Monday, August 3, 2009

My Flowers Are Winding Down



Good Morning Everyone!
It looks as though my flower garden is winding down
for the summer. I do not have too many perennials that
are blooming at the moment. I am going to miss the blooms.
The Becky shasta daisies are in full bloom and some of the
phlox are still blooming and the annuals. What would I do without
annuals to keep my color in the garden going.
The unseasonably cool weather in Ohio makes it feel like fall
is already here instead of the dog days of summer.

Since I need more color in my beds at this time of summer,
what are some good perennials to plant that would bloom now
until the fall mums and anemones start blooming?
I do have some neon sedum and a variegated sedum that
has yet to bloom but I need something more.




Anemone 'Charlotte' is about ready to bloom so she will
help.




The Rose Of Sharon bushes are about spent and the leaves
are riddled with holes from the beetles.
The morning glory bushes are not liking the cool,
wet weather and are turning yellow.
As I wandered around the yard yesterday looking for
flowers to photograph I realized how scruffy the beds were
starting to look.Most of the coneflowers have been dead
headed and ready for some smaller second round blooms.
My "Double Decker' coneflower was missing its second
deck this summer for some reason and turned into
just a plain coneflower with a bigger center. ;-)




The one and only dalhia I have is starting to bloom now.
I put it into a pot this year because of the hard clay soil
and the drought we would usually be in this time of the
summer it has a hard time growing. It has done so much
better this year in the pot.




This is "Edinburgh" and has two toned white and
deep burgundy blossoms.



I did happen to catch this little beauty fluttering around
on the geraniums. So gardeners what are some good
perennials to plant for this winding down season in
my garden?


Happy Gardening Everyone!




13 comments:

Dirt Princess said...

Everything in my garden is winding down as well, so I feel your pain. Atleast you have some bloomers

marmee said...

lona,

the edinburgh is just lovely.
this year has been completely different from other years because of the coolness and the large amounts of rain. the things that normally are doing well at this time of year are struggling. i have loved the deep colour sunflowers this year. lantana always seems to bloom right into the fall. i absolutely love cosmos...they bloom until the fall too. there are so many choices i am sure you will get some good answers.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

I had something in the garden I didn't recognize, and you solved the mystery! Anemone! Thank you!

Roses and Lilacs said...

I found myself in the same situation. Lots of early and mid summer blooms then not much. This year I added solidago, stokesia, boltonia, asters and eupatorium to give me something colorful in these late summer, autumn months.

Your dahlias are beautiful and I love the butterfly photo.
Marnie

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I'm noticing my garden seeming the same way. I blame it on our dry summer :)
Chleone (turtlehead) is a late bloomer and so is Cimicifuga (Bugbane). Both just have buds on them now.
Your dahlia is really pretty! My 'Double decker' never got it's second deck either and it never did last year either. I did notice it had a double layer of petals around the center though.

Stephanie said...

Oh that dahlia is a beauty! And that is a very good shot of the butterfly. I hope the blooms would stay longer. I really enjoy seeing the flowers in your garden here. Happy gardening!

Darla said...

Are Salvias perinnials for you? Butterflyweed, Firebush, ???? It's six thirty in the morning, I need more coffee...

Joe Todd said...

Beautiful flowers. We are back from vacation and trying to catch up. My vegetable garden only so-so this year. The groundhog didn't help. Have a great day

Anonymous said...

Hi Lona~~ Here in Oregon fall is an extension of summer. For years I've been experimenting by acquiring more late summer, fall bloomers. Here's a small sampling.

Perennial Asters
Joe Pye Weed.
Hydrangea ssp.
Seven Sons flower or Heptacodium miconoides [a tall shrub with white fragrant flowers, cool seed pods]
Clerodendrum trichotomum [Also white fragrant flowers, cool seed pods]
Clethra alnifolia
Liriope or "Lily Turf"

These plants will flower until frost:
Dahlias
some roses [Knock Out, for instance]
Gaura
some clematis
Salvia
Fuchsias
Persicaria affinis 'Firetail'
Some penstemons
Oxalis crassipes 'Rosea'
Oreganum 'Santa Cruz'
Agastache ssp.
Perennial Geranium 'Jolly Bee/Rozanne' and 'Patricia.'
Indigofera heterantha [Shrub with tiny pink/purple pea-like flowers all summer and fall.]
Leycesteria formosa "Himalayan Honeysuckle"
Knautia macedonica

Plants with fabulous foliage also keep the garden looking lush. Hostas, Ligularias, cannas. Anything variegated.

And most ornamental grasses look their colorful best in fall. Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' has red markings all summer then turns a vibrant red in fall.
"Little Bluestem" is another fabulous ornamental grass. Blue/green in summer and red in fall.

Love your flutter-by.

I hope this whets your appetite.
Cheers, Grace

Anonymous said...

It's always sad when favorite flowers wind down. I always hate to say goodbye to my coneflowers and rudbeckias. But many of my roses still look good, and my annuals are really doing well now. Still waiting for cosmos, stock, and tithonia though. Will they ever bloom?

Phoenix C. said...

My garden is the same, but I quite like it - the focus goes from perennials to berries on the Rowan tree, grasses and some of the coloured foliage.

Anaphalis yedoensis is just coming out, and also Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy' is in bud, and fun to watch developing. Also flowering is Lychnis with the brilliant magenta blooms which looks amazing next to yellow foliage plants, but seems to be being eaten rather a lot this year by something!

Lona said...

Thanks for all of the good ideas for flowers to grow to keep the color going in the garden. I am going to get some for fall planting.

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

My garden is slowing down a bit also but soon the hibiscus, sedum and asters will be putting on a show. Great butterfly photo.