It’s time for the anemones, and Honorine Joubert glows, even on a gloomy mid-September day.Anemone Robustissima (I think) is rambling all over its domain just inside the entrance to the Secret Garden.A friendly bumble bee enjoys a late season meal. This is likely a new queen who will mate with a male, find a nesting space in the hollow of a tree or a rodent hole underground, and hibernate through the winter. The male bees and female drones will die before winter. In the spring, the new bees will grow from larvae and then pupate. A few weeks later the first drones will emerge from the nest and harvest pollen for their queen. This Alba clematis kicks out the occasional bloom all summer, and it’s doing so now, just as the Sweet Autumn clematis begins its big show. These two varieties occupy the same arbor.You can see the Sweet Autumn clematis peeking out between a morning glory vine that decided not to bloom this summer. I’m not sure why, but I’ll plant it again next spring. I like those true blue flowers.I am grateful for annuals like these pink impatiens that produce color all summer. I’m going to do more with caladium next spring, and come up with a better plan for this bed.Lucy think’s the Secret Garden belongs to her.Hello, Hibiscus! She’s joyously blooming in the Secret Garden.Zinnias and marigolds keep the lower garden interesting. The mushroom shaped piece in the lower left is a staddle, or, rather, a reproduction of a staddle. They were used in England to raise granaries off the ground to discourage rodents and moisture from getting into the grain or game that was stored inside. I love the moss that grows on top. More zinnias and marigolds for color, this time in front of the Dutchman’s Pipe, the green “wall” that separates the lower garden from the Secret Garden. The great thing about going to garden centers in late summer is that you can pick up some great deals. I bought two pots of very healthy looking pansies thinking I would divide them by color and sprinkle them throughout the gardens. But they were so happy in their pots. And that’s where they’ve stayed. And here’s a beauty shot of one little flower deep in thought.I also picked up this bag of white impatiens for just $3.00. In the spring and early summer, I mutter curses at the old rose of sharon that grows in the lower garden. I’m constantly pulling out baby sharons. But then it blooms and I have to give a little bit of love to this tree. So, what’s this? Well, there’s a rose of sharon seedling. And some weeds. And what looks like a partially beheaded Zagreb Coreopsis. I would draw your attention to the hole in the center bottom. That is the entrance to a yellow jacket colony. Yellow jackets are wasps, not hornets. They kill insects and eat them and they are aggressive. So, nobody wants to play gardener near this entrance.
As always, a thank you to May Dreams Gardens who hosts Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, a monthly collection blogs that focus on what’s growing on the 15th of each month. If you are interested in gardening, go to her site and sign up. She has a lot to offer.
I haven’t always been a gardener, but I have always loved gardens. It has taken 16 years to get my gardens into the shape they are today. And, I’ve had help. I’m 74 years old, have rheumatoid arthritis, and had a late stage cancer six years ago. I am, though, intrepid. I’m the kind of person who plods along, tailoring my goals as I go. Last November I had a long overdue knee replacement surgery and I’m hoping this spring, summer, and fall will be able to maintain and find even more joy working in all of my garden beds. Full disclosure, though. I have a garden guy who comes once a week to work in my gardens.
Garden 337 