Tuesday, September 18, 2007

What's Blooming Now?

With just 4 days of Summer left we're blessed with glorious sunshine and a high temperature of 75ºF (23ºC) today. Fall is definitely in the air though, with night and morning temperatures feeling decidedly nippy. We've had some cool days too, with chilly winds, and a bit of rain.
The kids are back at school which means I'm back to subbing.
There's still plenty to do in the gardens. I have some passalongs to plant and 2 new roses we bought on sale yesterday. Apple and her sister brought me some plants from their gardens and we brought a few plants home from our son and DIL's garden this past weekend. Also on my to-do list is moving several plants, and there's still plenty of thinning to do. Oh, and I have some tulips bulbs to plant as well.
We still have some bright patches of color here and there. The containers, window boxes, and hanging baskets are still blooming..........some better than others.

This tall, late blooming Black-eyed Susan is Rudbeckia Triloba. It acts like a weed and I need to be ruthless pulling a lot of the seedlings, plus deadheading the plants as soon as they're finished blooming. However, it gives some very pretty late summer color, and looks great with my bright pink Aster.

I cut this Aster back early in the summer so that it wouldn't grow too tall and gangly. They tend to flop over and spread awkwardly if left alone.

It still gets quite tall and flops a little, but is neater than it would otherwise be. I like the silver Artemesia mixed with these 2 plants. That's another one that needs to be treated ruthlessly or it will take over.

I usually let plenty of these Black-eyed Susans grow on the back side of this garden, in between the Lilac bushes. Posted by Picasa

I'm loving this Sedum 'Neon' Stonecrop, and so are the bees!

I've admired Sedum in other people's gardens but this is the first year I've tried it in mine.

In the dish garden that our youngest daughter and her boyfriend gave me for my birthday there are 7 different Sedums, all short, except for Sedum 'Matrona'..another Stonecrop. Posted by Picasa

In this close-up you can see how the bees love it. Posted by Picasa

This tall pink flowered plant is called Physostegia Virginiana, or Obedient Plant.

Here's a closer view.
I love the pinkish purple color, and its late blooming habit, which gives the garden some welcome color this late in the season.

Mallow (Malva or Lavatera) is related to Hollyhocks, but is much shorter. It self sows liberally.

Snapdragons bloom into Fall, and are always a bright spot in the garden. I love these pink and white blooms. Posted by Picasa

These are dwarf Snapdragons in the pink garden. They bloomed early and then did nothing for a long time. They just recently began blooming again, finally giving us a nice show.

This Hosta flower has a lovely, sweet scent.

The white Rose of Sharon, planted last year, gave us only a few very small blooms that first year, but it's doing much better this year. The flowers are still not very large, but there are quite a few covering the shrub.

I've really enjoyed the long bloom time that this purple Verbena gives us. Posted by Picasa

With our family of barn cats, we rarely see squirrels, but I was lucky enough to catch this one with my camera when it visited our front porch. The baskets and containers are continuing to give us some nice color out there. We're still seeing a few juvenile hummingbirds, but sad to say, they'll soon be following their parents south to a warmer climate.

I planted these nasturtiums late, to add a bit of color around the side porch after I'd thinned out some perennials.

The Marigolds were planted with blue Ageratum in between, which worked well last year, but unfortunately they overtook the Ageratum this year and we're missing out on most of the pretty blue.

The roses are giving us a last burst of bloom. This tall pink single rose bush has been very pretty this summer, with more blooms than usual. Posted by Picasa

I've been very pleased with the Hydrangeas I planted in mid-July. They've grown well and born lots of blooms. The petunias are some that self-seeded from a few of last year's containers, which is why they're still looking good. I transplanted the seedlings into this garden.

Tuberous Begonias are always a favorite of mine.
I haven't mentioned everything that's blooming, but this is a good sampling of what we're enjoying in our late summer gardens.

JoAnne of "My Digital Eyes" has very generously given me this "Inspirational and Excellent Photography" award. Thank you so much for your kind words JoAnne! They're much appreciated.

This little lady is the newest addition to our barn kitty family. She's the fattest kitten I've ever seen! Tink, her mommy, is feeding her well.

