September hit with a chilly thud. Last week we were in the upper 90s and the humidity could be wrung from your clothes. A classic summer storm rolled through on the weekend, dumping more than an inch and a half of ran, and suddenly autumn was here, just as I turned my calendar page to September. This past week has been a dream – chilly mornings in the 50s and pleasantly warm afternoons in the 70s with the bluest skies and gentlest breezes imaginable. I’m relishing every single second of it and making up for the neglect my garden suffered in the heat of August with long evening hours spent among my plants.
As the picture of the front of my garden shows, it still remains a bit sparse, but a few blushing beauties have really taken center stage in these twilight days of the growing season. The love in a puff vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum) sulked in the cool damp weather of July, but quickly shot up its post once the heat of August came around. I love the texture it adds to the garden and, of course, the “balloons” are adorable. I’ve also found that long snippets of the vine with the balloons on it make for a great whimsical addition to cut flower arrangements.
Ah, the dahlias. I wrote about them before and the same sentiments continue to make them a highlight of my garden and my arrangements. Just look at those intricate blooms and stunning colors. Particularly, the one pictured on the left above is knocking my socks off. It has more than a dozen blooms on one plant at the present. The color is a striking cross between pink and orange. When back lit by the evening sun, it looks like it is on fire. As if it wasn’t amazing enough on its own, this dahlia got serendipitously planted with clumps of Artemisia and Iresine (you can just see them in the left corner of the photo), creating one of the most dynamic and powerful color and texture combos I’ve come across to date. I only wish I knew what cultivar this is; the tuber was one of the unidentified “freebies” I got this past spring. Any dahlia aficionados reading this know what it is? I found out that it’s ‘Snoho Dorris’! I’m now also coveting another variety called ‘Show N Tell’.
Adding to the late summer sizzle are the Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Longwood Blue’ and a mix of Zinnia elegans. I love the fresh blue of the caryopteris when most flowers are starting to look worn out after a long season. The zinnias are now producing as they should have been two months ago. Hopefully frost will be late this year so I can get the most out of this lovely mix of colors.
In the “not so pretty” department was the discovery I made on my stand of Centranthus ruber. A whole metropolis of golden milkweed aphids had taken up residence on several stems. This plant, with its pretty blooms and unique seed heads, has been a serious insect magnet in my garden. In addition to the aphids, it has been the mating ground for asparagus beetle and an incubator for more than 30 monarch and swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. While it’s fun to see the insect world up close, both at its best and its worst, I think I’ll limit the use of Jupiter’s beard in any plantings where I want to actually work because I was constantly brushing up against these insects when I was deadheading, weeding and harvesting cuts in my cramped ornamental beds this season. It might be nice in a meadow planting though it is a bit of a thug with its profuse and transient seeds.
We’re coming down the home stretch on another growing season, and it’s bittersweet as usual. I’m very pleased with how much I learned from my garden again this year. What an amazing playground it has been, and I’ll miss it sorely when I move next year, though hopefully I’ll have a blank new space in which to create a fresh design that functions both as a lovely garden and as a production plot for my cut flower needs. For now, I’m going to savor every cool September evening in the garden that I can.
