Still Blooming in September...

The weather is cooling down and it's been comfortable, in the 60's and 70's, lately. A few days we've even woken up to 45 degrees here in northern VA. The plants are much happier than they were this summer, and I haven't added any additional water in weeks. It has rained on and off, which is just what my garden needed to lose that 'crispy' look.

Aster novae angliae (New England Aster) -- with a friendly fly visitor

Since I didn't get around to posting a 'Bloom-day' post on the 15th, I thought I would do it now because it helps me to keep a record of what's happening in my garden from year to year.  I don't have much to write about--so you can just scroll down and view the photos.

Clockwise, from top L: Rudbeckia hirta (the last Black-Eyed Susan bloom), Gaura, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides,
Phlox paniculata 'Andre', Echinacea purpurea 'Pink Double Delight', Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles',
and center: Perovskia (Russian Sage) with Verbena bonariensis (Purpletop Verbane)

Liriope muscari 'variegata' (Variegated Liriope)

Clockwise, from top L: Coreopsis 'Limerick Ruby' (overwintered well here in zone 7-A), Caryopteris (Blue Mist Shrub), Agastache cana 'purple pygmy' (Hummingbird Mint), Rudbeckia laciniata (Tall Yellow Coneflower),
Coreopsis 'Sienna Sunset', and center: Veronica spicata 'icicle' (Spike Speedwell) -- with friend

Agastache 'Purple Pygmy' with a lighter, orangy-yellow Agastache variety that I planted last year,
which I seem to have forgotten the name of.

Carpet Rose (red and pink varieties) and hips from Rosa rugosa 

Buddleia davidii 'Adonis Blue' (L) & a lighter blue variety -- with a spider friend

Clockwise, from top:  Chelone (Pink Turtlehead), Sedum 'Autumn Joy',
Salvia greggii 'Flame', Salvia greggii 'Wild Thing', Commonelina communis (Common Dayflower -
a 'weed' to some), and center: Kalimeris pinnatafida (Japanese Aster)

(Another photo/collage of Turtlehead with Bluebeard...makes me want to dig them up and plant them closer together!):

In various areas around the front, side and back yards, I have annuals both in the ground, and in pots:

Impatiens

Zinnia

Clockwise, from top L:  Salvia (a variety I planted from seed several years ago, reappears every year in the pot);
Lantana camara (Lantana 'Ham & Eggs' -- NOT a perennial here in zone 7a); Heliotrope; Geranium;
False Heather; Bacoba 'Giant Snowflake'; and center: Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'

There are a few plants I haven't featured (such as Agastache 'Blue Fortune') but that's because it is looking scraggly now so I didn't bother to include it. This time last year, it looked quite a lot better and was loaded with butterflies. Unfortunately, the butterflies were far and few between this year. I do have photos of a few, however, which I'll include in a later post.

For more mid-September blooms, visit Carol's May Dreams Gardens, where gardeners around the world feature what is currently blooming in their gardens.

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

From Seed to Seedling, and Beyond: (Seed Experiment #2)

*NOTE: I accidentally published this post before I was completely finished. I've edited it and think it's done now! Have you ever hit the publish button before you were ready? I didn't even do it purposely...it just 'happened'. arrgh!

My first time planting seeds (Seed Experiment #1) has been a success, thus far!







I have to say, I had no idea I could hang in there this long.


What kept me going were the seedlings themselves!


Each day I would check on them and give them the TLC I sensed that they needed.


I hung 2 grow lights from an old shelf in our basement.


It currently stores many of my workbooks and materials from my work as a counselor, along with other 'stuff''-so please excuse the mess!


Additionally, on an out-of-the-way counter in the kitchen, I exchanged the under-the-cupboard florescent lights with more grow lights:

(To avoid 'legginess', I moved the flats up closer to the lights.

I used whatever I could find-so again, another mess)!

From this packet of seeds:


...came these tiny leaves:


...and here is the Petunia today!


From these seed packets:



These have developed:

Rock Soapwort:


Wildflowers:


and, Lobelia:


(I'll do a separate post on my Lobelia...I have a surprise to share)!

The Salvia seeds have given an impressive turnout:


Here they are as seedlings:


...and now, Salvia plants!


Because I had lost the Texas Bluebonnet and Johnny Jump Ups that I'd started, I decided to plant some Dwarf Impatiens and some Thyme. (I still have so many of those little peat pots left over that I could have filled with seeds. I'll keep them for next year (hopefully they'll still be good).

I used color-coded toothpicks for labels this time!


Impatiens:


Here are some Impatiens seedlings:


and, as 'just-about' plants!


...and some Thyme

Thyme seedlings:

and some larger Thyme:

(I decided to put them in a larger pot since they were beginning to 'crawl'...and needed room)!

So as you can see, my seed experiment has been a success! I am now just waiting until they are just a bit larger to put them in the garden. I might start to harden them off now, and then leave them outside until I can find some places for them in the garden...

Hope you enjoyed my experiment as much as I have!

--Today I am thankful for a successful seed experiment!