We greatly enjoyed the visit with our son, DIL and grandsons this past weekend. I wish we lived closer so that we could see them more often, but we're blessed that they live in the same state, within a reasonable driving distance.
We had fun watching our first grader learning soccer skills on Saturday morning. He seems to really enjoy the game, and did well on the field. His little brother found a tree with some very interesting seed pods on the ground underneath it, and we had fun gathering those.
On Friday evening, shortly after we arrived, my husband surprised me with an EF100-300mm zoom lens for my camera! This man is full of surprises :) Just as he did with the camera, he surreptitiously asked our son to buy it for him. So now I have something new to learn. I'll do it in my spare time :)
Posted by Picasa
Meanwhile, I hope you all have a lovely week.

25 comments:

Susie said...[Reply]

Hi Kerri,
Lovely post full of such delightful flowers! I had never seen many of them, but really thought the white rose of sharon was lovely.
That is truly one well fed kitten. Tink must be a very good mama.
Glad you had a good visit with the "kids" The boys are just so adorable :)
That Ross is certainly a keeper with all those wonderful surprises. Now you can take even more photos for all of us to enjoy!!
xoxo

Anonymous said...[Reply]

Your garden is indeed very rich on lovely plants and colours! I love your plant combinations. What a pleasure to look at your pictures!
Barbara

verobirdie said...[Reply]

Thank you Kerri for this tour in your garden. It is always a pleasure. Although I did not comment on my previous visits, you are partly responsible for my renewed interest in gardening, and I thank you for that. I've just spent 2 weeks of vacation preparing my garden for the spring, and I have enjoyed it a lot. And you are certainly responsible for my ordering new day lilies. :-)
Thanks a lot

HORIZON said...[Reply]

l remember when Ross surprised you with the camera and all the lovely pics that followed! ;) Well done on your award- you have a good eye for shape and form.
Beautiful garden even this late on Kerri- Begonias are always good value and l love your snapdragons and the way you mix different flowers for effect- always something to learn when l drop by here!
Your grandsons are smashing and so full of fun- l'm glad they are in the same state.
How wonderful to have met up with Apple and her sister- love the photo of you all. l know what you mean about that feeling of friendship even though most of us have never met - such a blessing.
hugs and bests dear friend xx

Alice said...[Reply]

When Ross has a spare moment can you get him to put some more seats around your garden, please? By the time I've taken my virtual tour of your garden, I'm exhausted and I need a rest.

It's still looking so beautiful. I hope you don't get any wild weather for a long time yet and you get many more weeks of pleasure from all that colour. I love the silver leaves among the yellow and pink. A bit like the silver among the brown in my hair ....lol. No, no, no, I don't like that silver at all.

I'll have to come back and study the photos in more detail. As always - something to aspire to.

Glad you had a good time with the family. Those boys are growing up so fast.

Geraldo said...[Reply]

As you leave Summer there, we're entering Spring here...
These are beautiful pictures (and flowers), as usual!
Aren't grandchildren the best thing in the world? My grandson will be walking any moment now...

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...[Reply]

Your grandsons are adorable. It's great when they're still at an age where seed pods interest them. :)

The kitten certainly is cute! So cute in fact that I had to tease John that he is in danger of needing allergy shots.

Everything looks great. With the weather forecast it looks like you'll have plenty of opportunity to try out your new lens this week. Ross is a sweetie!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...[Reply]

even your weeds come in such bright, beautiful colors, Kerri!!! :)
like that little chipmunk, I'll love to sit on the porch and admire such beautiful surroundings......
what do u intend to name the newest kitty member of the family????
and your husband 's such a sweetheart......my husband's in for a lesson or two from here today :DDDD

Merle said...[Reply]

Hi Kerri ~~ A wonderful post - full of lovely flowers and the cute little squirrel. I loved your Asters and Black Eyed Susans and all the others. I have grown the Obedient Plant and Verbena, but not for some time.
Thank you so much for your comments -
I would so miss ghost gums and other gums if I couldn't see them. Glad you enjoyed the Social worker story, the mule joke and my Wisteria.Take care
my friend, Love, Merle.

clairesgarden said...[Reply]

lovely plants and colours. the artemisia looks fabulous with the aster and rudbeckia.
what a happy momma cat and kitten. did she just have one?

Anonymous said...[Reply]

I recognize many of these plants and have tried most of them, but without the great success you have. Maybe when I get my new soil amended...cute little boys and they look like they were having a wonderful day.

Tabor

Susan Tidwell said...[Reply]

Wow, what a beautiful garden you have! This time of year I would think it would be looking sparse, but NOT!

