While we all know that Truth is subjective, and, as Saxon Holt has shown, the camera lies, I want to present the unvarnished truth about the Woodland Garden. My August Bloom Day post gave a misleading impression that all was perfect and beautiful, when that is not the case. The Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) in the above photo are not my idea of attractive. They look particularly pathetic because their shade tree has been cut down. (It was a huge, greedy Cottonwood that was too close to the house.) Its replacement is a baby hybrid Oak (Quercus x bebbiana) that is enjoying the sun. Until it gets large enough to provide the shade these Mayapples need, they will continue to suffer. Even if they had shade, however, Mayapples will eventually look ratty before they die down.Many plants that have bloomed all summer are tired and just want to lie down with a cold compress to the head (such as this Campanula persicifolia).
Or do they?
Celadine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)
or has disappeared entirely.
Smilacina racemosa
Or do they?
Celadine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)This is standard operating procedure for Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisamea triphyllum).
The reward for putting up with this temporary unsightliness is the shot of bright red-orange from the ripening fruit.
Thalictrum thalictroides/Anemonella thalictroides is a Spring Ephemeral, which means that by the end of August, its foliage looks like this:
The reward for putting up with this temporary unsightliness is the shot of bright red-orange from the ripening fruit. 
or has disappeared entirely.The beauty of autumn in the Woodland Garden is first shown in the colorful berries of several plants, before they too fade and disappear.
Spikenard (Aralia racemosa)
Spikenard (Aralia racemosa)
Smilacina racemosa
Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
But all is not dying down and fading away. There are things just coming into full flower,
Tricyrtis 'Gilty Pleasure'
Tricyrtis 'Gilty Pleasure' things reviving after the heat of summer,
Clematis 'Evipo023' (Cezanne)
Clematis 'Evipo023' (Cezanne)and things getting ready to start blooming.
Aster species in bud
Aster species in bud
Actaea simplex 'James Compton'
Hosta species
Anemone x hybrida 'Andrea Atkinson'
25 comments:
"Many plants that have bloomed all summer are tired and just want to lie down with a cold compress to the head." LOL. Me too, and school has just started. It's been hot here lately, and I'm barely keeping up. My garden looks leggy and tired, but there is still some beauty.
As for yours, it looks great.~~Dee
My garden needs a cold compress, too, and a whole lot of watering. This hot, dry August has really done a number on our gardens!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
OK, this post is a good reminder to me that I shouldn't give up on my plants too soon. I tend to assume that because they look so awful, they're done for. But, shoot, I don't look so great at the end of August, either!
Exactly how the woodland looks here! My mayapples went dormant last month, the Green Dragon is dragging and even rudbeckia is beginning to brown!
Thankfully fall is around the corner!
That's also how my garden is looking -- tired. Although, in all fairness, the phlox are looking great as are the ligularias & the rudbeckia. There are also the toad lilies, and one or two plants (whose names I've forgotten) which have yet to flower.
/krys
Thanks for being brave & showing us the truth of August gardens. My garden looks tired too. I think it is just the season.
I was just thinking today that the garden looks as tired as the gardener feels! I need to garden this weekend and feel a bit rejuvenated. Love your anemone buds.
Absolute agreement. As tired as some plants look, it's the norm for this time of year. So... those that are just entering their prime are even more welcome (and appreciated)! Thanks for sharing both factors. I just got home. We received 3/4" rain a couple of nights ago, so when I drove in today, things looked pretty good! :-)
I am glad that don't have to worry about all that cold compress thing. May be god knew my laziness and put me in India. lol! Thank you, lord!
Gilty Pleasure looks awesome!
The truth is many things in your garden still look wonderful. And even though there are some slightly less than pretty spots you have wonderful berries and flower fruits that are exciting in their own right. Many of those I have never seen (or noticed is probably the case). My garden needs a good clean up and many things are more than ready to be trimmed but I will wait for the cool crisp days of autumn.
Thanks for being so honest, MMD. My coneflowers are finally beginning to turn brown and the leaves are wilting. That always makes me sad, but at the same time the asters and the sedum are just coming into their own.
You still have lots of lovely things going on in your garden.
On a hot day (and why is it, it always turns hot when school starts??), I'd just like to lie down with a cold compress, too:)
It's time for a new season to come sweeping in. I just focus on the hydrangeas, and the annemones. They are the only beautiful flowers in my garden.
