@getgoing100_7b_nj: so impressed that you grow all these beautiful blooms in pots!! Great job!

On a balcony to boot, Maz!

Allium ’millennium’ on the slope

opposite direction...swaying from the wind

Hostas loaded with blooms

GardenHo; that looks beautiful!! I love your garden, we share the same taste in plants! :)

Maz thank you! I agree...as I love your gardens too!

@GardenHo_MI_Z5 wrote: Allium ’millennium’ on the slope

I thought of your post re these alliums when I saw ours today:

(Luv seeing seeing so many bees on these plants)

Nice rouge!

I dont stay out long enough to notice any bees..due to the blood thirsty skeeters! In all my years I’ve never seen them so bad

: /

GardenHo, I've been complaining to my husband all week about the mosquitoes! I've gone out about 6pm each evening and they're trying to eat me alive. I want nothing to do with that. I'm still itchy from the 10 hornet stings I got last week. There oughta be a law that once you get bitten/stung, they stay away from you for at least a week lol!

:)

Dee

Dee you poor thing! Hornets on top of skeeters 😩 as if the skeeters arent enough!

We are having storms again today so they are only going to get worse...if thats possible.

Patiently waiting for the cool weather....

Here are some pics of my butterfly garden, peak was about end July but even now mid August, I’m getting some late seedlings blooming like madame butterfly snapdragons:

BMaggic - which variety are those lovely yellow coneflowers in your first photo? SO pretty! And are you happy with them? Do they come back every spring and are they vigorous growers and bloomers?

Prairiemoon-I think those are Cheyenne spirit, I bought an initial plant from Lowe’s a few years ago, saved seeds, winter sowed them every year and I get so many surprises! Here’s a pic of just one seedling with all the colours on one plant! It’s hardy for me and very prolific in season. If you’d like to try my seeds, send me a message, I’ll share readily😊

B Maggic, You have a lovely garden. I have not had coneflowers for awhile and I go back and forth about whether to try to find a place for them again. [g] And I seem to end up with a lot of seed that i never get around to using. So, as tempting as it is, I think I"m going to have to admire yours for now, but thank you very much for the offer!

Lovely garden, B Maggic! I too love the coneflowers! And your rudbeckia. I'm a sucker for rudbeckia!

:)

Dee

Datura with big noid sedum yet to bloom

Zagreb coreopsis

Little Bluestem grass ’prairie blues’

Allium Millenium now in full bloom as the sun is setting...

Grasses Moudry (center) and Overdam

Jeana Phlox and Triloba:

GardenHo - You seem to have a large garden, do you do all the gardening yourself? I love that photo with the Allium. It is a good example of how you combine perennials with evergreens that add structure and I really like that. Something I’d like to do more of but it hasn’t worked out for me. I tried to do it with Boxwoods because I have more shade and part shade, but they ended up being more work and looking unhappy more often than not. I still have 3 boxwood, which really don’t add much structure where I wanted it and they are slow growing, so not a lot of pruning, but then I have that boxwood bug that is making a mess and I haven’t come up with a satisfactory solution. So I stopped buying them. I also ended up digging one out and tossing it because it outgrew the space and it wasn’t doing well for unknown reasons.

What king of evergreen is that and do you have to prune that into shape and is it in full sun?

Beautiful groupings!

Rouge, looks like your garden is still looking good too.

I think my garden is past for the season. We’ve had a lot of downpours and while it’s good for the garden, it’s not always great for the appearance once everything is blooming. I’m about ready to pull things apart and start getting ready for next season.

I think my garden is past for the season.

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA actually you have described my garden also as it is now quickly on the downside of the season :(. After lots of rain in July we are back to hot and drought like conditions in August. Some of the annual containers are looking not so good and I will probably soon start dumping them into the composters. I am tired of watering and I am behind on weeding. (Maybe one or two of you could stop by and help me catch up with the chores ? ;))

Rouge, I tried to change the pots to increase hummingbird plants about a month ago, but you know when you buy annuals at that time of year, they have been sitting in pots and are slow to get going again. The pots are okay, but are not making me happy, I just stuck things in there. [g] I don't do a lot of pots anyway.

