It is @prairiemoon2 z6b MA ie helianthus LQ.

I'm used to Helianthus being tall....that is a nice one. Thanks!

It used to be lots taller ie 5 feet or more but it is up against ever encroaching, water sucking Buckthorn trees and so each successive year this stand of LQ "shrinks" :(.

OH, glad you told me that, I'd need to make room for the 5ft plant where I'd think of putting it. I like the taller plant too, it's a nice yellow.

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA @Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL . I thank you both! i shall be patient. I know ” sleep creep leap” is true for clematis. I’ve not used alfalfa meal but I will sure try it and the fish emulsion. Thanks again. c

Prairiemoon, thanks for that info data base, asters are a funny thing here, many are hardy, though refuse to bloom much of anything until severe frosty nights have set in. The recommended 'Purple Dome', I discarded after a few seasons, it just starts and then frost browns the blooms. 'Alert' I have, the color is very nice, though never a showpiece, just a sprinkling of flowers here and there. I'll have to check into some of the others, often those closest to the species preform best. As for holly, yes, mostly only the deciduous berry types apparently can survive here, the greenhouses push the evergreen types, which is what interests me, they can succeed as small shrubs IF remaining completely covered over by snow during the winter.

Agastache 'Morello', had mounded it up with dry soil in the late autumn and then shielding with a plastic covering to prevent moisture penetration until things warmed up in the spring. Hopefully, it again winters, but also will save seed, what the heck, will be fun seeing what comes of those!

Seedling berberis 'Aurea Nana' that always shows some nice highlights and now coloring up more so.

Miscanthus 'Little Miss', just a close up foliage shot, the plant is yet thin looking, but finally bulking up after two long seasons, was just a tiny plug when received, I like it very much now though!

FBudd - I had ‘Purple Dome’ at one point and there was something about it I wasn’t happy about, but I don’t remember what.

I suppose any plant that blooms late in the season is problematic in your zone.

That is too bad you can’t get the evergreen hollies. You do have some excellent evergreen shrubs though that I envy. [g] They look great in your beds.

There are some pretty grasses, I’ve always liked ‘Morning Light’ but I don’t enjoy the bloom on them or the fact they spread so wide and grow so tall. I love the fineness of the blades and the air movement. I like that andropogan geraradii ‘blackhawk’ That looks like a keeper. If it doesn’t get too large for you, it would certainly look great as a trio of plants. Maybe when it gets larger you can divide it.

I stopped trying to grow a lot of the less hardy Agastaches. I just don’t have the soil conditions that they enjoy. I sometimes buy them as annuals, like the Salvia ‘Armistad’.

Well, there’s still 10 days left of September. Plenty of time to post more photos for everyone. I would enjoy seeing more from people we don’t hear from often. I’d even like to see ‘work photos’ as people are getting their gardens ready for spring. We had that power tools thread and photos of people using power tools would be timely. Anyone planting bulbs? Repairing their lawn? Etc.

I remember my problems with Purple Dome: the rabbits loved it. Ate it repeatedly to a nub.

If it survived, it got real ugly. The leaves were always brown by summer's end. I wouldn't mind using some of my expensive plantskyd rabbit repellent to save it, but not if the foliage is going to be brown and nasty. How's that for horticultural exactitude?

@FrozeBudd_z3/4: I forgot to reply to your question about spireas. Yes, I love them and have a few varieties! The one I have used the most is Goldmound (I think I have 19). I also have Little Princess, Flaming Mound, and just added a new variety (well, new to me), Northern Lights.

I have never seen Neon Flash before! I googled and read that the foliage turns burgundy in Fall. Could you possibly post a picture of yours when it does? Would love to see it!

I almost purchased Glow Girl, but I already have too many of Goldmound. I think I would prefer Glow Girl's white blooms to Goldmound's pink blooms (which I cut off anyway once the bees have had their way with them), but I'm not gonna bother.

Thanks for your detailed answer about the buddleia. I really really want to try it now!

@Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL: that gardenia is just gorgeous! I read that the scent is heavenly, can you smell it from a distance, or do you have to get your nose in it? :)

@linaria_gw: I had never seen Malus Everest before! Is it a prolific bloomer? It looks lovely with the aster!

@cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky): I would love to see your perennial bed once you are ready to post pics!

I also find the designing part very challenging. You'd think after all these years gardening (pushing close to my 10-year anniversary), I would be better at it. Nope.

