Was driving by Mattison Field in Concord this morning and was in awe of this field of sunflowers. Too bad they were saving the sun instead of my phone!

I guess we're really headed for fall - the first Sweet Autumn Clematis blooms opened today. It should look great by next week:

New England Aster opened this week:

Rudbeckias are still going strong:

as are the phlox:

It's been a productive summer for beans. Here are some red runner flowers:

Things are pretty well overgrown at this point, and I'm really bad at deadheading and cutting back. But I've still managed to find some garden shots worth taking.

I bought this late blooming Daylily called 'Sandra Elizabeth' from Seawrights when it was open. It's great for late season blooms.

This is the garden off the deck in the morning, with Miscanthus 'Morning Light' doing its thing.

A Hosta seedling showing some nice color.

Hydrangea 'Vanilla Strawberry'

Solidalgo 'Little Lemon'

Steve

The Vegetable Garden this time.

Tomatoes before yesterdayâÂÂs picking

Those peppers look great Susan.

I bought a reblooming iris collection from Brecks 2 years ago. I think it was 6 rhizomes. Only 1 plant rebloomed this year. (None last year) It's called "Harvest of Memories". It looks pretty amongst all my weeds!

Pretty gardens all, ornamental and vegetable in full throat! This is the season of lush growth and it's such a pleasure to see well-grown happy plants.

My yard is bordering on out-of-control (some would say it has crossed that border).

Front view:

White wood aster has taken over from the meadow phlox. I pulled out a lot of the phlox - otherwise I'd have nothing next year but meadow phlox everywhere. That's the hosta 'Blue Angel' and hydrangea 'Blue Billow' next to Itea 'Henry's Garnet'.

Sedums and goldenrod in front of cotoneaster on the wall (there's a stone wall under there somewhere)

Hardy begonia (B. grandis 'Heron's Pirouhette') by Hosta 'Royal Standard' past prime.

Cotoneaster, white wood aster, and yucca by the path.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides with white wood aster

Hosta plantaginea 'Ming Treasure' blooming for the first time. I've planted a lot of plantaginea related hostas because I like the late summer white bloom.

Sedum 'Matrona' with a shasta daisy the woodchuck missed.

Around the side of the house is the alley view next to the Phlox Protection Zone. Miscanthus and sedums dominate by the tool shed. There used to be a big Shasta daisy clump there but the woodchuck found it.

And a little goldenrod:

Sweet Autumn Clematis self-sown on the PP Zone fence

A few tall phlox are still blooming but most are past.
Phlox paniculata 'Purple Kiss'

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Mon, Sep 15, 14 at 15:39

Love that Ming Treasure, Claire.

First bloom from my Brugmansia yesterday. Planted this year in a large pot on the deck. The scent is very strong.

Hosta Cameo. This one is a miniature, only about 6 inches in diameter.

Praying Mantis on a Miscanthus variegata

Cosmos in the white garden

Hosta Red Sox in bloom, showing the effects of little rain in August.

A brown spider setting up shop on the deck.

Here's hoping this cool weather passes without frost and we have a long mild Fall.

Steve

Steve: I planted two Hosta 'Ming Treasures' in fall 2010 and this is the first sign of bloom from either of them so I was really pleased when I saw the first stalk. The other hosta is just sitting there thinking about it - maybe next year.

The brugmansia looks like it would make a wonderful pavillion tent - and is that a flying saucer or a hummingbird feeder above it?

Claire

The blooms on my Obedient plant are very late this year. This patch is in full shade - behind the shade garden, behind the compost pile, behind the brush pile. On the edge of the woods.

Claire,

That is a hummingbird feeder and an indeterminate cherry tomato climbing the pergola above it. I bought the Brug to see if I could grow it and I'm pretty pleased with the result. Now we are going to see if I can successfully winter it over. Wish me luck.

Steve

Steve, I love that little "cameo" hosta. Will have to look for one.

Is Datura another name for Brugmansia or a close relative? Lovely no matter what it's called.

Susan

Susan,

Datura is a close relative. Although they are very similar. Brugs are bigger and always face downward.

Cameo is available at Mason Hollow in Mason, NH. Mason Hollow is a great place to buy Hosta and other perennials.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Mason Hollow

Steve: Good luck in overwintering the brug! Have you decided how you're going to do it? I've read that you can keep them as houseplants or force them into dormancy. Those are BIG plants when they get going unless you cut them down. Not suitable for the kitchen windowsill.

Claire

September garden still going:

Pink Coreopsis

Susan

Loved seeing all the photos but I'm very envious of homegrowninthe603's cherry bomb peppers. I usually brag about my peppers but this year they aren't turning red yet except for serranos. I grew cherry bomb from seed this year (or a very similar pepper) anticipating a lovely appetizer for this weekend. Nada, only one red so far but nice flavor. What do you do with your cherry bomb peppers?

defrost49, thank you. This is my third year growing them. So far I've been able to find plants locally. My daughter loves them for making salsa. I pickle a few jars. They were slower to turn red this year, but finally came around. Just love the color!

