Monday, September 15, 2014

September GBBD: Blooms, Bees, and Butterflies

It's time for another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, the monthly round-up of what is blooming in your garden.  A few days ago, I wasn't sure I'd have much of anything blooming today.  It has been cold here. After a couple of days of rain, the temperatures plummeted, never reaching higher than the 50's and dropping into the low 40's each night.  We never had a frost, thankfully, but I was beginning to worry. 


The sun has returned, and yesterday we may have reached 70 degrees again, making it a good day to walk around the garden and see what is in bloom.  I was surprised to see that the 'Little Business' daylily was reblooming, albeit a single, small bloom.

 
In the expanded section of the shade garden, turtleheads have been blooming for a week or more.  This is a new plant here, planted this spring when we thinned them out in the Nursing Home Garden where I volunteer.  One of the benefits of volunteering--free plants!

 
Another new bloom this month--the Japanese Anemone.  It has taken awhile to get going, but it made the "leap" this year and is finally tall enough to be really noticed.  I have a second small Japanese Anemone nearby in the Arbor Bed, which looks like it will soon bloom, too.  I'll be darned, though, if I can remember where I got it or when I planted it!
 
 
 
A few other blooms are carryovers from last month, like the 'Limelight' Hydrangea, one of my favorites of late summer.  I'm trying to prune this to more of a tree form, and one branch is complying by standing up straight and tall, seeming to reach for the sky.


The Brown-eyed Susans, Rudbeckia triloba, continue to put on a show.  I've noticed the goldfinches like these almost as much as the purple coneflowers.


Another favorite of mine and the hummingbirds, 'Wendy's Wish' is doing well despite the crowded conditions I planted both of them in.


Some of the containers are still looking good, while others are beginning to look a bit tired.  The pots of coleus in front of the house are approaching shrub proportions.  A few years ago I bought too many coleus and stuck them in a couple of pots by themselves when I didn't know what else to do with them.  They looked so good by fall that I've done the same thing every year since.  The burgundy coleus really stands out, especially among all the green shrubbery.

 
Many of the annuals are still putting out new blooms, like this white cosmos.


And, of course, the zinnias, including my favorite 'Zowie Yellow Flame,' which will keep going until the first frost.


Signs of fall are definitely evident in the garden.  The few ornamental grasses I have are beginning to shine, like this Panicum 'Shenandoah,' which glows in the sunlight.


Miscanthus 'Morning Light' is also showing off its plumes.

 
The berries of the Beautyberry are just beginning to turn purple.


Meanwhile the seedpods of Blackberry Lily have opened up, revealing how it got its name. 


The vegetable garden is nearly done now, too.  The squash bugs finally got to the cucumbers and squash, and the green beans are finished.  The tomato plants are still producing more than we can eat fresh, but the blight is slowly taking them over.  But the volunteer cosmos and some marigolds in the veggie patch are looking good and hiding the slow decay beyond them.


And the Butterfly Garden is a mass of color right now with all the goldenrod and asters. 
 
 
But best of all, this little area of natives is really living up to its name right now.  I hadn't seen a single Painted Lady all summer, but today they were swarming everywhere. 
 
 
 
In fact, as I was taking photos yesterday, I became so entranced by all the activity throughout this garden and other areas, that I started following the butterflies and bees around and forgot all about focusing on what was blooming.
 
 
A bumble enjoying the cosmos.

 
And a lady beetle enjoying a pink one.

A marigold in the veggie patch.
  I don't use any chemicals in my garden--which is why the squash bugs eventually ran rampant over the squash and cucumbers.  But we had more than enough squash and cucumbers already, and it's a small price to pay for all the happy bees in the garden.


A bumble too busy enjoying the zinnias to notice he's not presenting his best side for the camera:)



And one last promotion of the 'Zowie' zinnias, a butterfly and bee favorite.
 
 Who knows what the next Bloom Day will bring.  An early frost could very well bring an end to many of these blooms, and the butterflies will have surely left by then.  So I'm going to enjoy every beautiful moment in the garden I can until then.
 
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you the 15th of each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. 

27 comments:

  1. Your late summer garden is looking wonderful, such a lot still blooming. I do love your Miscanthus grass, the plumes are fantastic, I'll have to see if I can squash some in my garden anywhere.

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  2. Beautiful as always, Rose! I encountered a lot of bees this morning, too, as I went about taking pictures, especially in the Cleome and Turtlehead. I didn't plant Zowie this year, and I regret it. Next year again, for sure! Happy Bloom Day!--Kimberley

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  3. Wonderful colors. It's easy to see why bees and butterflies love your garden.

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  4. Wow...you have so many beautiful blooms for September and beautiful photography too. It has been chilly here in the 50's in the morning but not as cold as you!

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  5. Such a lot of colour in your garden - it looks so bright and fresh. You say autumn is coming, but everything still looks so good ! Like you I don't use chemicals in the garden, so have regular 'plagues' of insects - whitefly in the greenhouse is the latest!

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  6. Fun to see your blooms and bugs. The sunshine in your photos looks wonderful too. It is so gloomy here today that the Datura was in bloom all day. Crazy. Happy GBBD.