We have had an unusual weather season. More rain than I can ever remember in one season. I measure everytime it rains, but I stopped counting. I've barely used a sprinkler, which is very unusual for me. Lately, we are usually in drought for most of July and August and sometimes are lucky to get rain in September. I have three rainbarrels and they are all full and have been all season. I have never even emptied one half way. [g]

I'm really not complaining. Everything is so green. The trees look so happy. You get to see how much they have been affected in all those seasons without enough rain. We don't get standing water on the property and so many trees around me that suck up the moisture that even this amount of rain seems to be okay for the most part. Some foliar issues with a couple of shrubs, and the tomatoes and the peppers are not having a good year, but I'm very happy to be going into the winter with everything so satisfied with water. It speaks well for next season too.

Normally, I have a nice fall season, with grasses and asters and chrysanthemums, but I pulled my Mums out of the bed with the grasses and potted them up to rearrange and add back in later, but they never made it back in the bed. Earwigs! Tons of them this year made a mess of them in the pots they were in. And with the new wave of Covid here, I was planning to buy new mums to add, but, now I'm staying home. My best bed for Fall has two Little Lime Hydrangeas in them and they are just flattened and ugly from the downpours. Oh well, they've looked good all season, I guess I can't complain but I'm starting to wonder whether to add support of some kind next season.

So all the more time to start working on next season.

Rouge, you sound like me most summers in August. Really tired of dragging the hose around, but we do have more weeds this year with all the rain. We did buy double the amount of mulch this year and most of the yard had a good application of that, to keep them down. The only place I'm dealing with any serious weeds is in the area I didn't get around to mulching. [g]

PM thank you. Yes I do all the gardening. I made all the beds from scratch myself. I was like the energiser bunny at one time....and made way too many. I sure wish I had that energy now : /

The evergreen in question is a dwarf spruce. These were the only ‘bones‘ I started with and have added many since. They are easy peasy and no, I dont prune/shape them at all. The only problem Ive had with them are spider mites when it gets hot and dry out...but a simple blast from the hose takes care of them!

I bought my first boxwood a couple weeks ago. Its a varigated english boxwood which I found attractive. Not sure how it will do, but it was a clearance plant so I thought what the heck...I’ll try it!....and that reminds me, I need to go water it...ooops kind of forgot about it as its way out back...and its been scorching hot out!!

Off to go save it (hopefully)!

That is a lot of garden to keep up with GardenHo, and I'd bet we are all the same, starting out with such enthusiasm to make lots of garden space and then later realize how much it is to keep up with. Especially as we get older.

Those spruce are very good bones for your garden, good choice.

I hope you have good luck with the boxwood. I love the look of them myself.

Yes it is alot PM, and this year I have not even touched the gardens other than planting a few things...sigh. The weather has become too hot/humid (or rainy) for my liking, along with the unbearable skeeters.

Each time I go out to water I just look around in disgust while shaking my head. I’ve never let the gardens get this bad...It really saddens me.

On a good note, I have time off of work next month and it should be much cooler! I plan to tackle those weeds and clean up all the edges.

If I have any strength/energy left I’d sure like to get rid of the bagged mulch thats been sitting on its pallet for years now.....double sigh.

Btw...the English boxwood surprisingly didnt look too bad : )

Edited to add...the Dwarf spruce do well in both sun and part shade.

GardenHo, that combo with the datura and sedum is quite stunning! So different!

PM2, I've been working on adding my shrubs as backbone too. I am trying some dwarf ilex instead of boxwood. Boxwood is so expensive, slow growing,and I worry about blight too. We'll see how the ilex works out.

:)

Dee

GardenHo - My husband helps out in the yard, thank God. And both of us are at the point where we can't keep ahead of things. I've hired temporary help when I could find it. This year I had someone here one or two times a week for a couple of hours just in the spring and that helped. Spreading mulch is something my husband does. We normally put cardboard under it to keep the weeds down for at least a season. But we've been dog sitting my daughter's new puppy who liked to dig up the cardboard and rip it up. [g] We stopped using it this year, what was the point. lol Just today I was watching her out the window, and I think she is finally getting bored with the cardboard. But if that is not a problem at your house, cardboard under mulch really takes a lot of weeding off the list. We use a hand truck to move the bags to where we want them, or I fill up a 5gallon bucket with mulch and do it that way.

