Blooming yesterday in the front garden — Kevin and I have both been sick, so the garden has been horribly neglected. It felt so good yesterday; we hired Neighbors United (“The Guys” is the new name for their landscaping service) to come out and do some mowing (our push mower wasn’t up to the task, given how long the grass had gotten), dig out some hackberry seedlings, pokeweed as tall as me, and even some burdock that had escaped my eagle eye of earlier in the summer (we hates it, my precious). They also cut away some very thorny dead rose branches. (Two guys, two hours of hard labor, $125).
And then I went around and started actually staking up some of the dahlias, moving some phlox around (I had them scattered, and I think they look better massed, so have rearranged for next year), pruning and deadheading and pulling a few of the smaller weeds. It’s looking much better now. 🙂
This is the first year I’ve really had a fall garden — I’d concentrated on spring first, then summer, so the established fall perennial garden is finally solidifying this year. The mums, sedums, and asters from last year have come back, and I’ve planted a few more to join them. Some of the dahlias made it back too, even though I planted them a bit early, and didn’t have time to do the pre-growing in pots that I did last year.
My moderately strict ‘cool tones’ of pink / white / purple / blue for the front yard gets relaxed in autumn, with more yellows and oranges creeping in. Happy with how it’s coming along.
Rose “Eglantyne”
Sedum (perennial).
Honestly, I think these peacock orchids (actually gladiolas) look better up against something, like a post, or in the midst of other plants — where they are, they’ve popped up a bit randomly. Something to remember when I dig them out and store for replanting next spring. But from this angle, at least you get a nice view of some of the rest of the early autumn garden. 🙂
Dahlias. I think this is one that I dug up and replanted this year — as they get older, the corms get bigger, and in my experience, the plants get bigger, putting out more blooms. One more reason to go to the trouble of digging them up and storing them, rather than just buying new corms every year. Also, as they get bigger, you can often divide them (in which case, you go back to smaller plants with fewer flowers the next year) to share with friends or spread around your garden. Budget-friendly!
Phlox. (Most of my phlox is finished, but a few are hanging on…)
Asters, autumn perennial.
Mistflower / wild ageratum (native perennial).
Mums — if you plant them early enough, they can become perennial; I just planted these, and not sure I got them in the ground fast enough. Fingers crossed; they are so cute!
Autumn crocus. This one’s a bit raggedy — it’s finishing up. Should have photographed it earlier! I usually plant some in the early fall, to bloom later, but probably won’t get to it this year — this one came back from last year. I think it’s my only repeater; I can probably blame the squirrels for that. They do love my crocuses.
Dahlia.
Iron butterfly (native perennial).
Common mallow (mallow neglecta), native perennial.
