Wow, I hope everybody is not like me, who is not posting anything because my garden is fried, brown and crispy! I was hoping to live vicariously through someone else lol!

We did get some rain and temps are slightly cooler, so things have rebounded a bit, but the garden is pretty much done for the year I think. Lots of established shrubs are half dead (or at least look that way) so we'll see what the spring brings. The newer plantings (I'm trying to go shrub-heavier in the garden) are doing better, but probably because I babied them more during the long dry weeks. A half gallon of water on a small baby shrub seems worthwhile. A half-gallon - or five or six - on a large shrub doesn't seem to do much lol.

I have a few straggling zinnias and cosmos hanging on, but certainly nothing photo-worthy. And my dahlias are starting to bloom in fuller force now, although I have a lot of misshapen blooms. I'll take them lol.

Just got a shipment of a few new shrubs today, and I'm all excited. Which I take as a good sign since two weeks ago I was ready to pull out the entire garden. Hope really does spring eternal in a gardener's heart. Or we are just a bunch of fools haha!

Hope somebody posts something! Anything!

:)

Dee

Well....I may be able to get some photos later today, but very little worth looking at. [g] I'm pretty much avoiding the garden so I don't have to look at it. I was walking around out front this morning and you'll be happy to hear, Dee, that the only rose I have that is actually blooming is 'Julia Child'. lol 'Beverly' doesn't look too bad, hasn't dropped a lot of leaves, has some yellowing leaves, and did produce new branching after I deadheaded awhile back, but no blooms so far. There has to be about 10 blooms on JC and she's looking pretty unaffected.

My lawn is very sad! OMGosh. Some areas look dead. Even after the recent rain, some parts of the lawn are coming back but not all of it. And this is the same lawn, the original lawn that was here 35+ years ago when we moved in. Also why is it that crab grass grows in drought and heat, better than grass? What is really frustrating is how great that lawn looked this spring! It was the best I'd seen it in a long time. It was coming in thick and green. Blah! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next spring it might still come back reasonably well.

I haven't started pulling things out yet. My Phlox 'Nora Leigh' is fried and I will probably cut that back to the base soon. I'm seriously considering moving the two Hydrangea 'Little Lime' into a shadier location before next year.

I'm really reluctant to even plan any projects for next year. If anything, I need to start over with vegetable gardening and make some hard decisions. My raised wooden beds are starting to disintegrate. But I have a lot of things up in the air and projects around the house that take priority, so, gardening is going to have to take a back seat.

That's all that's going on here. I'll try to post some photos later. Dee, how is your daughter's new garden doing?

Dee, I bought all small shrubs when I started and I was amazed at how fast they grew. And I actually prefer that at this point. But then again, at my age, if I had to install a new garden, I guess I’d probably get some with some size on them. I just think that they establish better as small shrubs.

Her front sun bed sounds really great! She probably benefited during this drought to have only a couple of beds to take care of.

Absolutely, Babies trump gardening!! LOL They grow up fast and the time flies, so you have to enjoy it while you can! Oh boy, your son in law, sounds delightful!

Photos this morning - Nothing great to look at still. Sorry. If you have anything pretty to post, please I'd love to see them!

I really like this Hydrangea. It is a NOID plant that I bought as just about a tiny twig at a local plant sale. It does seem to be a paniculata. I love the size of the blooms and it holds them up better than the Little Lime in my front. This performed very well through this hot dry summer.

Butterfly weed, reseeded in a number of places this year and I'm surprised it is blooming again.

'Julia Child' at the end of another bloom cycle and the foliage has some brown edges on the lower leaves, but it's in pretty good shape going into the winter.

Deanna asked for photos of revived plants - Hydrangea - no blooms, some ugly foliage but looks like it should come back next year if we get adequate rain.

Here's all that's left of a big clump of fern...at least it has the potential to come back

This is Clethra 'Hummingbird' That I chopped back to the ground the year before last - it was wilted most of the summer.