Susan

Susan, that's a lovely pink coreopsis. And I'm jealous of your tomatoes.

A few days old now, but the chelone I planted last year is blooming nicely now:

and the Brown Turkey fig tree my parents gave me last year not only made it through last winter, it's got quarter sized figs on it:

I'll be thrilled if I can actually harvest any figs before frost!

Susan, I love those cherry bomb peppers in the jars also. Well done.
Neko, that Brown Turkey Fig is way cool. You'll need to winter over that also. My guess is that it becomes a house plant over the winter.

Claire, I've been reading the Brug forum and there are lots of ways that people overwinter these things. My basement tends to be warm, so I don't think it will be a good place for it. I have an attached garage and I'm going to cut it back and place it next to the garage wall that attaches to the house. I have a window on that wall, so I can crack it a bit to make sure it doesn't freeze. I'm looking for a dark space that remains around 40-50 degrees.

I haven't done this before, so it's all an experiment. If anyone else winters over a Brugmansia, I'd love to hear what advice you have.

Steve

Steve, last winter I piled mulch up around the fig and wrapped it in burlap. The branches died off, but the main stem made it through fine. I'm hoping with a more established root system this year, it should be fine again. I don't have room inside to overwinter a lot of plants, unfortunately.

Steve - I have no advice on wintering over a brugmansia. I bought 2 this year as patio plants. I was planning on just dumping them in my brush pile and starting new next year.

We replaced all the hardscape in front of the house. It's been a long drawn out process. I know it's not "plants" but I'm posting a photo anyway. Salt and Pepper Granite and New England Fieldstone.

The Jack in the Pulpit seed pods are such a brilliant red they can be seen halfway across the yard!

The sunflowers have recovered now that the veggie garden is fenced and Charles and Darwin no longer have access to them.

I finally have my computer back, so here are some photos from the last few weeks.

I have Agastache rupestris in several places. I like how it echoes the color of the Pinky Winky Hydrangea just a bit further up the bed.

Here is more A. rupestris earlier in the month, sharing the bed with self-sown Nicotiana, Caryopteris divaricata 'Snow Fairy', a yellow Kniphofia/red hot poker, Caryopteris Sunshine Blue, and several Heleniums. DH kindly skips mowing the part of the field with the red-seeded grass until it fades about now.

Sambucus/Elderberry and Chelone/trutlehead

Clematis 'Confetti' and Hydrangea 'Quickfire'

Morning mist off the river mellows out the light . . .

Your red grasses are beautiful NHBabs, and that last photograph looks like a pastel drawing!

Love your sunflowers, Pixie. Mine are down to seeds which the birds are eating.

I have a few late blooming phlox but little else blooming. I have some buds on the asters, and they will be my last 2014 flowers. The trees are starting to turn and I'm looking forward to the demise of flowers and their care, and to moving on to fall colors.

Wow. That conifer in the red grass is an amazing picture.

Steve

babs, i love seeing your choice of plant combos and your design skills. Maybe you don't want to fuss with the shots before posting them, but i think they would really benefit from some color saturation/ shadows editing. The colors are just too washed out.(See the diff. in the visual impact of the shot w/ the nicotianas?) You could also set your camera to shoot a half or full stop darker than average......
Love the 2 ethereal landscape shots!
So interesting that you are doing a beautiful job w/ your various agastache while many other GWs have posted about problems w/ them.

pixie_lou: Nice job on the hardscaping in the front of the house - have you decided what you want to plant in that big empty space on the left?

nhbabs: Gorgeous pictures! I love the muted colors, particularly the delicate pinks and the morning mist view.

Nothing very dramatic here for the end of September - lots of berries and grasses and goldenrod.

The cotoneaster along the wall:

Volunteer crabapple fruits:

Winterberry with Euonymus 'Silver King':

Winterberry with Osmanthus 'Goshiki':

Miscanthus 'Cosmopolitan' is beginning to bloom, but the seedheads aren't all fluffy yet:

About half of the seedheads are open. The birds are finding them.

The old forsythia leaves are turning red:

The path to the house is getting wilder:

The wisteria pseudo-standard keeps trying to extend its reach and I keep cutting it back. I usually leave some vines in the skirt if they're not a tripping hazard.

You can't really see them in the previous picture, but the three big Blushing Knockout roses are blooming. Not a huge flush but still pleasing.

Sedums with Juniper 'Grey Owl':

A few plants are still green. Maybe it's because of the shade but the slugs haven't bothered these.

Hosta 'Paul's Glory' with variegated Solomon's Seal:

and Hosta 'Northern Exposure':

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Mon, Sep 29, 14 at 12:41

I couldn't resist adding the very last bloom on the Challenger daylily today - no more buds left to open.

And a volunteer aster in the Phlox Protection Zone has been blooming for over a week now. The centers have almost all turned purple now since the beneficial insects have been busy foraging.

Claire

Early autumn in the yardâ¦
Knockout roses still blooming next to the Japanese maple âÂÂBloodgoodâÂÂ

Susan

Sorry for the delay. I just opened October.