I hate mosquitoes and will go out in a hooded sweatshirt even if it's hot out, just to gain a little more protection. In our neighborhood a lot of the neighbors have been hiring services to spray, which I really hate, since I garden organically, but if I were in a rural area with thick mosquitoes, I don't know how much gardening I'd get done.

Cooler weather! Something I know I am looking forward to!

Dee, what kind of Ilex are you using? I have a few Ilex, but nothing dwarf about them. They do well in part shade, but when I've tried to put them somewhere with more shade, they barely grow. I have added some Taxus Hicksii for a screen and didn't shape it, but let it do what it wanted. Then when it was about 8ft tall, I had another person I hired who had a real talent for pruning and she did a great job in taking off just the right amount to give them a good shape. That was four years ago and they still have a good shape for a screen and are about 10ft tall now. I also have one Ilex 'Sky Pencil' which sometimes I feel was a mistake. I tie it up every winter to prevent snow damage, but last summer when i untied it, it was a mess from the wind and rain. This year I left it tied up all season and it did much better but I hope I am not going to regret that.

I'd like to hear how your dwarf ilex do, as you go along.

Dee thank you. The Datura is a plant that just keeps on giving. I’ve tried to get rid of it several times over the years as the bugs usually turn it into a ratty mess. This year it still looks good (knock on wood) and I do love how large it gets, It’s about 5 foot across now.

PM give that hubby a big kiss for his help

: )

Last year I hired a lawn service to cut my grass. Boy was that a nice break not having to do it! But not this year...pinching pennies where I can as retirement is getting closer.

I would definitely use cardboard if I had larger areas to mulch but mine is needed between all the plants...Thank goodness the puppy is bored with yours lol!!

And...Yes cooler weather! I love Fall...Cant wait!!

More alliums filling out nicely since dividing them..

GH - Yes - DH’s help in the garden should have it’s perks. [g]

I wonder if anyone is considering inventing sort of a Roomba for the lawn? One that automatically cuts your lawn for you. [g]

You’re right, cardboard just between plants is not really helpful. We use it under larger mulched areas.

Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons and cooler weather - ideal!

Great shot of the Alliums. I really like the mix of a little wild with some structure.

PM they do have lawn roombas...made for small lawns.

PM2 I have a few hollies on my list. I've already ordered a Berry Poppins, but as far as evergreen I'm looking at ilex Strongbox, which might be too small (2-3 feet high), or Compacta, which might be too big (about 6 feet) or Castle Keep, which might be just right lol (3-5 feet). But I think you need Castle Wall to pollinate Castle Keep, and that gets to be 8 feet so I'd have to find a spot for that. Not impossible, but I have trouble committing to large shrubs lol. Or to almost any shrub lol. Which is why I haven't placed the order yet....

I actually tried a Patti O but it died on me. Didn't help with my commitment issues haha. But seriously, I think I may try all three of the above hollies. I have different spots where I can use the varying heights so why not give it a shot?

:)

Dee

Why not Dee, especially if you are looking for a little more structure, they're evergreen and if they have berries too, it's a good deal.

August is definitely hardy hibiscus season here! The early ones are nearing the end of their bloom period but the later ones are peaking now. Most of the rest of the front garden is fading fast (except the weeds!) and it's too hot and humid out there to do the necessary maintenance! The Heptacodium tree at the back/north end of the bed, behind the euonymus-covered arbour, should stat blooming in a week or two to finish the garden show for the season...

These are pictures I took about 9:00 this morning from the front porch:

zoomed-in to see the hibiscuses better:

(Please send me some rain 'woody')

Rouge - we need rain too! Our last rain was 2 mm. on Aug. 12, bringing the Aug. rain total to 50 mm., less than 2/3 of the normal Aug. rain. DH has been watering the pots of veggies but the rest of the garden has to survive on whatever Ma Nature provides! May and June were a bit below normal, July was wet, but now it is hor, humid, and dry... *sigh*

what I want my ENTIRE side yard to look like (autumn clematis along the fence, brown eyed susans, and boltonia)

what most of it looks like

The heat, torrential rain, early hard freeze, and deer decimated so much of it this season. Oh well. It'll grow back.