This is one of my favorite Chrysanthemums on the left. It has a single golden bloom that are great for pollinators. I had a big one and took a division 2 years ago and last year it didn't do anything. I had made a lasagna area right behind these plants for where I was going to put tomatoes this year - and didn't - and I have been so surprised at how large this grew this year and has been green the whole summer. That encourages me to do more lasagna beds.

Because this is the original plant that I divided on the left. It was wilted this summer every time I looked at it. And the lower leaves are yellowing. I also had a second division in another location that did not take off this year the way the one above did. The only explanation I can think of is how much benefit the plant received from the lasagna bed.

I've got lots of pictures but they are all on my phone and I look at GW on a laptop. Let me switch the phone and see what I can do.

From last night. My longest blooming daylily, Coral Deswom, blooming since the beginning of July.

Front container. All my containers are doing well because I water them regularly.

A jumbled garden view.

Twerp on the patio surveying his kingdom.

View from the deck.

Another view from the deck. All the garden around the fire pit was new this year which forced me to have to water or watch stuff die. I didn't water any of the established gardens much at all but they held up well.

I'm so enamored with the variegated Physostegia this year. This one is five feet tall and not well supported. Next year I'll get ahead of it. Not watered once and until last week we had pretty much zilch for rain for months.

PM, I planted Julia Child this year due to your high praise. Usually roses don't do well here because there is only enough sun at the height of summer. In August the sun exposure starts to tank.

Sue your gardens are just lovely. And they look to have done very well through this drought we've had. I LOVE that daylily!

My revived plants look just like my fried plants only a bit perkier lol. Still lots of crisped brown leaves and dead branches, but the green parts at least aren't droopy. I might have to do a lot of cutting back next spring.

My Julia Child (planted October of 2021) is not in bloom at the moment but I think it has a few buds, and was one of the few plants to always look good, even through the dry spell. I'm hoping for some great growth next year.

:)

Dee

Trust me, Dee, there is still a lot of ugly here. Much of my front gardens are a mess. Some never got cleaned up in the spring as I was too busy trying to get control of the area around the firepit. It had been used as a construction zone last fall and had turned into a weed pit.

I've already started making changes for next year. Because as a gardener, it's all about next year now...lol.

For me it was all about next year six weeks ago lol. When things started crisping up! But I guess that's the great thing about gardening - there's always next year to look forward to!

I remember seeing pictures of your "construction zone". Everything has turned out beautifully. You must love spending time in that gorgeous garden!

:)

Dee

Good morning, nice to see posts this morning. Wow, Sue, your garden just gets better every year! And Twerp looks like he does have a kingdom there. I feel the same way about our daughter’s dog when she stays over, she really interacts with the garden and does look like it’s her garden…lol. It’s satisfying to see your pets seemingly enjoy the garden as much as we do.

I love that jumbled garden view! So pretty!

Sue, I hope your ‘Julia Child’ performs for you! I understand when you have so many trees around the property that the angle of the sun in the fall really gives you a lot less sun exposure. I have the same here. Luckily at least half of my full sun bed remains in full sun even in the fall and that is where most of my roses are planted. Julia is blooming well right now and should continue for another 3 weeks or so.

Looks like you had a decent gardening season despite the drought and heat! That must be reassuring that you can manage under those conditions.

PM2, your Julia Child roses look great. And Sue, you have such a lovely garden.

Plants have perked up a lot here since the 2-day rain during the Labor Day weekend and the cooler weather too. Our grass looks much better now - to my surprise as I thought I would have to wait until next spring. Still plenty of brown spots though especially the south-facing side.

I have been taking pictures the past couple of days -- will post sometime this weekend (on my laptop now and I usually upload pictures to my Houzz ideabooks through my phone).