I love the pictures, and (I hope you don't mind) I saved the first one for my desktop.

Congrats on the award, you certainly deserve it!

As usual, looking at your gardens inspires me to get to work on mine.

Have a great day!

Jo's-D-Eyes said...[Reply]

Dear Kerri,
I agree with the above writer Susan and others, so I want to ask you PLEASE KEEP POSTING MANY FLOWERS !! for me and 'people in cold countries', because ours (flowers) are doing their 'wintersleep' so or do you know some flowers which can surveive in cold weather?

NOMINATION:
You deserve again and again the 'excellent inspirational" AWARD ! Your blog is full of life and love and colours. THANK YOU kerri!:)

Have a great week to you too :)

Reginas Cottage said...[Reply]

Wow,what a beatiful garden you have!
It's very rich on loveley plants and
colours.I love your plant combinations.My favorite is Rudbeckia
Triloba with pink Aster.What a pleasure to look at your pictures.
Regina

Judypatooote said...[Reply]

Your grandsons are adorable...and handsome.....and your flowers are beautiful....I love the hot pink ones, they look like straw flowers.. today i went to a class to make a wreath out of dries herbs....and some strawflowers... it turned out pretty, pretty...hehe....in fact, I think I will take a picture tomorrow and post it on my blog......

hope you are well, it's been a while since I have stopped by...

Rose said...[Reply]

The flowers are so vibrant and colorful, I can only imagine the delight you experience when you look around in your yard. I'm hoping more color will appear in our garden, as the weather starts to cool. In the meantime, I have certainly enjoyed your flowers!

Rose
http://gardeningforhealth.blogspot.com

Elzie said...[Reply]

Still so many lovely flowers in your garden?!?! Here I don't have more than a few. Even my geraniums are inside now. Have a great week.
Love Elzie

Marlene Depler said...[Reply]

Darling grandsons! Two of my grandsons (and one granddaughter) live in Bosnia. That's much too far away!

A new zoom lens! What a special man you have!

sonia a. mascaro said...[Reply]

I always enjoy your WONDERFUL flowers, Kerri! Just beautiful indeed!

Your grandsons looks adorable! Sounds you all had a great time!

Cathy said...[Reply]

Your flowers are beautiful. I love that dark colored sedum. And the hosta blooms are so pretty. Your grandsons are really cute too. :o)
And the kitties.

Carole Burant said...[Reply]

Hello dear Kerri:-) Oh my, such beautiful flowers you still have blooming...I have a few but the majority are now done for the year. I so love Black Eyed Susans and want to try to find some to plant next year. Congratulations on the photography award, you certainly deserve it, your beautiful photos always bring us so much pleasure!! Your grandsons are adorable, glad you had such a lovely visit with them:-) xox

Anonymous said...[Reply]

Kerri, what adorable little boys! Their smiles are just wonderful and I'll bet they're a barrel of fun to be around. Your gardening skills are truly a wonder to me. What gorgeous color you still have! It's always a pleasure to visit your blog to see what's in bloom at your house. And of course your beautiful kitties tug at the heartstrings. They are the loveliest little things! Congratulations on the new lens -- what a great surprise! I KNOW you're having fun with it. :) Thanks also for the invitation to visit. I've had an unexpectedly heavy load of work since the beginning of September but will try to get a handle on what the next few weeks will look like and let you know soon.

Muum said...[Reply]

I really enjoyed seeing your flowers. What kind of artemesia do you have? I couldn't tell from the pics.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...[Reply]

Your grandsons are really growing up and growing cuter too.

We have had some squirrel visitors lately because of the birdseed and cat nuggets that they are gathering for winter. The walnuts & hickory nuts did not mature this year because of the drought. The creek dried up except for a few shallow holes of water too and they come to get into the cats water & our little watergarden.

Your new kitten is precious and I guess it gets all of mom's milk. We once had a litter that had three moms and they got so fat that we thought they must have tumors growing inside. They did a waddle crawl and thinned out as they got older...thank goodness.

That Ross is a real sweetheart always thinking of sweet surprises to surprise you with. Just think...now you can get those fantastic closeup shots of hummingbirds & butterflies and other things, including Ross working out in the field.

Susan Tidwell said...[Reply]

You are sooo nice that I have sent this Nice Matters award to you, come on over and pick it up here.