Rouge - If it's been blooming all summer, I didn't notice it! I just noticed it a few days ago (They're on the side of the bed that faces the neighbours' driveway so is largely hidden from view on this side by the Paprika rose....) I caught a glimpse of orange as I headed towards the south gate and said 'What's that....?' When I realized what it was, I was astonished! Not only did it return after not being seen for at least two years, it survived this past winter in the heavy clay soil in that bed! Amazing.... I hope it sticks around for next year - I really like it and the color is perfect for that spot. I actually still need to look closely to check how many plants are there - there are several bloom spikes but I'm not sure how many plant they're coming from.

Some of my late august bloomers:
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From left to right:
Birch 'Trost's Dwarf'
Hydrangea âÂÂLimelightâÂÂ
Echinacea 'White Swan'
Porcupine Grass

This post was edited by green_go on Sun, Aug 31, 14 at 20:54

green_go: I love your whites combination! Stunning! Love everyone elses pics too!

Nice pics all.

-green_go, I'm usually not drawn to white, but that is fantastic. Is that a 'Trost's Dwarf' Betula in the left corner?
CMK

As per CMK, nice white combination, green_go.

It is 'Early Sunrise', Rouge.

Another corner of that bed, today.

'green go' that white green garden shot is stunning.
(As I recalled esteemed GW 'woody' loves swathes of white and green as well in a garden).

Indeed - green go's combination looks great to me! (I thought I had already said that - must have forgot to hit the Submit button...!)

Thank you, guys.
Yes, in the bottom left corner you see a branch of the 'Trost's Dwarf' birch.

I am not at home to add photos right now, but I would be ever so grateful if folks who have added photos without plant lists could hit the edit button and add variety names if you know them. It helps me learn new plants and is way easier than having to repeatedly scroll up and down between photos and the various places plant names are listed or having to repeatedly ask for plant names.

Thanks!
Barb

Really lovely pictures!

I get all the helio plants mixed up. Recently there was a thread praising helio psis? helianthemum? (plse give me some trick to differentiate them!) is that what the dark red flower is? what variety? - i must get that- true dark reds can be so great w/ silver, yellow, glaucous foliage, variegated foliage..... To feel proud of your design skills, sunny, just look at your photo while covering up the red flowers, and then add them back into the picture>> WHAT a difference!!

it's so funny how ANYone can surprise you with astute observations about design. I owe my awareness/color mixing design sense, in large part to My Love. When we first began these gardens 30 years ago, we had pink and white peonies(120!) providing alot of the color. HE suggested that we needed to add some dark reds!! and since then, it has greatly improved out there!!

rouge,maet, greengo, i'm so impressed by your massings and varied textures, heights, etc. To say nothing of how healthy your plants are. I think youall obviously have some 'wicked green thumbs' !

on a very particular note, aren't persicaria/polygonums the best thing since sliced bread?! i love the genus and use it all over.

Some pics of front garden today:

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Mindy, the red plant is some kind Helenium.

Perennials interspersed with anchoring shrubs and even evergreens...again, very impressive 'green go'.

Nice planting, green_go.

'Ruby Tuesday'.

Interesting comments, arbo_retum.

Personally, I garden for flower colour that changes throughout the growing season. Consequently my routine attention is to maintaining mixed perennial beds.

I do appreciate discussion of colour combinations within a perennial bed, but I really feel that, each year (and within the constraints of long-term maintenance) a lot of what happens depends on chance factors. To me the best thing about lots of flower colour is the eventuality of lots of colour combinations.

I also like (when it comes to colour) for the plants to "speak for themselves", so to say. I don't need to impose any selection on them, at least in that regard. As I've said, in terms of colour, the colour range of the predominant plants used seems to provide, to some extent, some periodic colour coordination (e.g. currently the colour range of the heleniums is taking over from the colour range of the garden phlox); again, the plants "speak for themselves".

man, you CanAdian gahdeners are a talented bunch! But then again, maybe you have a DNA advantage over us with all your British blood (perhaps a little less Mixing Pot than the U.S.) But I'm just kinda joking here, because you just have to look at most nationalities to see gardening genius at work.)

ANYway...some ID's plse, greengo:
Is that a sumac Tiger eyes, or a SEM? I've not seen examples of using them in mixed borders and I grow both, so yours is an inspiration !
The variegated mounds edging the front of the bed in the last photo? If that is Monet weigela, I'm going to pout, bec I lost one- twice.

You are correct both times, arbo_retum - it is a sumac âÂÂTiger Eyesâ and a wegeila âÂÂMy MonetâÂÂ.
Love âÂÂMy MonetâÂÂ... and it roots so easily, a bunch of 6 youngsters is waiting to be planted somewhere.
As to DNA mix⦠in my case it is Russian-Ukrainian genes mix⦠kind of explosive combination now days, eh?

Appreciate the humour, arbo_retum.
Good not to always take things too seriously.