I plan very very carefully, using a combination of software and paper & pencil. I think about it a lot, tweaking my plans over and over during the winter. Researching plants, trying to come up with something that will look good throughout the year.

Then Spring arrives, I plant according to plan, then realize that it does not work. At all. Thus the game of musical chair starts. I will move plants until I'm happy about the general look. It usually takes me 3-4 years before I'm satisfied with a garden bed. My bf thinks I'm mental. So do my neighbors! But I love working in the garden, so yay for me! lol!

Thanks! It is from this shrub, which I grew from a cutting from 2014. If you get within a few feet of a Gardenia bloom, you will definitely smell it. When it has hundreds of blooms, it scents the yard, and wafts in the breeze. If you have Hostas with white flowers where you are, I recommend sniffing. Those can have a very similar scent to Gardenia. One Gardenia bloom is enough to perfume a small room. As with many scented blooms, the scent turns a little putrid after the blooms turn yellow but luckily, it's much less strong than when the scent is good.

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA: The agastache is Blue Fortune. I planted it this Spring and I have to say that so far, I love it and want to propagate it everywhere! We'll see if it survives the winter. I also planted Little Adder, which is hardy to my zone 3, but they were purchased on sale, looking very sad, so not picture-worthy at this point.

Love your Prairie Sunrise rose and cosmo Picotee!!

@woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada: That dogwood is beautiful, such a wonderful branch structure! I wish there was a similar tree hardy to my zone.

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a): omg your anemone September Charm is lovely! I'm a little afraid of planting it, though. Is it hard for you to control?

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA: re-bulb planting: phew, let's just say that I got a little bit carried away this year, when purchasing bulbs, it will be a big job to get these in the ground. They will go in my two new garden beds, and I won't use power tools. I'll just dig trenches around my young plants and randomly drop the bulbs. It's mostly Darwin hybrid tulips. I'm very much looking forward to the show next Spring! Do tulips perennialize well in your zone 6?

I keep trying to post but it kicks out every time! we are reseeding areas in our lawn. rain today and tomorrow really will help.

Lots of crabgrass to use pre- emergent on in Spring. Caroline

Here is a new bed I dug for lavenders. Planted in June.

And I dug this front slope in May.

Here is my babysitter bed! I got a bunch of things on sale last week and stuck them here till I get a 70 ft long slope ready out back.

Joe Pye Ruby and Karl Forrester at $2 a piece! Rest were $4. Caroline.

Rain has beaten down my 2 yr old Northwind. I made the mistake of improving the soil🤦‍♀️😳 will be dividing and moving to the new big slope .

@User: I love that last picture you posted, what a lovely place to have a morning coffee! What kind of lavender did you plant?

Thsnk you @mazerolm_3a. I have Phenomenal, Grosso and 7 of something that were mis- labeled and I dont know except its a French one and some Provence no other specific title and 2 that are just now blooming and were a gift and I dont know 😉. You can see that I am NOTHING like you folks who are so well versed in plant names and types and care. i always promise to do better but…

If it does well I remember it usually so I can hunt for more. I will say Phenomenal lavender is just that. it is truly amazing and hardy and resists ALL efforts to harm it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=phenomenal+lavender&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS676US676&oq=phenomenal+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i273j46i433i512j0i433i512j0i512j0i433i512.5740j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

your anemone September Charm is lovely! I'm a little afraid of planting it, though. Is it hard for you to control?

@mazerolm_3a...thank you.

The area of SCharm does expand but I find it relatively easy to keep it in check, removing 'extra' plants either in the late Fall or in the spring.

(We so like its floriferousness that we put up with its "vigorousness")

@User: I’m not the best at keeping up with what I plant either. I always think I will remember varieties that I plant, but give it a few years and there’s a good chance I’ll have forgotten! :)

I really need to try at least one lavender! It probably won’t perform super well because of our cold winters and wet soil, but I do love to try out plants!

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a): I might try one September Charm next year then.

This Spring, I planted persicaria bistorta Superba. I had read that it was a strong grower but not invasive.

Well, it was so agressive that I pulled it out in late summer. It was near prized peonies and bearded irises, and I did not want to always have to keep the persicaria in check.

@mazerolm_3a well if there was a lavender for all seasons and conditions it would be Phenomenal. Truly if it survives me it can survive 3a and you it says 5-9 but maybe with an insulated basket/ cage like the Brits use over it?