OMG, Rob333, it might not be the reaction you wanted, but I literally laughed out loud when I saw your two photos! But it was a laugh in camaraderie, in commiseration, in gardenerhood, lol, because I can soooo relate to that! Sometimes we have to focus in on little vignettes in our garden and pretend not to see the other parts of it!

:)

Dee

Dee, it's ok!

I've been guarding a long time, you can't hurt my feelings when it comes to how rotten it looks. No, might be aggravated with a deer the caused the big gaping hole in it. Eh, more will grow.

@rob: very sorry you had a poor growing season this year. I hope next year will be a great one!

@woody: I’m very envious of your arbor. I grow clematis on mine but it looks too sparse.

Here are a few pics from my garden:

Lots of dandelions here, they really benefited from the hot weather we’ve been having! :)

And here are plants I actually planted:

mazerolm - I’m still not sure if I will keep the arbour covered with euonymus...! This is the second year and it it now mostly all filled in - but I think it needs more pruning than I want to do. I may end up cutting the euonymus off and going back to a simplier look. It is nice though in winter to have the evergreen look on the arbour and the euonymus matches the ones across the front porch and the one under the Japanese wisteria, so it is an element of continuity in the front garden. I’m not sure what is the right choice to make on this one...

Dandelions have become a problems here this summer too. The south alley bed along the neighbour’s fence is a particular problem. The bed was mostly empty because we were going to replant it but all the yucky weather and difficulty shopping due to the virus situation meant nothing got done. Dandelions have now taken over the bed!

Maz, LOVE the color combination in the third photo. Although I'm a bit confused - looks like an annual salvia, but it's taller than the garden phlox? Can you ID them for us and also that beautiful dahlia? Most of my dahlias are white, pale pink etc. (all from the big wedding two years ago lol) so I'm looking for some nice deep colors to add. Is that your Thomas Edison (or am I confusing you with someone else lol?)

Also, please ID the petunias and PUL-EEZE tell me how you keep them looking so good this late in the season! I finally bit the bullet and cut mine back last week but I may have waited too long. I've never done it before but decided to try it this year. I bought three PW petunias and they were looking pretty good. The other, six-pack petunias not so good, but I cut them all back anyway. Hoping for some rebound bloom!

:)

Dee

Woodyoak - it's surprising that your Heptacodium isn't blooming yet, mine started flowering this past weekend, lots of honeybees on it this evening. The recent dry weather is beginning to take a toll on some of my perennials, like the phlox (Bright Eyes) that has started to wilt/brown. Daylilies are about done but still a couple blooms/buds on Bitsy and Crimson Pirate. The 2 Rudbeckias I have (Henry Eilers and wild type Black-eyed Susans) are in full bloom (both tend to flop a bit). I have a large patch of Joe-Pye (Little Joe) that is in its prime and buzzing with bumblebees and the occasional Monarch. There is a patch of wild tall sunflower at the back of my property that really shines this time of year (also beloved by the bees). All photos taken within the last couple days (8/25-8/26).

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Garden in August Pee Gee and limelight hydrangeas

It’s the end of August but I still have lots blooming!

Morden Blush

Olds College

Bobo and friends

Echinaceas Bright Star

Phlox Opalescence and dahlia Thomas Edison

Daisy Real Charmer

A few more:

Hydrangea arborescence, but not Annabelle. I really must get better at saving tags!

Echinaceas Pow Wow Wildberry and Rainbow Marcella

Clematis Hagley’s Hybrid, planted this Spring

maz your roses are lovely, especially the Morden Blush. And the foliage looks so good for this time of year!

HU-999 your garden is beautiful. Arbordave, LOVE your rudbeckias! They're one of my favorite flowers. Your Henry Eilers is much nicer than mine! And I love those wild sunflowers. I see them along the road as I drive around and they make me smile!

:)

Dee

So many amazing pics, wow!! My fav color combo was a pic from mazerolm_3a of Salvia farinacea, magenta Dahlia and pink Phlox.

Most of my blooms are tiny ones, with nectar, like this tropical milkweed. But the bees seem to prefer the Coleus blooms nearby.

Ipomoea carnea (tree morning glory). This is one of my few big blooms.

Evolvulus (blue daze)

@Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL: Thanks so much!

The pleasure was all mine! :)