September Bloomers

A pretty view of the ever popular "Jacob Cline" monarda. This perennial spreads like crazy for me and I try to stagger the height of blooms by pinching it here and there. At peak, it reaches 5 1/2 ft. (fence cap is at 6ft.) and really stands out against the white pickets. It makes a great cut flower, not to mention a hummingbird magnet!

Any zinnia fans out there?  If you're looking for a long lasting annual that is pretty much deer proof, plant zinnias.  Lots and lots of 'em!  This variety has smaller flowers but grow 2-3ft. and here it is still blooming strong in mid-September.  Don't forget, the more you cut, the more they bloom...yeah!!

A Lone Sunflower

This photo was taken right before a storm. The sky had an unusual cast over the garden so, naturally, I had to grab my camera! This sunflower was a volunteer (I've never grown this variety before!) and Mother Nature placed it in a beautiful spot...don't you just love it when that happens? The close up was taken a few weeks later being enjoyed by a very happy bee!

Daylilies

My much anticipated mail-ordered daylilies arrived so I've been busy this week. As usual, I ordered plants without planning ahead (anyone else have this very bad habit?), and found myself unprepared. The bare roots spent two days in water (probably too long) while I cleared out two vegetable beds to make room. It was a shame to pull out my eggplants and green beans but they were pretty sad looking anyway! In all, there are 20 new varieties (mostly late bloomers) so my collection is growing nicely.

Fall is great time to plan your garden for next year.  There's still plenty of work to do if you want spring bulbs to bloom next April/May.  Just because there's not a lot of life going on in the garden doesn't mean YOU stop working!  I'm living and learning...a gardener's motto, eh?