End of the Month View -September09

While I have wanted to join Cindy of From My Corner of Katy with her weekly garden views, I haven't been able to get it together. Helen, The Patient Gardener, has been showing end of the month views of her garden. I think I can manage a once a month post of such views, as I usually take such photos around the beginning of the month anyway. Above is the front mini-prairie. The looming tree, a Cottonwood, has already lost more than half its leaves.

Around back, the view from the patio looking north to the woodland garden.
Standing by the gate into the woodland garden,
and the view back.


Overhead shot from the playset.
Looking back towards the playset this morning.
Yesterday, with the Heptacodium miconioides full of pink bracts.
It's all still pretty green, but that will change rapidly now that the nighttime temperatures have fallen and the sunshine has returned.

What, Me Worry?

Is it me, or does this not look like a Zinnia?

There's a chill in the air. For the first time in months, I had to put on a jacket when I went out to work in the garden. I'm wearing a sweater in the house and trying not to turn on the heat. This sudden change in the weather to highs in the 50sF/13C is a good reality check, a reminder that frost is not long off. But I will not panic, no, not me. I'm getting things done, bit by bit.

I've finally gotten the cute little Abies koreana 'Lippetal' into the ground in the new addition to the street bed. It's only been hanging around since May. No, I did not just leave it sitting there all summer. I moved it into a larger pot in June or July (can't remember exactly), and it wasn't rootbound when I planted it. That's one of my secrets with woody plants; I prefer to repot them and grow them on a bit before planting, so I don't have to spend over an hour untangling pot-bound roots, like I had to do with this newly planted Cotinus 'Ancot.' I found it reduced for a quick sale, so the price was paid in my time and its ability to adapt to having its roots severely trimmed. I plan to get one more next spring so that there will be the magic number three of them.

Dianthus 'Cranberry Ice' spent the summer as the star of a container grouping. Now it joins the Lavender in the bed in front of Cornus kousa 'Completelymismarked,' with Salvia 'Sensation Rose' that sulked all summer in a front porch container. (I guess the porch doesn't get enough sun anymore.) Behind them I transplanted a Peony that wasn't happy in the new fountain bed. (That's Symphyo-whatever oblog-whatever 'October Skies' next to the Peony.)

I dug up and brought in a Fuschia that was languishing under Tricyrtis 'Tojen.' I hope it survives the upheaval. If not, so what, it would have died anyway over the winter. I also divided and brought inside an Oxalis.

Only four perennials in pots are waiting to go into the ground, while six eight perennials need to be transferred from their containers to the ground for the winter.Anemone 'Party Dress' in front of a container with Oxalis and two Primulas and a Fern that need to be stuffed into the ground for winter.

Two baby shrubs need to be moved to larger containers and plunged in the ground also, while one more shrub needs to be planted. I'm still waiting for my bulb order to arrive. Nope, absolutely no need to panic whatsoever. Plenty of time.

Have you started getting your garden ready for winter?

The One Book Every Gardener Should Own

I'm not prone to hyperbole, and I've never before on this blog recommended buying a book, though I have recommended reading them, but this book is exceptional: The Garden Visitor's Companion, by Louisa Jones belongs on any gardener's shelf. Stunning photos are scattered throughout to illustrate the various points.

For those of us who just love plants and gardens, this book is an excellent resource for understanding the language of gardens, enabling us to get more out of a garden visit than, "My, don't the Dahlias look lovely."

The book is broken down into three main sections. The first is headed "Ten Questions for Ten Styles," and provides valuable insights into different styles of gardens. It will enrich the garden visiting experience of just about anyone. Even if you are a garden designer or have studied garden design, this book lists specific, helpful questions to ask of a garden's owner or designer when visiting. No need to worry about remembering what to ask, just flip open the book and pull out a relevant, pertinent question.

The second section, titled "Experts Choose their Favourite Gardens round the Globe," makes for good vacation planning. Experts such as John Brooks, Helen Dillon, and Penelope Hobhouse have selected several gardens and explained why each is worth visiting.

The final section, "Advice from the Wise," discusses what visitors should bring, with whom they should see the garden, and the best times to visit, as well as a side-splitting section on courtesy and a list of what not to say, including actual comments. (I find this part particularly useful.) Jones also offers advice for those opening their garden to the public for the first time.

But beyond the stated purposes of the book, valuable lessons may be gleaned by those of us who are struggling with design issues in their own garden. The 10 questions for garden visits can be applied to one's own garden, generating meaningful examination of the design (or lack thereof), allowing the gardener to see his or her own garden with the eyes of a visitor, thereby hopefully providing a catalyst for thoughtful improvement.

I checked this book out of my local library, but I intend to purchase a copy. I have received no compensation of any sort for this unsolicited review.

Help! ID Needed for Mystery Plant

But, first, a little background. Last Wednesday, I accompanied the girl's 4th Grade fieldtrip to Flint Creek Savannah, in Lake Barrington, IL. It is owned by, and adjacent to the headquarters of, Citizens for Conservation. I had never been out on the savannah there before, only to the headquarters, where volunteers are trying to establish a rare habitat, the gravel hill prairie.They also have raised bedsfilled with Gardening Gone Wild's Plant of the Month, Prairie Dropseed (Sporabolus heterolepsis).I have this grass at home, but seeing it in a mass planting (with Redtailed Hawk)planted a seed in my fallow mind which, watered by Frances's photos of Fairegarden's Muhly Grass, has made me realize how great Prairie Dropseed would look lining my driveway. But I digress.

