Second post. Must get done….
Actually it’s only been about a week and a half since this post was started, so I guess that’s an improvement. As usual I have no excuse, I’m just easily distracted -and a bit on the lazy side- so any structured use of time almost always falls to the wayside. Fortunately it’s not April and I can get away with letting things go a bit, and trust me I have.
This was the new tulip bed along the boxwood hedge, and once they came out it became home for all the excess coleus cuttings and unplanted canna tubers. I think it looks great for September.
The steady rains all August have kept the lawn from dying and made the tropicals very happy. Even though they were all planted kind of late, the gardener was fairly responsible about feeding them here and there and keeping the weeds at bay. One of the biggest successes was the banana which was still small enough to sit next to the light all last winter, and didn’t shrivel up to nearly nothing once the weather got warmer. Instead it came outside at a reasonable time, sank its roots down, and put out leaf after leaf, each bigger than the last. Laugh if you want (since I’ve seen much larger in other Pennsylvania gardens), but until I can overwinter a hardier sort in the ground for more than a winter or two, this is a plant that has made me proud and one which I greet personally on each and every garden walk.
The stem on this beast is at least six feet tall and the leaves rise another four or five. I shall try to dig and store it, but won’t get my hopes up just yet.
The kids keep asking when the bananas will be ripe, but I don’t have the heart to tell them maybe never. I think it’s actually an edible type but yeah, the chances it survives with any decent amount of vigor for the next growing season are pretty slim given my lack of a 15 foot high, heated greenhouse that isn’t already filled. Perhaps some advice from a friend can help. He gifted me a good sized offset this spring which had been overwintered in excellent shape, but under my care from March to April it grew smaller and smaller before it was finally planted outside again and began to recover. On a good note though, it now sports a healthy double stalk and being in a decent sized pot, it should be somewhat easy to drag inside and overwinter.
Another tropical, the bulbs of tuberose are blooming now and fill the evening garden with scent. It’s a real treat, I love it.
It’s too early to mention taking things in for the winter so I’ll only do it once, but if we drift into a cooler spell of weather again I guess it will be time to get more serious. Coleus cuttings will be first as well as any lantana and geranium cuttings. They both seem to root better if taken from plants which haven’t yet experienced too many nippy nights.
The dichondra baskets have been neglected this summer and nearly dried out more times than I’ll admit, but they suffer through it quite well, and they will likely return next year. These will stay out for another month at least, they don’t mind some frost.
Besides the tropical parade, the rest of the late season annuals and lingering perennials are still trying to look fresh in spite of a turn to dry.
The potager is weedy and seedy but at least the rain has kept it green, if not full of flowers and fruit. The geranium pots have been great though, there’s a reason your grandparents grew them.
As any good gardener will be, I’m not happy enough to take the warm and sunny autumn on its own merits but instead I’m already beginning to wonder how the approaching winter will be. Our mildest winter ever was a strong El Nino winter, and going forward that’s over and we will see what a ‘normal’ winter is like these days. August was still the hottest August ever, but September? October? February? Time will tell.
A stray Begonia sutherlandii tubercle found a home here next to the porch foundation and has overwintered twice without any help from me. Returning a third year in a row might have me claiming it’s hardy-ish here.
Tropicals and semi-hardy perennials are a thing of course, but absolutely hardy things are a much less-work kind of thing. Colchicums are hardy things and it’s their season. Here’s the start of it and I think there will be more to come in the next post…. whenever that might be….
Sun? Shade? Dirt? Colchicum don’t care. The corms will begin to grow regardless of if they’re planted yet or not. I almost forgot I had this batch dug and stored in the garage, but fortunately discovered them just in time!
So hopefully this blog will feature a full batch of colchicums in the next post. They are at their absolute peak and in spite of this dry spell which keeps getting longer and longer, and this heat which seems uncomfortably out of season, the colchicum are a bright and fresh smear of color in a garden which is looking slightly tired.
One of the first to ring in the colchicum season, ‘Disraeli’ offers a rich color, large flowers, curious checkering, and a long season of bloom. It is an absolute favorite.
