AUGUST GARDEN SUPERSTARS

 "When summer opens, I see how fast it matures, and fear it will be short; but after the heats of July and August, I am reconciled, like one who has had his swing, to the cool of autumn."

-  Ralph Waldo Emerson 

As expected August was filled with endless days of temperatures in the 90's but lucky us here in central North Carolina we had ample rainfall.  I shudder to think what it would be like to have the 67 days of  no rainfall and temperatures in the triple digits that Texas gardeners and farmers have had to endure this year.  To make matters worse they were then flooded.  How do you garden in such extreme conditions ?

Despite the heat the Coneflowers continued to brighten the August garden.  Coreopsis is another stalwart as is the ever-blooming Lantana and Autumn Sage.   I love Blackeyed Susans but forgot to give them a haircut in July and they tended to flop over.  

I believe that I have THE tallest banana palm in town -it's at least 15 ' tall and it has a large flower bulb that should turn into bananas.

One of my friends gave me a small clipping of 'purple heart ' a few years ago and as it spread I transplanted it through-out my flower border.  I love it's color and the bees love its flower.

Last year the Asters bloomed very early and were spectacular but this early warm Spring we had caused a fungus that seem to stunt their growth.  It also affected my daylilies with ugly yellow streaks on their blades.  Going to be diligent in spraying with fungicide this Fall/winter to hopefully avoid fungus this Spring.

Waiting for the cooler days of Autumn to start my Spring flowering bulb garden.  I've ordered 500 bulbs of species  ( wild ) tulips and while that sounds like a lot, it's not nearly enough ! Since I have a boulder garden the species tulips look much more natural and will colonize quicker than the larger ones.   I do love the late lily flowering taller tulip and may use some of them as well.   The species tulip will look good with the existing creeping  phlox and early blooming Japanese roof iris.  

September can still be warm and sometimes dry.  I'll spend it going about the garden and seeing what should be divided and transplanted.  

A COLD DAY IN JULY

                                                              July 10, 2022

                                          Carrboro, N.C.

                                                                 73 degrees high

 Sometimes the unexpected happens, thus the Southern saying " That'll be a cold day in July ' when it does.  I published a blog post a few years ago on this subject and got over 8,000 hits !

I'm still amazed that July here in central N.C. is the rainiest month of the year.   After days on end of temps in the 90's the thirsty garden certainly welcomes the rain.

We had a very wet, warm Spring that caused a lot of fungus, aka, Southern blight and it's mostly affected my Ajuga groundcover.   It's the first time that my daylilies were affected by the fungus and I had to spray them with Neem oil. 

Started my succulent garden next to the garden path near the back entrance with drought-tolerant plants.  

I'm loving coneflowers and have one in every color except white.  I am slowly filling my flower beds with more of them because they seem to love the hot weather and they bloom a long time.  My boulder garden, below, in late August, is filled with early blooming Mums, Autumn Sage, Purple Heart, Autumn Joy Sedum and Dianthus.  

Another drought-tolerant perennial that I love is coreopsis, aka, tickweed.  Below is 'moonbeam ' which has been in bloom since late Spring.  I gave it a little hair cut last month and it's re-blooming again.

By July we gardeners can tell which perennials are heat and drought-tolerant.  Another one that I like is Nepeta, or Catmint.  It tends to get leggy by late June so a trimming back helps it revive.  It is a very long blooming plant that the bees love.

Onward and upward in the garden -August won't give us much relief from this heatwave we're suffering this year but at least it's one more month 'til September !

JUNE MARKS THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER

"And since all this loveliness cannot be Heaven,  I know in my heart it is June."

– Abba Woolson

     

        My backyard boulder garden has lots of textures that make it interesting even when not in bloom - the mark of a true garden, IMO.

The unusually hot weather of May continued into June and with very little rainfall I spent a lot of time weeding and watering.  The daylilies suffered from the warm, humid weather in Spring and had an ugly fungus that turned its blades yellow.  I have decided to move them to another location and replace them with coneflowers which bloom for a much longer season and don't have problems with fungus.

June begins with the arrival of the dreaded devastating Japanese beetle.  I put out 6 traps and they easily fill up.  I also pick them off in the early morning and evening and feed them to my chickens.

My 'moonbeam' coreopsis did very well this year and I want to add more of them due to their long bloom season.  My favorite color palette is orange/yellow/red and blue/purple . Sometimes pinks and whites sneak in.

I still find it amazing that I have asters blooming in June !  Also discovered my banana palm has a bunch of small fruits on it.  Most unusual.