I'm not going to get all sappy and sentimental about how children are our future. After the prairie activities of measuring and drawing prairie plants, and collecting the seed of Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) and Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans),

the kids were taken on a walk to see the savannah part. A savannah (as opposed to a prairie) is a grassy wooded area. Here in Northern Illinois, the predominate trees of the savannah are the Oaks.On the way there, we passed prairie plants in their full autumn glory.

Stiff Gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia)

Compass plant (Silphium lacinatum)

Late September truly is the best time to be in the Chicago area, not only for the perfect weather, but for the best experience of the prairies.
After getting a view of Flint Creek, we turned around and headed back.I was literally stopped in my tracts by an ex-Aster that I have to have. Can anybody identify this plant so I can get one? (Click on photo to enlarge.)I was struck by the foliage that had completely turned red while the plant was still blooming.

Feel free to identify the other two plants I posted without captions.*

The yellow-flowered plant is either Solidago missouriensis or Oligoneuron rigidum (Stiff Goldenrod). Thanks Gail & Monica!

Squirrelhaven in the Fall

Front mini-prairie currently

View of the woodland garden in mid-October, 2008


Today is the beginning of astronomical autumn, so I figured this is a good time for an autumn preview. If it weren't for the diminishing daylight, autumn would be my favorite season. While spring is the season when the woodland garden is filled with bloom, and summer brings the full color and flowering to the front mini prairie, autumn is the time when the whole of Squirrelhaven sings. I'm very demanding of most of my plants, I want them to have beautiful foliage or blooms in spring and summer, but then I insist they also have autumnal interest. (To get the full effect of Squirrelhaven in the fall, I've had to mix in some photos from last October and November, when the color is at its peak. It doesn't all color up at the same time. To see more from last year, click here.) Generally, I've banned any woody plant that doesn't have some fall color. I don't grow the Tree Peony for its autumnal tints, but they add to its appeal. (Herbaceous peonies also have attractive fall foliage.)

(photo from 2008)

The reason I don't rip out my Forsythia is that it regularly turns this deep purple, from 2008.
Remontant blooms are a bonus.

As if the dark summer foliage of Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo' (Diabolo) wasn't attractive enough, it ends up like this before the leaves fall. (photo from 2008)

All the Dogwoods (here Cornus x rutgersensis 'Rutban' (Aurora)) have striking fall color.
While most turn red, Cornus alternifolia turns several colors at once (see here).

I don't seem to have a good photo of Cotinus 'Ancot' (Golden Spirit) in full color. Here it is now starting to exhibit yellow, orange and red tones.
Cotinus 'Nordine' turns orange and purple in the fall.

Below, behind the orange foliage of Porteranthus trifoliatus (Gillenia trifoliata/Bowman's Root) which is not a woody plant, Chionanthus virginicus turns a clear yellow.
As this photo from 2008 demonstrates, fall color isn't limited to trees and shrubs.

Herbaceous plants that flowered in spring, and sank into the background during summer, return for a brief swan song of color, such as Uvularia perfoliata (Little Merrybells),

Polyganatum biflorum (Solomon's Seal),Geranium maculatum,

and the Tiarellas, Heucheras, and Heucherellas. (photo from November 2008)

Other plants look refreshed and renewed by the cooler weather, such as Brunnera 'Hadspen Cream'with the yellow autumnal foliage of Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis).

There are the plants that bloomed in the summer, but provide continuing interest with their changing foliage, such as the Hostas (in October 2008)

and Echinacea purpurea (late October 2008).

Then there are the plants with special autumn beauty, such as Maianthemum racemosum (Smilacina racemosa) for its berries,Polyganatum commutatum also for its berries, Heptacodium miconiodes for its bracts,and the seedheads of Clematis.

Grasses are some of the best plants for autumn interest. Squirrelhaven lacks any tall grasses (I'm going to remedy that), but the shorter grasses are also beautiful. Here's Praire Dropseed (Sporabolus heterolepsis), Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem) (2008), and its cultivar 'Carousel,'at their peak for their foliage color and seed heads.

Finally, there are the blooms of autumn. In addition to the standard Sedums,Asters,Goldenrods,and Mum (November 2008),there are plants that bloom while their foliage exhibits autumnal tints: Ceratostigma plumbaginoides,this mystery Aster and Actaea 'James Compton.' (photo October 2008) Then there are the less popular, but equally worthy late bloomers. The towering, conquering, overwhelming Japanese Anemone 'Andrea Atkinson' is impossible to ignore. Unaware of her expansionist tendencies, I planted three of these in the woodland garden. I have tried to remove one, but it keeps coming back. I'm probably going to regret my planting of divisions of it along the fence, but it's hard to begrudge a plant that starts blooming in August and continues through October, all the while towering over my head. This is the plant that is the exception to my rule against white flowers.

More subtle, but no less attractive are the Toadlilies, such as Tricyrtis 'Tojen.'The flowers are like tiny orchids, which start opening in August and continue until hard frost.

One of the last plants to bloom here at Squirrelhaven is the striking and deadly Monkshood, as seen here last October.This is Aconitum carmichaelii, the latest of the Monkshoods. I think it needs a bit more sun to stand up straight, but there's nothing to compare with its bluish purple blooms in September and October.

I must not forget to mention the annuals that are enjoying the cooler weather and pairing up with the Asters: Osteospermum 'Lemon Symphony,'

and Cosmos which just started blooming a week ago.The end of summer doesn't have to mean the end of garden beauty. To find more fall garden inspiration, check out Gardening Gone Wild's Design Workshop for September.

(edit. 9/25/09)