September...ah, there I said it again. As much as it saddens me to see the summer wind down, I'll admit that there's a lot of beauty during the month of September. It's just a different kind of beauty, that's all. Many areas around here are beginning to show signs of leaves changing color and some are actually falling to the ground, little by little.
Despite 'fall' being 'typically' focused on oranges/yellows/browns, and some reds, my garden still has a lot of color in the pink, purple, white and blue range. Since we must face the fact that the 'S' word is here, let's get on with the show for September's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
Here are the majority of real blooms currently 'happening' in my northern Virginia garden. The pollinators are loving them all! *You can click on the photos to enlarge them at any time.
Agastache cana 'Purple Pygmy' (Hummingbird Mint)
Agastache foeniculum x A. rugosa (Hyssop 'Blue Fortune' ...a hybrid cross)
Verbena bonariensis (Purpletop Verbane)
Veronica 'Icicle' (Spike Speedwell)
Perovskia (Russian Sage)
Arabis 'Snow Cap' (Rock Cress)
Salvia greggii 'Wild Thing' (Autumn Sage)
Salvia greggii 'Flame' (Autumn Sage)
Helianthus salicifolius 'Low Down' (Dwarf Perennial Sunflower)
Lobelia erinus 'Techno Heat Electric Blue'
Coreopsis grandiflora 'Rising Sun' (Tickseed)
Carpet Rose-red
Platycodon grandiflorus (Balloon Flower)
Chelone (Turtle Head)
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Plumbago or Leadwort)
Corydalis 'Canary Feathers'
Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue' (Blue Mist Shrub or Bluebeard)
Salvia 'Mystic Spires Blue'
Digitalis alba (White Foxglove)
Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles' (Spike Speedwell)
Buddleia davidii 'Adonis Blue' (Butterfly Bush)
Buddleia davidii (Butterfly Bush--unknown variety)
Echinacea purpura 'Double Pink Delight' (Coneflower)
Nepal Cinquefoil (Potentilla napelensisa 'Melton Fire')
Phlox paniculata 'Nicky'
Phlox paniculata 'Andre'
Phlox paniculata 'Shortland'
Kalimeris pinnatifida (False Aster or Japanese Aster), given to me by garden-blogging-friend Janet, 'The Queen of Seaford'.
Commonelina communis (Common Day Flower)
Rudbeckia herta (Black Eyed Susan)
Fragaria virginiana (Wild Strawberry)
Another azalea bloom (!) on a different bush than the last one I posted about. It's really a spring-blooming azalea (non-native).
Kerria japonica (Japanese Kerria)...getting a second flush after cutting back last spring
Lagerstroemia indica (Crepe-or-Crape Myrtle) blooms
Liriope muscari 'variegata' (Variegated Liriope or Lily Turf)
Plumbago auriculata and Calendula officinalis (Marigold) from seed
Morning Glory (Patriotic Mix) from seed
A few varieties of Zinnia elegans and Cosmos bipinnatus from seed
Aster--2 varieties, not sure of the ID's, but I 'think' the deep purple is Aster novae-angliae:
Japanese Anemone (still making blossoms)
Physostegia virginiana (Obedient Plant)
Rudbeckia laciniata (Cutleaf Coneflower) and Hylotelephium (Sedum 'Autumn Joy')
Phlox douglasii (Creeping Phlox)
Leucanthemum (Shasta Daisy)
'Purple Wave' Petunia in an iron kettle I purchased at an antique shop on vacation in Maine this summer.
I've been working hard on categorizing my garden plants by Native, Non-Native 'workhorses', other Exotics, etc. Soon I will be writing individual posts on each plant with more information to add to my 'Planting Native' page (above). *After this post was published, I had to open it up and add 8 more plants to the post. I've been looking through so many photos I somehow forgot to upload them...but they're here now, if you didn't see them the first time around;-)
Today I am thankful that there is a bounty of color in my garden, even in September.
Today I am thankful that there is a bounty of color in my garden, even in September.
Words and photos ©Thanks For Today, by Jan Huston Doble