Re sumac 'Tiger Eyes': Some years back, I was asked to put some long mixed perennial beds in (for a customer) and have periodically been called there for maintenance on them ever since. One length of bed has rising woodland behind with a sumac at the edge.

Every year that sumac runs out from the woodland into the flowerbed, going in the direction of the lawn and its sprinklers.

I'd read on-line that given three years or so 'Tiger Eyes' is also a runner.

The garden in question has sandy soil. Has anyone experienced a running problem with 'Tiger Eyes'? It is not part of my personal style of perennial gardening, but it is extremely attractive for large gardens.

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 17:18

Tiger eyes will become a runner, but I find the sprouts to be fairly easy to snap off. Overall it's an awesome plant, reliable, and no more trouble than say a Russian sage.
I cut this one back to the ground in the spring since it's technically too big for the spot. I'm hoping for some awesome fall color in the next month or so, last year it absolutely glowed.
Please don't covet my awesome lamppost too much. It came with the house and probably can't be bought anymore!

Love the other combos, amazing how even with a few similar plants everyone seems to end up with a garden completely their own. I tend to let a lot of selfseeders stay and hope for the best. Oftentimes it just turns into a colorful mess, but my sister in law is the only one who will ever openly point that out.
Verbena bonariensis found a spot here to seed out, good thing since the winter killed off all the plants from last year.

Thanks, Kato.

That is very pretty.

I planted a perennial form of Verbena bonarensis once (though not in our own garden). Got cold feet and pulled it out after I'd read about the annual ones seeding.

o.k., so i will be attempting to integrate my 2 new tiger eyes in some mixed borders. I can sense right now that they are going to HAVE to be toned down by dark purple foliage (like gg has done in that photo).

I have some questions:
When you whack Tiger eyes to control size, do you do it in the spring or any ol' time through the season? and does it cause there to be no flowers (like cotinus, catalpa, etc)? i read that there are both male and female sumac; does that mean that male sumacs don't put up those flower cones? (yes, you are right, i am completely botany-challenged.)

Isn't 'running' a good thing, if you want to pot up and spread the joy of the tiger eyes? that's how it is w/ bottlebrush buckeye: once a small plant has emerged from the runner's roots, cut the runner, and leave all as it was.Keep the baby watered. In a few months, pot up the baby, which will have fortified itself by then.

btw, i read that Tiger Eyes can be overwintered in a container in z 5. (Don't know details- how big a pot and if it can stay out in the weather.)

p.s. speaking of dark purple., i haven't seen any purple perilla in any of your photos. Any of you grow it?(Self seeding annual)
scroll down on the linked page-to the third photo- 'Deepest Purple Shrub' for a funny picture of it here!

Here is a link that might be useful: purple perilla in the mixed border

This summer we went to a garage sale way back in a wooded area, and the people had a wonderful garden around their home. But...the husband had had problems and surgeries and so they hadn't been able to keep up with their spring/early summer chores yet; "but come see my gardens!" The chocolate joe pye weed was gorgeous and had huge fluffly blooms full of hummers and buzzing bees, but whoa, the seedlings at the base of the plants! WOW! And I had my eye on this dark purple plant and trying to figure out how I could ask for a few starts. But when we got around to the back and I saw all the dark purple seedlings (and they were everywhere); I knew she'd be glad to share this wonderful perilla. But ouch, when I got home I realized that it could seed terrifically for me too, and I pulled it when I read comments online. Maybe if I mulched heavier.... She also had blackberry lily seedlings; I thought they were crocosmia, durn. LOL

Such wonderful pics all!

I finally got around to uploading some of mine, lol. This combo has just now faded (Aconitum done).

Phlox 'Nora Leigh' with A. 'Spark's Variety'. Ol' Sparky likes to lean (some might say flop), so I planted it close enough to the phlox and a rose so it could prop himself up on them.
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CMK

Very pretty, CMK.

For me the best of all garden phlox and the prettiest colour of all monkshoods.

Green_go, I'm wondering about the ID of three plants at the right front of your first photo from Sunday 8/31, two grasses and a catmint?

And how about the dark-leafed lavender blooming phlox from the third photo on the same day.

Thanks!

Nice cmk! That picture shows that you can do great things with Nora's flower color after all, it looks great with the strong blue.

Arbo- I trim sumac back in the spring and it doesn't bloom. The uncut ones are at least three years old and have yet to flower. I think a friend of mine's started blooming at maybe five years? Tiger eyes is a female clone and will make the nice rust red fruiting heads if you let it get large enough.

babs, i think the black seed head is pennisetum alopacuroides(sp) Moudry and the blue is helichtotrichon maybe... i have LOTS of moudry if you want any but i can't grow Little Bunny for the life of me..go figure.

wow ginn, ya' didn't even give it a CHANCE!! my perilla seeds alot or a little; @ yr is diff. But it is soooo easy to pull out w/ its roots intact- that i never consider it a problem. (and it smells so WONderful when you do!) but i think you might be a much more tidy gardenener than i.

