Plant of the Month-Can You Guess?
The garden is looking mighty tired but there are bright spots in and amongst the drying and wilting 'sticks' in the garden. The butterfly above (I believe a clouded sulpher) is one such bright spot. It found a roost on the impatien; one of a few that has managed to bloom and do well this very dry summer. Now let's see the contenders for August's Plant of the Month.
Patrina has been blooming for more than six weeks now and is a stunner! My daughter says it looks kind of like goldenrod but I just don't see it, but then again both plants are yellow. The color yellow is for sure the color of the day in my gardens. Helenium is sneaking in next to the patrina here. Patrina is a definite contender for Plant of the Month, if not for Plant of the Season.
Sedums, well what can you say that is not good about the sedums? Okay, occasionally they flop but wow when they are happy and looking good! The 'Autumn Joy' clumps in my garden are all in various states of blooms due to the various amount of light they receive. I love them all but this stage of 'Autumn Joy' is particularly attractive to me. Sedums are a definite contender for Plant of the Month.
The 'Knockout' roses are getting their second wind in the garden. I am a big fan of these since they are such low maintenance plants and since they do okay in the part shade conditions of my garden. This one does have a bit of leaf damage though so perhaps it is not a good contender for Plant of the Month.
More helenium backed by an unknown grass. I'm not sure of the variety of grass but it does make a great foil for helenium and other perennials. Heleniums are looking good this year though it is far from their best year. Heleniums like a bit more water than what we have had here so the foliage of the heleniums is lacking in beauty. I'm not so sure helenium is the best choice for this month's Plant of the Month.
Crepe myrtles are shining despite the drought and hot weather. A few do slump and wilt though and their staggered bloom, while great for a long show, does not quite make it the star this month.
Ah, here we go-can you guess what I have chosen? It is ornamental grasses. Grasses are so easy to grow and require no supplemental watering in my garden. They never fail to bloom and give four seasons of interest. Yes, the ornamental grasses have it here in my gardens. While the other plants are great they do not add as much to the August gardens as the ornamental grasses; in this case it is the variety 'Adagio'. Adagio grows in part shade conditions though it would prefer full sun. It is small and compact yet big enough to make an impact and it is easy to grow and does not self seed. Division is the mode of creating more plants here for this grass. There are several more blooming here but 'Adagio' gets top billing. I think you can't go wrong with ornamental grasses....
in the garden....
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In the Garden
An excellent choice! Your photographs are very nice, I especially like the last one.
ReplyDeleteI still need more grasses...your flowers look pretty good here!
ReplyDeleteWe have some pretty grasses that grow wild and sometimes I wish I knew the names, nothing like this one though. Wonderful photos especially the first one.
ReplyDeleteBTW- I'll have wi-fi, isn't that great?
Thanks Les!
ReplyDeleteDarla, Thanks!
Dawn, Yeah for wireless!
I agree with the choice of ornamental grass, and also agree with your daughter that patrina, also blooming everywhere here right now, looks like goldenrod! I've planted several new varieties of grass this year, but my favorite is still Miscanthus sinensis "Zebrinus".
ReplyDeleteI do love Helenium, and sedum (any and all kinds; my Autumn Joy are in various stages of blushing, too). Zinnia and sunflowers I direct-sowed on July 4 are just starting to bloom. :) (The late date was due to laziness, not design, but I think I'm going to do a second sowing next year at the same time.) I don't know from Patrina... I love my big bluestem grasses right now. :)
ReplyDeleteOrnamental grasses are a favorite here too! Although I really thought it would be goldenrod or maybe iron weed. I picked up two knockout roses yesterday on the discount racks - another great thing about this time of year!
ReplyDeleteI love the look of ornamental grasses, too. My fave is miscanthus 'Cosmopolitan' as well as the annual purple fountain grass. The Musician got so tired of pulling the self-sowing love grass out of the driveway gravel that I had to pull out all of those! We grow a lot of carex that is often considered a grass, but it is a sedge and we both love those.
ReplyDeleteI agee with you on the grasses (and everything else!) :)
ReplyDeleteI am trying to figure out how I can use more ornamental grasses in my little yard next year. They do so well in heat/drought conditions.
And the crepe myrtles are pretty this year despite our lack of water. They have such a summer smell! Reminds me of being a little girl.
I think ornamental grasses are a great choice for low mainenance plants. Carla
ReplyDeleteBarbara, I never noticed patrina in Germany and now am regretting it. I love mine here but you don't see it so often. I like the long bloom. I guess it looks like goldenrod from a distance but up close it is quite different-love the color though.
ReplyDeleteMonica, Love those blushing sedums indeed. Have you posted on big bluestem? I'm wondering about it. I just received an order from Jung of little bluestem. Haven't planted it yet though due to drought. I hope it does well.
Dave, I know you love those grasses. I just went to Geri's house and she has quite a good stand of ironweed. I don't have it here but find it an awesome color.