Last summer many of the colchicums were divided and moved to the beds alongside the house and it was a little concerning to see how many my ‘here a bulb there a bulb’ process has resulted in. Someone who likes to throw labels around wouldn’t be all that wrong if they referred to the bed as a collection but I’m going to hold off on that. I bravely stated this fall that I might give away a variety or two which aren’t my favorites, and that’s not the talk of a collector.
The pinkish flush on the freshly opened blooms of x byzantinum ‘Innocence’ fades quickly to pure white. This good doer is another beauty and also a long bloomer as fresh flowers continue to come up as the earliest fade.
Even though it’s not a collection, maybe I did relabel every clump in the last few days. I kept mixing up ‘Ordu’ and ‘Orla’ so with a bright new label that’s no longer a problem, and now there’s one less embarrassing moment as I lead tours through the plantings.
Hope your plantings are also doing well and have a great week.
sorta like suburbia 
Oh, I do so envy you the colchicums. They grow here but not with the ease and abandon your describe. I like them very much and have some appearing at the moment.
I wonder if the autumnale types do better in your climate. They don’t always do well here and I’m curious to know if they like a wetter, or more shaded spot to keep them out of the heat. If I can find a spot I will try and put them somewhere ‘less extreme’ which is how I imagine your garden!
Yes, the autumnale varieties do well here. Over the past fortnight I became concerned about the poor flowering of ‘Nancy Lindsay’ which I planted in 2016 so I lifted the clump yesterday and found there was about 100 bulbs, all congested, twisted and crammed together. I spread them out, some in a different location and look forward to next year and, hopefully, a better show.
Even though the weather has been cool lately, I’m still resisting the fact that it is officially autumn. Nature is sure to make me accept the harsh news. The cool nights are hardening the stems of the annuals, so they know it’s coming.
Your garden looks as floriferous as always, Frank. Enjoy your colchicum show!
Good for you!
I’m afraid I’ve given up much too early this year, usually I won’t admit to autumn until at least mid October. There’s still a nice amount of good growing weather on the calendar but I’m looking next door at the empty planters and closed pool and thinking it looks so simple and restful… (although it is a bit depressing!)
I’m an autumn-denier as well Eliza! Nonetheless, I have taken cuttings of my coleuses and brought inside half of my amaryllis collection. My annuals look better now than they have all summer, as you will see if I ever write the post I took pictures for last week!
GMTA, Kimberley! I’m hoping for a prolonged pre-frost flower fest before the inevitable comes.
The steady rains of August have your September garden is fantastic form! How lovely. My fingers are crossed that at some point, one of us gets a big hand of bananas. Whatever, the leaves are so tropical and lovely even without fruit. The colchicums blooming the bag, wow they are happy.
Thanks Tracy!
Fun fact: I’ve been appreciating your comments on the last few posts but for some reason the link to your blog never went through so I thought ok, fine, some people probably just create the site for a reader or something… and then I just tried it again today and tally ho! So I love it and am happy to have something nice to browse when temperatures drop this winter!
Does your banana tree actually have a name by which you greet it on your garden walks?
Maybe I’ll try a few dichondra baskets in the dogwood next summer. Or not. My record of watering potted stuff in that area is pretty bad.
Oh gosh, I struggle to get the baskets watered and they’re just 15 feet away from a faucet so I can’t imagine having them across the yard! They would be gone within a week I think.
No name for the banana tree, just a coy, appreciative look when our eyes meet.
The colchicums are lovely. I saw some while I was in the UK last week growing in very dry sandy soil and looking amazing. Your tulip bed is very attractive at this time of year with the beautiful Hydrangeas as a backdrop. In fact everything looks lovely (and green!) as usual Frank. We have had some chilly nights already so I am already thinking about bringing plants in. Would be great if the frosts can wait another month!
We have also swung strongly into the realm of chilly nights, and I suspect the latest hurricane will also pull more cold air down… but hopefully not too cold air… I have yet to bring anything in so shall start this weekend. Hopefully 😉
Seeing your orange canna makes me smile. I have a shorter variety that did quite well this year. It is a hold over from last year. I dug it up and amazingly it survived my packing it away and the reawakening. I have had spots of orange in the garden the past couple of years. I have a shady garden and the orange seems to pop.