I will never understand why a few things will freely seed here, but others (that seed around for EVeryone, it seems) do not. The 'yes' ones include chocolate eupatorium, corydalis lutea, perilla, cryptotaenia, chasmanthium latifolium, carex grayii, malva,persicaria lance corporal, but that is about it! the 'No' ones are everything else. I grew verbena bonariensis (VB) one year as a front of the border- weaver, but it did not return. phooey. Actually VB holds my #1 spot for plants that i wish someone would breed: a cobalt blue VB!

Everyoneâ¦these late gardens are beautiful. I don`t know what happened to mineâ¦it looks horrible. Worst ever. I hope to learn something from your posts and pictures as to what I am doing so wrong. I have enjoyed each and every picture and hope to see more. Thanks, Lesley

nhbabs, hope this helps:

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Beautiful and inspiring photos everyone !!

green_go, could you please tell me the name of the upright junipers just above the calamintha, I love the look of those!

That Little Lime looks huge!

A combo in the pretty deep shade:

- "Solar Eclipse" heucherella
- "All Gold" Japanese Forest Grass.
- "Painter's Palette" Persicaria virginiana
- Corydalis Lutea
- an unknown fern
- vinca

That is very pretty, Rouge.

I love that sort of scale.

That is a wonderful combo CMK. Thanks for that.

This post was edited by rouge21 on Thu, Sep 4, 14 at 7:08

Rouge21, how old is your "All Gold" Japanese Forest Grass? Do you do anything special to overwinter it?
It looks so beautiful and healthy on you picture, I have a different variety, I think it is called 'Aureola' and it is struggling in my garden for 3 years already. Every spring I tell myself: thatâÂÂs it, it is time to write it off⦠and then it sprouts from the ground, all scraggly and puny⦠and I decide to give it another chance... and so on every year. :)

i rarely have success w/ a plant that someone else has trouble with, but my various swaths of green and yellow Hakonechloa are happy. it is surprisingly drought tolerant sometimes too.It seems to esp. enjoy good drainage (on the edge of sunken paths, over a rock wall) but then it also enjoys the edge of a moist bed in shade. Might you try moving yours around,gg?
Have you seen the relatively new carex Banana Boat? I put a swath of it in, last yr., and i love it.

Wow, just googled carex âÂÂBanana Boatâ - it looks stunning.
Carex is another plant which doesn't grow well for me - I have a few clumps of âÂÂIce Danceâ and this past winter caused lot of damage, they are recovering, but donâÂÂt look great.

kato_b, I do like that mass of verbena. I think I will try it next season. I have an area which might be able to take its seeding.

I like the 'Aureola' forestgrass. Unfortunately, so does our little poodle! Dog candy is his opinion of it! :-) After two years of his munching on it, I doubt any will be returning next year, I will check out the Banana Boat, but I suspect all grassy things might be at risk.... He doesn't seem to eat anything else in the garden. The Golden we used to have was hard on grasses too - do other dog-owning gardeners have this problem?

woody,i have cats that eat grasses and then invariably throw up indoors, but i've never heard of dogs doing that, so--
maybe i'm wrong, but i just have a hunch that if you sprinkled cayenne on your dog's favored plants- that that would stop them in their tracks.
mindy

I think the cayenne thing could be dangerous to the dogs' - and other critters' - eyes so I'd never do that. Grasses just are on the 'questionable' list for here, due to dog predation among other reasons. All our dogs have had a taste for grass... Our little Lhasa Apso could be a regular cow at times. :-) But her grass of choice was couchgrass, so she was welcome to it! (She was also a demon rabbit hunter; there are a lot more rabbits around the yard now that she's gone....)

hmmm, i had no awareness of cayenne being dangerous; so sorry for the blooper.

how old is your "All Gold" Japanese Forest Grass? Do you do anything special to overwinter it?
It looks so beautiful and healthy on you picture

You are kind green_go. I think it is 3 seasons old. It is in too much shade to grow to its potential but its good enough for me at this location. But about 30 feet away is the same variety, same age and it is so much larger. Here it is as of this past July. It has grown so vigorously. (And notice the one further down and it is scrawny...again too shady). (I probably have 4 of these "All Gold" and never lost one over the winter although they do take their time in showing life in the spring).

This post was edited by rouge21 on Thu, Sep 4, 14 at 17:54

arbo - the cayenne option is a commonly recommended one but it has always sounded like a potentially nasty one to me.... I am a literal 'seat-of-the-pants' gardener so I wouldn't want that stuff at eye level for me either! So, while I had high hopes for golden forestgrass having a nice place it the garden, fate (in the guise of Cole) has determined that it is not to be! :-)

Today:

Very nice!

Thanks.

Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't!