TN Bloom Day November 2008

The month of November is a big transition month for the ornamental garden, at least here in my garden in Tennessee. While there are still many flowers blooming, they are somewhat timeworn and weary. So without further ado, let's look at what is blooming in the garden....
'Diane' Witch Hazel. A new purchase. Now if I can only find a spot.....found a great spot in the woodland garden.
Japanese anemones. A passalong, cultivar unknown. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this plant.
Purple toadflax. A really neat plant so far. It was newly planted in July and has been blooming since then. It is beginning to come into its own now. I purchased it at a plant sale in Maine. It was simply labeled 'Toadflax'. I thought 'Butter and Eggs' at first, but once it bloomed I knew it was not the common toadflax. I sure wish I knew something about toadflax, as information on the web is a bit spotty. Is anyone familiar with it?
Some petunias survived the frost. I am not a big fan of petunias and do not plan to grow them next year.
'Mystic Spires' salvia still going strong, despite the frost.
'Sunny Blue' veronica. If I ever get around to doing a 'Plant of the Season' post, this one would win hands down, no question about it. It has bloomed since June! And still looks great! An all around superstar.

'The Fairy' rose. It really likes the cool season.

Raspberry Surprise ('Devon Yolande') Dianthus. Also blooming are red dianthus.
Sweet alyssum. A great self seeder in my garden.
Camelia. Pretty sure this is Jean May. At least that is what the tag said when I planted it seven years ago. Camelias are my favorite shrub, hydrangeas follow as a close second.
Pansies.
Red bedding begonias. Sometimes these return in the spring. A special treat. These survived the frost.
A couple of colchium. I am a terrible gardener in that I plant plants over plants and smother plants and so on. This is what is happening with these bulbs. These two actually were able to push through the Homestead Verbena and still bloom. They are late this year.
Still confused azaleas.
'Adagio' ornamental grass. This is the best grass! A bloomer in the shade or sun. It is very reliable and carefree. It is easily divided and does not self seed itself around. It looks similar to 'Morning Light' and is a smallish grass topping out at 4-5 feet with bloom. A superstar for year round interest in any garden.
'Goldsturm' brown eyes. The plant it is nestled next to is euphorbia 'Silver Swan'. A real stunner.

'Jean May' Camelia sasanqua. A full size shot of the shrub. This is one of two pink camelias currently blooming here. The other is much smaller, and not quite as floriferous.
A long shot of the Jean May. In the foreground (from front to back) of this picture is an oakleaf hydrangea (red foliage), a Maresii variegated hydrangea, Compacta holly, the Jean May, then the yellow foliaged tree is 'Sango Kaku', aka Coral Bark Japanese maple. Peeking over the fence to the right of the camelia and Coral Bark is a PG hydrangea. All are growing on the north side of the house and all are very happy here. This is part of my foundation gardens. A big deal here in my gardens and more posts will be forthcoming. I just wanted you to see the size of the camelia in situ.

And finally, yellow button mums-still blooming. Cultivar unknown. The lady who gave me this mum said it is an old fashioned mum and she does not know the name of it. I did research this mum and came up empty handed. I think it will forever be named yellow button mum as Frances calls it. Does anyone know anything about this huge old fashioned mum?

Also blooming but not pictured are: larkspur, Summer Snowflake viburnum, shasta daisies 'Darling', corydalis lutea, and gallardia. It was too late, and I was too tired from working in the garden all day to take more pictures.

Have a great bloom day!

in the garden....

Two Planters and a Pot

I am really bad about finding plants and buying them in numbers of 3. Why 3 I don't know as I am an "even and balance it out" type of person. Once getting the plants from the Garden Center and to my Georgia home, I have no idea where some will end up.

I made two identical planters along the pathway of the garden separating a higher level of the garden to a lower level of the garden. I will talk more about the garden levels another time. Here I have highlighted the two planters for you to see where they are located.

Now lets move in for a closer look at the two planters from their start.

I made the planters with scalloped, curved border stones that once were used as borders elsewhere in the yard. They are now planters! The pea gravel is the pathway below. I came home with 3 Blue Daze plants and 6 Wave Petunias. Hey, I got the Petunias in an even amount even though I only needed 4 of them. I also had 2 Red Star plants (Cordyline Australis) and some white Alyssum seed.

Of course the center holds the Red Star and the Daze was placed in front of it to flow over the 3 inch wall. Two Petunias were placed on either side of the Daze and the Allyssum seed was scattered within the Petunia and Daze.

In a matter of weeks, the Daze and Petunia were blooming as well as the white Allyssum.Both planters are now so full that you can no longer see the brick border of the planter.
The colors all work well with each other making for a beautiful Pink, Blue and White planter. If only the Blue Daze were not a morning bloomer and would stay open all day long. Arggg....Now what did I do with the remaining odd ball blue Daze and Petunia you ask? Well, put them in a pot of course! This entailed another trip to the garden center for a Spike plant for the center of the pot. I had the large pot collecting dust in the shed so I did not have to buy that item on this trip.
Just as the other planters, I put the Blue Daze to the front of the centered Spike plant with the wave Petunia on either side of the daze. To my surprise a Hyacinth bean was in the pot so a vine grew in time. I just love surprises!
This pot is on the opposite side of the garden so it kind of encloses the garden with color at this end and ties the colors in with the other side of the garden.

If you find yourself buying things in odd numbers like three, do like me and make TWO PLANTERS AND A POT, In the Garden...