Cameron, I'm not familiar with Cosmopolitan but will look it up. I bet they do awesome in your garden. I'm with the Musician, no pulling of self seeded grass here:)
Linda, Try the bluestems. I think they would do well for you. Little Bluestem stays fairly small 1x2 so it can usually fit in everywhere. Very drought tolerant and that is the way I'm going. Hydrangeas, well, we might have to toss them or move them.
Carla, Other than that cutting in the spring they are very low maintenance-an awesome plant for sure.
All look wonderful ... stars in the garden. Love your crepe myrtle, stunning color, and wish we could grow them here. Happy September :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the Patrina (before I read what you had written about it) I was wondering what it was, going back and forth with the fact that it looked sorta like golden rod and that it was not golden rod. LOL.
ReplyDeleteThat crepe mrytle is stunning!!
Cool butterfly photo! It looks almost more like a moth. Those are Knockout roses indeed. I do love ornamental grasses, their movement as much as their appearance. You capture that well.
ReplyDeleteGood choice for plant of the month Tina! It looks like you had some good contenders though. :)
ReplyDeleteJoey, Happy September to you too! It is such a wonderful month.
ReplyDeleteMom, I guess the patrina suffers from a case of mistaken identity. Too bad because so far it is way nicer than goldenrod.
Sarah, Thanks! That butterfly was simply posing for me. I can't believe how good the photo came out.
Racquel, Yes indeed, there are some tough troopers here-though not as many as I'd like.
I've got to plant some ornamental grass next year. Love it.
ReplyDeleteHere I might nominate sunflowers for plant of the month Tina. They start to bloom in August but really perform well into September.
ReplyDeletePatrina is beautiful. For some reason I appreciate my grasses the most during winter but I agree, you can't go wrong with them at any season.
Your garden still looks great. I've come to admire those grasses. My adagio is growing wonderfully. Also my purple fountain is really showing this yr. Most are still in pots so will need to get them in the ground next yr.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, Tina! You have so many wonderful choices for plant of the month, you must have had a hard time choosing one. I wish my sedum looked as good as yours--I'm still trying to figure out if something is eating it or it's suffering after this dry summer. But the grasses certainly deserve the spotlight this month; excellent choice! Would you believe I just planted my first ever ornamental grasses?:)
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful grass Tina. There's a vacant lot on a busy street near us with some grass that looks a lot like this one. Part of it the lot is pretty shady, and I've been wondering what grass it is, since it seems to do so well even in the shady spots. I love the way it glows in the dappled sunlight.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed how well tall sedum does in our mostly shady garden. The flower heads aren't as compact or large as they would be in full sun, which I kind of like. They don't flop as easily and to me look a little more 'natural' with their more open flower heads. Mine haven't started coloring up yet - they still look broccoli!
Ironic how you chose grass as your pick when the word Grass is an ugly word to me right now. I left my gardens with rain falling and returned to grass weed everywhere! I was out in the dark plucking until I could no longer see with the night sky! LOL...
ReplyDeleteYour gardens still have so much color. You do a great job of having year round color girl....
Glad I was able to get a quick hug in while in TN. Hate those emergency visits but love those little perks like garden peeks and hugs.....
Hi Tina,
ReplyDeleteSuch a good choice for your plant of the month! I have a few grasses scattered here and there. I like how they re-seed, maybe some people don't like that?
Super photo of the butterfly!
( they are all good photos :)
I agree these are all winners.
ReplyDeleteThink I have most. Looking at your Crepe myrtle flowers reminds me of trees I see around the neighborhood, not sure what these trees are but will find out. Just got a crepe myrtles this year and loving it so far.
ps.. don't know why but your blog page takes a long time to load.
Shamefully I didn't get to comment on a number of posts...think I'm impatient.
That Patrina looks really interesting and so do the cape myrtles, both plants which are probably not hardy in my zone. :( I have plenty of wild grasses as well as a few domestic ones such as Timothy growing at my place. Growing grass as an ornamental seems sort of superfluous to me :)
ReplyDeleteI love grasses and would grow more around here if the weather was more cooperative. The crape myrtle is another that I love and used to grow a lot of in the valley. Beautiful shots!
ReplyDeleteI love the grasses. I still haven't been very good about planting them. You have a lot of plants that are looking really good. I hadn't heard of Patrina before and like your daughter I thought it looked like goldenrod too.
ReplyDeleteA great choice, I would have chosen the same. I love coloured flowers but never get sick of the subtle beauty of grasses waving in the breeze.
ReplyDeleteI think that Ornamental Grass is a perfect choice for your plant(s) of the month! They are really the showy this time of year and most demand attention.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful late season colour. I particularly like the second flush of roses. Mine haven't started yet, so it's good to have a glimpse of one of my favourite flowers.
ReplyDelete