😉😂

I harversted 1 gallon of lavender buds last year and this year im looking at more than 2 gal!

I love and have several persicarias and I have always wanted to acquire bistorta superba but for whatever reason have never got it.

Amazing that even in its first season you could see its 'thuggery'!

Again, as for aster 'Purple Dome', it just looked rather course to me and Marie mentioned of the dead bottom foliage, it wasn't worth the space in my place!

I've been moving plants around, it's soooo much easier to coordinate colors and textures while they remain in active growth. Often, before committing to digging something only to find it's not as compatible in the new location as hoped, I'll first take a few stems of the plant and poke those in the ground at that site, either it's BINGO, or NO GO, really saves a good deal of frustration! Also, been getting a number of potted shrubs planted, I don't again want a garage full of dormant wintering plants!

'Serenade' Japanese anemone.

'Neon Flash' spirea photo taken about ten days go when first purchased, still have to find a spot to set this one, will be great if the foliage does color up nicely as well.

I had aster × frikartii 'mönch' for several years and I did like it.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3336224/aster-monch-frikartii#n=18

@FrozeBudd_z3/4: I can see why you like Neon Flash, these blooms are so pretty!

Rose Olds College and penstemon Onyx and Pearls: I’m usually more into purples and pinks, but I love that combo!

hi mazerolm_3a

I had to look up the Malus cultivar

it seems it is a French cultivar

and the name has nothing to do with Mount Evereste (or some such)

but was named after Eve Reste (whoever she was...)

recieved an RHS -award

it flowers nicely ind spring, with almost white flowers

the mass of flowers depends, upon age, prunin etc

but then, every tiny apple has been at least one flower, and it is mostly a mass of white when flowering

In Germany (and mid northern Europe?) this cultivar is a workhorse amidst the bunch of gazillion ornamental Maulus cultivars,

probably the parent plants are of Asian origin,

--

I just recently read across an articel about ornamental American Malus species, I dont know how widely availabele they are in Europe, but I didn`t know many of those

no idea how common most of "our" cultivars are in your area

I just had assumed that you get them anywhere

like Rudbeckia Goldsturm or some such

(sorry, couldnT find a proper pic of the flowering Malus)

Datura wrightii

Helianthus mollis, Downy Sunflower

Symphyotrichum novae-engliae, New England Aster

Helianthus grosseserratus, Saw Tooth Sunflower

Symphyotrichum ericoides. Heath Aster

Elephantopus carolinianus

Aralia racemosa, Spikenard

Symphyotrichum laeve, Smooth Blue Aster

Panax quinquefolius, Ginseng

Persicaria GOLDEN ARROWS:

Oh geez, lol. Rouge, has it been you that posts your Golden Arrow every year? Please keep doing so, because every time I see it I remember that I saw it, wanted it, and meant to buy it. Don't know why this one keeps slipping off my list! It's gorgeous!

:)

Dee

Very kind @diggerdee zone 6 CT. But I clearly post the same perennials too much as you know me too well :).

(Although I would bet I didn't post this plant last year as I recall it getting decimated by Japanese Beetles which didn't happen this season. As well it has benefited from lots of moisture and some cooler temps the past 4 weeks.)

We cut down a sick tree today & this Coleus was so close, I snipped most of it off in case the trunk fell on it. The blooms are SO long!! They are always full of bees, and I also see butterflies & hummingbirds enjoying them.

Windowbox of Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi.

Tree Philodendron (P. bipinnatifidum)

Some hanging pots

Birdnest fern

Wax Begonia

Salvia

Hurricane/spider lilyk (Lycoris radiata)

Sedum 'Ayers Rock'

My lycoris radiata I planted last year came back up nicely. Thought they would take couple years establish itself until bloom but looks like these are happy in this sheltered spot.

Finally got some pics of my asters, which is about the only thing going on besides my limited annuals here (cosmos, zinnia, dahlias). This was purchased as Purple Dome but I'm doubtful - I believe Purple Dome has been described as "dwarf" and is supposed to be about 18" tall. I've whacked this back earlier in the season and it's still 4-5 feet tall. I think next year I may cut it back either a second time or just by more the first time, as it tends to flop, as you can see. But I love the color and the bees love it too. It's much nicer "in person" - my phone takes such lousy pics, especially the wider shots!

Ooh, I just remembered my monkshood has started to bloom - another purple flopper lol. I'll have to take some pics.

