What's Blooming: Maestro & Perilla

After this hot, dry summer many of my perennials, especially Bee Balm and Purple Cones, have already donned their seed heads for Winter. Their rusty brown and black forms contrast nicely with the fall palette of blooms. In the Bird & Butterfly Garden, perennial sunflowers, always reliable, bloom through Miscanthus Morning Light and peek from beneath Switch Grass Dallas Blues, Black-eyed Susans pop against Purple Perilla. An annual that reseeds itself, Purple Perilla pops up everywhere in my garden. It is also especially nice combined with the silver leaves of Lambs Ears.

In the Woodland Edge, Persicaria Firetail's blooms are now in flame, burning through the puffs of Prairie Dropseed and Nodding Onion.

A purple haze of not-so-Obedient Plants drifts throughout my garden.

Out front, Russian Sage and Walker's Low set off the dark foliage of Elderberry Black Lace. Sedum Maestro sings from a bed of Lambs Ears. Sweet Autumn Clematis perfumes the front porch.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens the 15th of each month.

One In A Dozen for Diana

I am joining Diana of Elephant's Eye in choosing twelve months of my favorite garden plants. In this month of January I miss the sun and what could be more fun than Sunflowers? My first selection is Sunflowers!

Ever since I planted that first tiny Sunflower seed and witnessed the gigantic bloom that sprung from the ground in what seemed like overnight, I have been growing Sunflowers. Bees, flies, butterflies, hummingbirds, song birds, woodpeckers, chipmunks and squirrels - all enjoy our native Sunflower.

There are many annual varieties to choose from but I always make sure I choose the varieties that do produce pollen. I also grow perennial Sunflowers, Helianthus Microcephalus.

I let my Sunflowers stand over the winter. Birds relish the seeds. Woodpeckers will search for insects inside their stalks.

I cannot imagine a summer without growing at least one plot of annual Sunflowers.

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Fall Foliage

This fall, I have more trees, though still very young; shrubs that are beginning to fill out; grasses that have become masses and new beds and perennials all with changing foliage and interesting seed heads. Since it is the foliage and not the blooms that is now the star of Northeastern gardens, I thought I would attempt joining Pam at Digging for Foliage Follow Up! (Hopefully, I will stay organized enough to participate regularly in this monthly blog event.)

I like to journal (through blogging) my garden each fall. I enjoy looking back through the years to see how my garden has changed and grown. Here is my garden (forever in the making) this Fall of 2011.

In the Bird & Butterfly Garden you are seeing Evening Primrose Oenothera, Mints (still green), Miscanthus 'Morning Light', Panicum 'Dallas Blues,' perennial sunflower Helianthus Microcephalus, Joe Pye Weed, Forsythia 'Meadowlark.'

Garlic Chives in the Potager

Bluecrop Blueberry in the Potager

A new bed behind the garage workshop. The tree (facing to the left) I believe is an Amur Maple, not native and invasive so I cannot recommend it, but I cannot part with these trees. They were on my lot in Maine and two of them sprouted in a window box I brought with me – just look at this one now. I loved these trees in my Maine garden and keep them because they remind me of my home and garden there. Their fall foliage is always beautiful. Facing to the right, a Red Osier Dogwood.

Red Osier Dogwood

In the new Woodland Edge, much is happening. This Cardinal Dogwood's stems have turned and look rich before the Blue Spruce. In the foreground is the nearly purple foliage of Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Alice.'

Leaf of newly planted Red Maple (here, most of the Maples did not turn red this year)

Newly planted Pagoda Dogwood

Ligularia 'Desdemona'

Maidenhair Fern

Virginia Creeper

Leaves of young Tulip Tree in backyard

What's Blooming

We have had beautiful warm weather so far this September with just a few cool, rainy days. Plants are just beginning to turn to autumn and there are still plenty of blooms to be found in the garden.

Volunteer Golden Rod.

Perennial Sunflower, Helianthus Microcephalus blooms among Miscanthus.

'Orchid Frost' lamium beneath Blue Spruce.

Common Beggar Ticks, Bidens Frondosa, and wild aster.

Unknown Veronica (lost tag).

Sedum Maestro

Beefsteak or Shiso, Perilla Frutescens in the potager – great sauteed!

Nasturtium in the potager.

Rose Mallows that reseeded themselves.

Borage that has reseeded ... and reseeded ... and reseeded.

What's not blooming is Exotic Love Vine and Morning Glory 'Scarlet O'Hara,' although both have just about covered the rustic trellis in the potager. I planted these for the humming birds but the blooms will be too late since the birds will be migrating any day now. I have planted two trumpet vines instead for next year, a yellow and a red – perennial vines that should offer flowers by mid summer. The red will cover this arbor, the yellow, the trellis by the driveway.

Exotic Love Vine and Morning Glory 'Scarlet O'Hara' on rustic trellis.

Sweet Autumn clematis is just about to bloom on the front porch.

Moon Flower has been blooming on the front porch for weeks.

Purple Hyacinth Bean is blooming along the drive and on the front porch.

Purple bean pods.

Also blooming are susans, sunflowers, cone flowers, obedient plant and a variety of asters and grasses. I think I'll feature the grasses in a separate post. Garden bloggers' bloom day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens the 15th of each month. Add your blog to the growing list so all can see what's blooming in your garden.

What's Blooming

Garden bloggers' bloom day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens the 15th of each month. Be sure to visit her and add yourself to the growing list of blooming gardens across the world.

Here's what's blooming in my garden right now ...

Russian Sage and Black Lace

Unknown Phlox (purchased from a gardener next town over)

Helianthus microcephalus is stunted this year from a very wet spring

Mint and Miscanthus 'Morning Light'

Joe and Susan love affair

Great Blue Lobelia siphilitica and Persicaria 'Firetail'

Common Ironweed, Vernonia fasciculata

Green or Cutleaf Coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata reaching the roof of the shed

Cup Plant, Silphium perfoliatum

Cleome

Bee in Borage

Bees napping in sun