Plant of the Month-Can You Guess?

From In the Garden

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.

From In the Garden

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.

From In the Garden

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.

From In the Garden

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.

From In the Garden

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.

From In the Garden

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.

From In the Garden

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....


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Plant of the Month-August 2008

There are many choices of good plants blooming in the garden this month, but none can be more favorited than Helen's Flower, aka Helenium autumnale. This is one little stalwart, easy to grow, lovely, long blooming flower that shines at a time most all other flowers are starting to wane.

I have grown this flower for about five years now. It first came to me attention when I was looking for a perennial flower which liked wet areas. There were exactly two which the fit the bill for me, this helenium and Queen of the Prairie. The Queen of the Prairie was not an option as I could not find it easily. Helenium it had to be. I am so glad! You just cannot go wrong with this plant!

It bloomed its heart out the very first year I grew it. Since then it has been moved all around the garden but never misses a stride. It needs some moisture (I rarely water it), well drained soil in full sun to partial sun. It will grow to about 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide. It is very easy to start from cuttings and is never ever a thug. It comes in a variety of colors, yellow being just one of them. I have also seen it in rusts and oranges and in a bi-color mix of colors.

One peculiar quirk of this flower is the droopy buds prior to it blooming. Can you see the droopy buds on the picture above? This is perfectly normal and does not mean the flower needs water. Once it blooms the flowers perk up. It will bloom for more than a month in my garden and is a must have perennial and also my choice for August's Plant of the Month.

By the way, all flowers in these pictures were started from cuttings last summer, these are one year old plants, but pretty big plants standing at 3 feet high! Helenium are very easy to start from cuttings. See Dave's propagation methods at The Home Garden for more information on cuttings. I will at some point post on it, but haven't yet.

in the garden....