Fall Is Here

Fall is here in the garden. Lots of things are dying. Wayne has already cleaned out the Walmart hosta. The roses are still in bloom. The hole for the water fall is filled with water and a big bullfrog is living there. Somethings are turning red--more red than I have ever seen. We look forward to wonderful fall leaves.

Garlic Chives

Name: Garlic or Chinese Chives
Variety : Allium Schoenoprasum tuberosum
Type: Perennial Herb
Height: 18" to 2'
Light: Full sun
Flower Color: White
Bloom Time: Late August

This past spring I purchase these because I had thought I had lost my chives in the weeds and I couldn't find regular chives. However, the regular did come back. The real surprise was that these bloom late in the year. They are lovely and I look forward to moving them to a permanent spot.

Fountain Grass

Name: Fountain Grass
Variety: Pennisetum Alopecuroides
Type: Perennial Grass
Height: 3'
Light: Full sun
Bloom Time: Seeds out in late August

These plants grow to be very large. Once they have seeded out they are very attractive. I had them along the walkway, but decided they over powered everything else. However, they are a nice addition for some areas.

Fall Weather Coming

It has been beastly hot for many days and the yard was parched. Friday a cold front came through and now the days are cool. It feels like fall is coming.

The garden is winding down. We've enjoyed so many good things out there. The peppers and tomatoes are still producing. We did get one fun meal of swiss chard. It's been years since we've had that. I think we will grow that again next year.

In the front the ornamental grass is in full bloom. The campanulas and day lilies still have a few blossoms.

Along the south the althea is still blooming although coming to the end and the ornamental grass looks good. One little surprise was the garlic chives were in bloom. They will be a nice addition to the garden when we move them.

In the back the trumpet vines are winding down. There have been a few roses, but not much. Everything else is gone. I do need to work on more late bloomers out there. The hydraneas did not bloom this year.

Winding Down

The summer is winding down. We had cool weather this week and it was wonderful. Wayne had cleaned out the zucchini and the cucumbers. The peppers are doing great and we have loads of wonderful tomatoes. We still might have one more meal of beans. Last week we also had a meal with swiss chard. It has been so many years since we had some. I truly enjoyed it and we may get another meal as well.

The hydrangias never bloomed. I am not certain why because they are certainly healthy enough. I'll give them another year before I panic. The roses have made a slight recovery and have a few small blooms. Everything else is gone but the trumpet vines. I need to do more to have blooms in August.

We finally had a couple days with a beautiful moon. I beginning to wonder if two days in August is worth a moon garden.

Update

It was beastly hot and humid this week. We barely poked our heads outside the door. Wayne picked some tomatoes out of the garden but that was about it. Next week should be better so we can get out to see how things are fairing. We've had some rain so the lawn doesn't look so terrible.

Dog Days

Most everything looks bad. I dead headed the hostas and they are heading down hill. The black-eyed susans are still in bloom, but also they are on the fading stage. The zucchini is dying; the cucs are dying. We still have another bean meal, but they are dying too. We only have a couple more onions left in the garden. The one thing that is doing great is the tomatoes--they are ripening and we are enjoying them.

All the roses are losing leaves, but the small Moon Dance that looked like it was dead suddenly came alive in a big way. I have hope that it will grow and bloom this year after all. Out front only the campanulas look good. On the south the althea shrub is still in bloom.

Although our yard has been very beautiful this year, it still seems that it fades by the end of July and there is nothing new in bloom in August. I see that other yards have things blooming, so I need to rethink some plants. I'm digging up the veronica and will look for late blooming plants for the front. In the back we have the water falls garden to plant. I"ll look for something late in the year there too.

One plus, though is that the trumpet vines are still big bloomers. It's almost like they have their own eco system; that there is some flying insect or bird constantly hovering around them. Wayne captured the butterfly in the heading and the humming bird on the camera.

The hydrangeas have not bloomed yet. I'm beginning to wonder about them although they are healthy enough. Perhaps they are just really late bloomers and I've never thought about it before. Still looking for them to bloom.