Jen
I don't dare post any photos of my garden. You can't see the perennials that are going dormant through the weeds that are thriving. Guess I'll just have a cold beer and go back and lie down. :)
Ah, Dee, you are too generous.
Carol - what a difference a year makes! My husband was just reminding me of how it rained almost constantly last August. I really didn't mind.
Cindy - I don't know about not looking that good by the end of August. We're all tan & more fit than we were in March. Or is that just us Northern gardeners?
Gail - don't you wish you could just cut them all back before they look like this? Too bad they need to be left to wither.
Kd - we need to keep looking at our gardens with what Blackswamp Girl calls our Gardener's Glass & focus on the things that still look good.
PGL - after all the compliments I've been getting, my gardening ego can take a hit now in the interest of truth & telling it like it is. Especially since my garden clearly isn't the only one that's had enough of summer.
Layanee - the garden & I are both ready for autumn, which I like a lot more than summer. The Anemone opened this morning.
Shady - you got rain! Where's mine? Actually, it rained at my husband's office, but not here at home that day. Seems like we're back in that pattern where the rain scrupulously avoids my garden.
Chandramouli S - I always thought it was hot in India in the summer, so a cold compress would be even more welcome. I just got 2 'Gilty Pleasures' this spring, so I expect even more of them next year.
Beckie - while you see lots of beautiful things, I see holes where I should have planted Autumn Crocuses & Colchicums. Maybe it's not too late.
Rose - yes, it's bye, bye Coneflowers, hello Asters! I always think the prairie looks best when the Asters are blooming. My Sedums are buzzing with bees too.
MBD - there is a change in the air. I found a couple of fallen yellow Cottonwood leaves, so it won't be long now til the Autumn Spectacular. I just hope the current dryness doesn't ruin the show.
Wiseacre - sounds like a plan! Some weeds have a beauty of their own. Then again, you could just wait til it all turns brown & torch it. ;^)
I think that's what I need... some beautiful things like you show at the end of this post to help me look past the ugly in the garden.
To that end... since I don't have any plants that will give me instant gratification... I'm heading out to paint the arbor! :)
One of my podophyllums looked like that before disappearing entirely. I'm not sure if it's dormant or dead. However, another is still going strong. I love that the garden's constantly changing, there's always something to look forward to.
I guess we're all seeing things that are past their best and on the way out. My job on he balony today will be mainly to yank out a whole load of stuff that's looking tatty.
Blackswamp Girl - I love the color you chose for the arbor. It's going to be something beautiful to look at all year. I won't mention the S word.
Megan - in the immortal words of Monty Python (as spoken by Michael Palin): "It's not dead. It's just resting." Always having something to look forward to is one of the things I like best about gardening.
Sue Swift - you hear about Spring garden cleanup & Fall garden cleanup, but I seem to do an awful lot of late summer garden cleanup too.
Hi MMD, your real life shots are normal for these types of plants. Fortunately here, the heat and drought just dried up and blew away the foliage of those ephemerals. But those anemones look scrumptious. We have A. 'Prinz Henri' and he's just starting to open. I am in love with Rozanne too.
I need the cold compress as bad as my poor garden. You have several plants I would like to try in our shady back garden. I will be looking for some of them soon.
Frances - the Prince is a beautiful plant & I bet he'd look good with Rozanne.
Lisa - this weather is killing me! Too hot, too dry - I can't plant anything when it's like this. I'll bet you're also looking forward to the cooler weather of autumn.
Hi MMD,
I like how you speak truth to flowers! But I'd say you still have a lot of interest going on in the garden, and I was glad to see your toad lilies are starting to bloom! I should have pics soon of our 'Amethystina' that just begun in the past few days, and the white ones look to be joining in soon as well! All hail the valiant Toad Lily come September and October! Can't praise them enough, and every shady garden should have some!
IVG - I am very afraid of becoming a Toad Lily collector. I have 3 varieties, but I see others that I really want. So many plants, so little room.
There may be some tattiness in your garden, MMD, but oh, what wonderful plants you have - the anemone buds are as lovely as flowers.
The cold compress was sounding pretty good until I got to WiseAcres suggestion... the prediction is 98° for tomorrow and 99° for Saturday, so the beer sounds better.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Annie - thanks, the Anemones really are the stars of the shade garden in autumn. I think I'll have a Goose Island Honker's Ale.
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