RTHawk, Thanks, I do like to report how 'Julia Child' is doing through the season, since I keep recommending it. [g]

Nice out there this morning! My garden looks a little better since the 5” of rain that we had. We had one more rain event that only dropped 1/2 inch. If we manage to get a normal amount of precipitation over the fall and winter, we may get just about everything back in the spring.

‘Julia Child’ is the only rose with a bloom on it at all right now. The blooms are never as large this time of year as they are in the spring or as plentiful, but after the summer we had, I'm very grateful for any. And since it was so hot and humid, I never added another drop of fertilizer since April. The Alyssym hasn't missed a step and that is without any deadheading at all.

Dianthus 'Siberian Blues' This is all the rebloom I have after cutting these back to the ground once it finished blooming back in July? And I had a much shorter bloom period this year, but, all the plants produced a neat, healthy green mound to end the season with. These are started from seed and reseed nicely as well.

Cosmos still cranking out blooms....which the pollinators really need this year...

I managed to keep this Gray Dogwood healthy enough to still produce some berries....

I'm very happy with the blooms on this Hydrangea paniculata. Hoping for more growth next season. It's still only 3 branches.

Despite the rabbits and the drought, with brown leaves around the base and sparse stems, this still is managing to bloom. I just saw a Monarch this morning, they love this plant.

Nice pictures PM2. What is the last plant?

Monarchs were busy today on the butterfly bush and Joe Pye Weed.

My Garden 2022 · More Info

My Garden 2022 · More Info

Winterberries are fewer this year compared to last year.

My Garden 2022 · More Info

Finally got my aster to bloom -- rabbits love them!

My Garden 2022 · More Info

My Garden 2022 · More Info

My Garden 2022 · More Info

So nice to see that after all the recent rain folks have some plants that have either revived or have weathered the drought well.

Sue, you have added a lot of areas with beds to your garden. It looks great!

I don’t have much blooming now. The best part of the ”garden” is the wild part, though there are a very few phlox and pancicled hydrangeas looking good.

Wow—such beautiful pictures for such a drought! Sue, your stuff always looks perfect. PM, I am so glad to see things perked up. RT, your garden looks like it survived well!

NHBabs, the tapestry of fall greens, golds, and browns is a favorite. I love the wilder scenes!

At the ends of this discouraging year I realize that’s next year is indeed the focus. Earlier I could barely imagine prepping for next year. now I already have a seed list started.

I will be taking few pictures. What the drought didn't get the deer definitely got. I have already lost blooms on several azaleas for next year. I am working on my pollinator bed, which I had hoped would be easy but has turned into a major redo because the soil is worn and tired out. I will be glad to see the results next year. It was originally a spring chore, but nearly ALL my spring chores were delayed till now because of the drought!

I will say that my things in good soil with recent compost and mulch fared well. My swamp milkweed only needed watering twice. I am going to make sure I stay on top of compost ammendments in the coming years.

Wilted flat lungwort on Sunday (Houzz put the photo with rain in the next post.)

After a little rain yesterday

You all are proving that despite the challenges, there is still beauty to be found in the garden!

Deanna, I agree with the soil and mulch observation. We brought in close to 15 yards of compost this year from a farm down the road. Dave uses it in his raised vegetable garden beds and I use it to contour new gardens and fill holes where rocks previously live. I mulch with shredded bark but the mulch chore always gets ahead of me so not all gardens get mulch every year. You can definitely see the difference between the haves and the have nots. Since much of the soil here isn't great, I toss compost into the holes when I plant bulbs.

Sue

Sue, I wonder about compost over old mulch. Do you just throw compost atop of it, or try to rake it away and lay compost down, then reapply the old mulch, potentially with some fresh mulch, too. I have wondered if spreading on top of old mulch makes it less effective. I tend to mulch heavily, so maybe that’s why I’m concerned, Should I do more compost and a thinner mulch layer?

(The lungwort above is in an area where I worked with existing soil instead of tilling in loam, compost, and peat from scratch. Amazing the difference. My swamp milkweed is in the richer soil, but has been planted there one year longer and was happier.)