And just to show I'm not really the world's worst gardener, here's another couple of dahlia shots. The plants don't look so hot in the garden (my cutting garden never really looks good lol) but the blooms are pretty in the vase, and that's why I grow a cutting garden! Unfortunately most of my dahlia bouquets are very short, and I've been cutting them that way - they bloomed so late this year, and I don't want to sacrifice any forming buds. I'd rather have more short-stemmed blooms than fewer long-stemmed ones.

:)

Dee

Chelone "Hot Lips":

Great end of season photos! I always wondered about that Hot Lips. Didn't realize it bloomed this time of year. Dee, beautiful Dahlias. Your aster flower looks like mine by my bush is up to my shoulders. It's been just covered in bees and a few butterflies the past week.

Its been a big job clearing and smoothing and filling and seeding but I’m almost done! 5# tall fescue blend from my local farmer’s coop and 25 one cu ft bags of topsoil and hours of prep.

Lawn work is a lot of work, that I don't find particularly fascinating and I am usually content to keep it simple. Looks like you had some areas that used to be flower beds? Or was that just grass that wasn't growing well that needed to be re-done?

We encourage weeds in the lawn. Dandelioin, violets and clover mainly. I cut the lawn short early and late and keep it long the rest of the time. This year we had a lot of rain and it's never looked so good. But I sometimes want to pull out some bigger obvious weeds and some areas I'd like to have more clover. I wanted to do some of that this year, but doesn't look like I'll get to it.

I hope you have good results and post photos when it starts coming up. 😀

'Pink Panther' annual foxglove is a heavy branching sterile hybrid, will be growing it again!

Campanula 'Takion Blue' has been in flower for about three months, received it in later June via mail order. Keep this deadheaded and it just keeps going!

'Delizz; is almost continuously in flower and fruit!

Speaking of dandelions, having my lawn sprayed was one of the best things I've done, no I certainly do not like the use of chemicals, but when in bloom, my large lawn required frequent mowing to prevent as much seed out as possible ... it simply was not practical to waste so much time and effort and still having tens of thousands seeding out into my plantings! YES, mulching is of great help, but masses would still make their way into the crowns of perennials and bases of shrubs and growing things such as hens and chicks or strawberries was a nightmare! Now with the dandelions gone, I bet I spent 1/10 th as much time and effort weeding and tending any bare ground is a breeze using the Dutch hoe! Can anyone guess why yellow isn't my favorite color, LOL.

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA those were all areas of thin or nonexistent grass. I have torn out fully 75 % of my lawn to add to the existing flower beds!! 🤦‍♀️😬

I now have an 83 ft long by 10 ft deep slope in the back garden that Im working on . A neighbor removed partially dead trees that were dropping dangerous limbs on our back studio where my DH plays his music. H e had stumps ground and I added our out of control privet to their work order when they cane. Its going to be grasses and drought resistant sedums and other things like Joe Pye and Rudbekias. It will also be about 1/3 specially chosen rocks from my ” rock man”. He built me a wonderful retaining wall and Im so excited to have him back. So stay tuned. ❤️👍🤞

This was the foundation of a 100 yr old local barn. The Amish owners put in a turkey barn and had this treasure removed. He has more flatish ones from another barn foundation for me. A shame to tear down but great recycling.

Trailrunner, I love rock walls and that is a nice one. And your hardscape looks so clean and simple. You'll get a lot of good use out of that. So great to get old established trees and shrubs that are creating a nuisance out of the way to have a clean slate and start over. Your plans for a natural planting sounds like you'll bring in some pollinators and butterflies. So exciting to start a new garden space.

FrozeBud - I love that Pink Panther Foxglove. I almost thought for a minute it was a Penstemon.

Chrysanthemum Mammoth‘Yellow Quill’.

I took delivery of this plant (via mail) from "The Gentlemen's Backyard" back in early June. As I recall I could see no signs of growth above the bit of soil it came packed in :(. I first potted it up. It showed life soon after and grew for awhile but then started to 'diminish' :(. I threw it in the garden sometime in...early July and paid little attention to it. As you can see it is in a messy part of the garden but I so love seeing hardy mums each Fall.

I remembered that I have Montauk daisies in bloom too, and took some photos yesterday, but my email on my phone is giving me grief again. Guess I'll have to post to the October thread haha!

Nice mums, rouge! Guess they're tough to survive that neglect. My type of plant!

:)

Dee