Amazingly, and at only 3-4 ' high, this banana palm has fruit.

Alas  June is at an end and the hottest and wettest month, July is just around the corner.  

ALL THINGS SEEM POSSIBLE IN MAY

"The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May."
- Edwin Way Teale

May in the Sweet Garden is very colorful with Japanese roof iris, phlox , daffodils, euphorbia, catmint and dianthus blooms.  

The weather has been very pleasant with plenty of rain.  A short heatwave was surprising and rare this time of the year.   The hard freeze we had earlier in the Spring damaged the 'ice dance ' sedge, the 'sunshine ' privet and the 'Lady Banks ' rose.  The good news, however, is that they will recover.

The Hellebores loved the cool wet Spring and have hung on forever.  I finally had to trim off the spent blossoms and dead foliage.  The snapdragons among them survived the winter.

May is a major month of celebration as the first day is my birthday, followed by Mother's Day and a son and daughter born this month.

The early blooms of Autumn Sage  ( left ) attract many hummingbirds that I enjoy watching from my back porch.  I have many bluebird houses throughout my yard and I love watching them fill up.

Early blooms of the most outstanding clematis -'bee's jubilee ' which re-blooms throughout the summer.

Meanwhile in my front woodland garden the Ajuga and viburnums are putting on their Spring blooms.  

APRIL SHOWERS

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day."- Robert Frost

This April was rather warm and didn't shower us with a lot of rain as expected.  Nevertheless the Spring flowers put forth their cheerful blooms -early blooming phlox, Japanese roof iris, dianthus and a shrub rose  ( above ) are some of the earliest to appear.

In my front yard forest the 'Prague' and ' Mariesii ' viburnums are blooming and in the foreground the cobalt-blue ajuga.  This area is a rain garden since all the run-off collects there.  The sedges soak up a lot of the excess.

The boulder garden is coming alive with the tiny yellow 'lady banks ' rose and Chinese snowball viburnum.

Above, my new moss garden is thriving in this shady nook.

Despite the lack of April showers the boulder garden is coming along nicely.  Now for some May rain !

MARCH INTO SPRING

 My red Buckeye never fails to put on it's beautiful Spring show !

Oh how I missed these blooms this year  ( above ) on my early-Spring blooming Prunus mume 'Peggy Clarke ' ! The good news however is that my severe pruning off of the black knot fungus that attacked them both last year has resulted in new growth.  By luck I also came upon a new cultivar -'kobai' at the local garden center and of course I had to have it.  It appears to be more shrub-like than 'peggy clarke . ' I'm expecting quite a show next Spring !

It's not Spring without the charming bell-like flowers of the Hellebores that I have lining my long driveway.  Their long blooming white flowers add color to the woodland garden.

Early blooming phlox ,Japanese roof iris  and dianthus are usually the first perennials to appear after the daffodils and tulips are gone.  My Schnoodle Odie is sniffing out one of the many lizards that call my garden home.

Another welcome harbinger of Spring -Edgeworthia, aka, Chinese paper bush.  It's fragrance is outstanding as well, which is why I planted it near the pathway.

Another outstanding fragrant Spring shrub -Korean Spice Viburnum

Did I say how much I love Viburnums ?  At last count I had close to 9 .  Here's an early Spring bloomer -Chinese Snowball .

And - last but not least - in the darkest corner of my garden -the cheerful yellow blooms of Kerria Japonica .

We had a wonderful Spring this year and it awarded us with an abundance of beautiful blooms.

 

FROSTY FEBRUARY

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream."- Barbara Winkler

This February was an unusually cold one here in central North Carolina, with many night-time lows below freezing.

Nevertheless, life goes on in the garden.  Even though I'm missing the cheerful blooms of my 'peggy clarke ' prunus mume  ( flowering Japanese apricot ) due to a severe pruning, I am enjoying the fragrance of the Chinese paperbush  ( Edgeworthia ) and it's beautiful yellow blooms, which are very long-lasting.

We had a very light dusting of snow with no major accumulations.  Below is a view of my back garden in its white dress.

Since I couldn't  garden I spent most of my time in my studio painting.  It took me two months to finish this very large painting titled ' Summer Afternoon .'

Absence the sight of beautiful flowers in bloom I am happy with the many shades of green in my garden-Chindo Viburnum, 'Little Gem ' magnolia, Japanese cypress,  'Summer gold ' Privet, Hellebores, Lorepetalum, Sedges, and  holly and camellias, to name a few.

Getting ready to welcome Spring.  Already planning to add more Spring bulbs this Fall-purple alliums to go with my yellow daffodils.