RTHawk - The last plant is Aster ‘Alma Potschke’, although photos I’ve seen of it, it is supposed to be pink and mine is on the purple side. Another plant I highly recommend. Very vigorous, dependable and grows fast into a very thick tall clump. I’ve divided mine and have three of them now. If I just could keep the rabbits away, it would be great. [g]

Great photo of the Monarch on the butterfly bush. I’m happy to see one, I used to have one and I miss it enough to try to grow it again. I always had more pollinators and butterflies when I had that. How did yours do in the drought and the heat?

Joe Pye Weed is a great plant too where you have the room for it and you look like you have that.

LOVE that Winterberry! Even in a dry year, that’s still a good amount of berries. Is that last plant a Mum?

You mentioned your lawn, mine has grown like wild since our 5 inches of rain, but, wow, I’ve never seen our lawn look worse. It has swaths of dead brown lawn in some areas. Probably 4/5ths of the lawn, where it was in more shade, will come back fine, but, in the spring, the other part is going to need some work.

Where the lawn is coming back well....

Then there are patches like this....ugh!

Babs, I also love the wild part of your garden. It is so soothing to look at. And leave it to nature to develop a wonderful composition with no help from us.

I’m wondering if you will have a garden where you will be living in Wisconsin? Has that been settled yet?

Glad to hear your Hydrangea paniculatas are still looking good. Mine are doing okay, even in full sun, although I plan to try to move ours to less sun. I’m surprised they do so well in drought and heat.

Deanna, disappointing to have a year like this. Deer on top of it. So they eat the buds on the azalea for next year? Frustrating, I’m sure.

I also noticed that plants that were growing next to a new lasagna bed from last fall, did wonderful this year. I have too many areas where my soil really needs work. I’d love to just lasagna bed everything I could, but, alas, not going to happen this year. I’m going to try to collect bagged leaves from my neighbors and build as many as I can find time for. I’ve done them in the fall before and it has worked great for me. It really gives me a jump on them breaking down to go through the winter.

This has been a good year to gain some experience with more drought than usual. I am very surprised at how many of the plants that wilted…sometimes stayed wilted for a week or more - still came back, like your lungwort. So, I will worry less next time. And actually, I can see the areas where the lawn was affected the most, and could certainly apply more water there to prevent the grass from dying all together.

Sue, you are so lucky to have all that compost right down the street. And it certainly shows in your results. We normally put down a lot of shredded bark mulch and unfortunately, this was the year we did not have the time to do it. So the drought was worse. Fingers crossed next year we will find the time!

PM2, I will definitely add a veggie garden in WI. There are already some garden beds around the house which I will work on whenever things aren’t frozen because they were mostly mulched with landscape cloth and gravel, so before planting anything or editing, that gravel and fabric need to go. Some need to be made deeper as well. Here in NH my main focus for now is collecting seed for the drainage corridor right behind the house. i have a lot of columbine, goldenrod, little bluestem, black-eyed susans, milkweed, and asters, and will be bringing some of the seed in the hope of creating a meadow. I will also add more prairie plants. When I bought the house it was wooded, but all the trees needed to be cut to rework the badly erroding drainage, so this fall I will scatter seed and wintersow some. Next year I will plant some smaller native shrubs.

Before reworking of the drainage, looking out the back window

During work

It has now been planted to field grass and they will be planting small starts of trees and shrubs this fall, but I will be adding to it.

Babs, OH, so you already have your new house?

That looks so much better without all those trees. Normally, I’d think the opposite. LoL You’ll have a nice large sunny area for a great vegetable garden too!

It must be fun thinking of starting a new garden from scratch. I’m sure you will add back in the trees and shrubs that you love.

You’re collecting seed, which will really be a nice project as will the winter sowing. Very satisfying to bring a lot of your NH garden with you. Are you planning on bringing any plants?

Thanks for sharing, very interesting to see all the changes you’ll be having!