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  7. I love your bee, butterfly and pictures! Especially the last 3 -- if I were you I'd frame those as prints on my wall.

    (Re: the flooding: we didn't have any trouble getting out of our driveway -- where the drive was underwater is down below the house and only leads to the horse pastures and creek.)

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  8. Cold here too and the garden is already getting tired...but you have so many lovely blooms still going. And the butterflies love asters don't they.

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  9. I can't believe how far along your blackberry lilies are! Mine haven't even thought about showing their seeds and some are still blooming. Funny story is I planted them last fall as babies-thinking they were lilies. Ha! Got me but I do love them. You've still got lots going on! Fall is in the air tho.

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  10. Your garden is beautifull! Your pictures as well!

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  11. Wow, you have a lot going on in your garden, Rose! I love all the Zinnias and Cosmos, and it looks like the pollinators do, too. Someday, I want to have a Beautyberry shrub in my garden. Apparently, they're hardy here--but we're about at the northern edge of their range. Great post, and happy GBBD!

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  12. Rose - Your garden is always just amazing. It is such a pleasure to visit.

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  13. My asters and goldenrod are blooming too, and covered with bumblebees! Not so much on the butterflies, although I have seen some flitting around the garden.

    I love that last photo, of the butterfly on the zinnia!

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  14. Hi Rose! Your September is very colorful! You have several plants that disappeared from my garden, and now, looking at your pictures, I want them back!

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  15. I thoroughly enjoyed this post, Rose. I also have turtleheads blooming in the shady part of my garden, but I didn't know what they were! So glad to log on tonight and find out. Thank you!

    …bought too many…..didn't know what to do, so stuck them into pots. Oh, you make me laugh, Rose. How many times have I done just that? LOL.

    And your bee and butterfly photos are really special. I love that you were so focused on the little critters that you forgot what you were supposed to be doing. Yup, a real gardener. I so get distracted as well.
    Thanks for making me smile tonight.

    Oh, almost forgot - we had cold days too and I was so worried about frost, I brought my hibiscus in. Seems a bit early, as today it was warm and sunny, but better safe than sorry.
    Hugs

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  16. You have a beautiful lot of flowers! It's starting to get cold here, too, so we'll see how long the blooms last. It's so great you get so many bees and butterflies! I love your coleus too - what great colors!

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  17. I do believe dear Rose that you are turning into a bee lover.......wonderful to see your garden so alive.
    It has been a poor year for butterflies in my part of the world. They have been around, but very few in comparison to other years.
    I believe the torrential rain and floods of last winter took its toll on many creatures.

    Limelight is lovely. I have one in the garden and it is looking lovely this year :)

    Lovely to see your garden blooms Rose.

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  18. Your garden is full of bloom! I am reminded how much I love 'Wendy's Wish' salvia. I don't seem to have it in the garden this year but it is a beauty. Enjoy this day!

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  19. Brrr on the cold. That front dipped down here too, and for two days, it was extremely chilly. I find I'm much more interested in the creatures in the garden than the flowers anymore. I wonder why? Anyway, I enjoyed your photos so much. Is that one bug on the pink cosmos a lady beetle, or is it a cucumber beetle? I have a lot of trouble with the latter. I don't spray pesticides either. However, I'm not seeing a lot of butterflies this year. Happy Bloom Day!~~Dee

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  20. Happy GBBD! I can see why the birds and the bees delight in your garden. We're having an unusually cool September too but haven't frosted yet.

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  21. So much colour in your garden, Rose!
    I love the limelight hydrangea, You have really helped me to see that plant in a different light. I used to think it was quite boring; now I know it's not.

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  22. Oh I enjoyed your September blooms Rose. I must find out more about late flowering day lilies - mine are all done and dusted by the end of July :( It's nice to find out that we have at least one visiting butterfly in common despite the miles between us.

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  23. It has gotten cold here too. So far we haven't had frost, but I am sure it is only a few weeks away. I love the shiny blackberry-like seed heads of the Blackberry Lily! I have sommon varieties of Brown eyed Susan, but not the Rudbeckia triloba. I think I read somewhere that it is a short-lived perennial. Is that your experience? I love that last image of the butterfly on the zinnia by the way. Fall colors at their best!

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  24. Thanks for the stroll around your lovely garden, your daylily sure looks beautiful. I love coleus, ahven’t had it for a few years but every year I say I MUST get it next year. I especially like the raspberry/burgundy one you have. And all your insect photos are lovely, a sign that your garden is a treasure trove for them.

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  25. What a paradise for the insects Rose. All the flowers you are showing ar looking beautiful to me.
    Lets hope the early frost will stay away for while.
    Happy Autumn Rose.

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  26. Nice GBBD post. Missed it this month because of our trip. Do you have the American or Asian beautyberry? I have the Asian because it is smaller, and I am waiting to see the berries to turn purple for the first time.

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  27. Such a lovely mix of summer and autumn. I do love cosmos, it always astounds me how floriferous they are, and for such a long season too.

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