foliage plants in the secret garden, including Coleus, ‘Iron Cross’ Oxalis, Dichondra “Silver Falls”, hosta and Japanese Forest Grass.

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Profusion Zinnias just keep blooming and blooming in the creekside bed. These were started in summer from seeds I saved last fall.

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Morning Glory ‘Heavenly Blue’
I’ll probably be pulling seedlings of these for the next ten years. They sure covered an arch and the fence nicely though, and are filled with flowers.

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Plumes of Purple Fountain Grass

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Purple Shamrocks Oxalis have been blooming since spring. The bulbs I planted last year have spread this year and this is fast becoming one of my favorite plants. I’ve stuck it here and there throughout my garden.

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(Mouseover photos for descriptions, click to enlarge)

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Late Summer Garden

Some areas of my garden are definitely suffering right now as we are in desperate need of rain. I love summer, but even I am tired of the heat this year. Months of mid- to upper-90s, not to mention the constant high humidity which puts the heat index well over a hundred most every day, and very little rain have taken a toll this summer but there are a few areas that I have managed to keep watered, including a lot of containers. (I’ll be rethinking just how many containers I have next year.) Click photos to enlarge.

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^ A grouping of containers. Look how big the purple fountain grass is! I have it in a large container underplanted with silver dichondra. The other containers have annuals including verbena, marigolds, african daisy, angelina, bubble gum supertunias, dusty miller and black pearl pepper.

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^ Flower bed above gazebo (Ignore the crispy sparse grass)

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^ More containers on the patio, including fuchsia,
coleus, petunias, wandering jew and impatiens.

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^ Spring bulb bed overplanted with annuals and containers, including elephant ears, dark purple alternanthera, red sunpatiens, red dragonwing begonias.

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^ Gorgeous Persian Shield plant with impatiens in the secret garden. This one gets partial sun and the color is much more intense than the ones that get more sun in the patio and gazebo flower beds.

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Agastache Heatwave
^ Love this plant, except that it is almost SIX’ TALL! I am definitely going to have to cut this clump back earlier next year, or move it to another area. I had no idea it got this tall. I have it tied up after it flopped during a storm.

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^ Edge of patio and tiered container, includes perilla magilla, persian shield, impatiens, ferns, wandering jew.

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^ The garden arch on the bridge over the creek is new this year. I wanted something (besides morning glory) that would cover the arch quickly and planted scarlet runner beans here in early July. The vines have already covered the arch. Creekside plantings include profusion zinnias, begonias, torenia, marigolds, coneflowers and more.

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^ Gazebo bed with varieaged caryopteris, black pearl peppers, dusty miller and marigolds. The black pearl peppers are ripening to a bright red now. I’ll have plenty of seeds this fall!

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^ (L to R) Creekside planting with lantana and profusion zinnias, torenia, forget me nots, black eyed susans, daylilies – Another view of the gazebo and slope bed – Perilla Magilla, one plant fills a huge space

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^ (L to R) Crape Myrtle still blooming – new small water feature bought on clearance recently, to be used in flower bed next year with seating area – hanging baskets of petunias and supertunias in the August heat

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How’s your garden doing during these hot days of August?

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