The beginning of September has definitely started to feel like Autumn with slightly cooler nights and mornings. This is one of my favourite times of year, with summer flowers still producing usually up until the first frost, which I'm betting will be in late October.
Left: One of my younger delphinium plants has decided to have a late flowering. A nice surprise.
Also Zinnia 'Giants of California' are flowering. These were grown from seed started indoor in May.
Left and below: the same photo from different angles to show the right and left sides of the flower border, and path in between.
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| Feeling like Autumn is near, with phlox and crocosmia. |
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| Above and below: Phlox - I call it tall phlox as I'm not sure of the variety (and it grows quite tall). It was given to me by a friend who has now passed away from cancer. The purple plant above is Curly Scarlet Kale which makes a great plant for the flower border as well. I'm thinking of planting it throughout all the flower beds next year. |
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| Above: Canterbury Bells (Hardy Biennial), grown from seed, are on their 2nd flush of flowers. The is my first year growing Canterbury Bells and they seem very long lasting. I see more buds coming too. I deadhead regularly and I discovered quickly that the spent flowers are very prickly, almost splintery when removing by hand. (Learned my lesson; now I use scissors.) |
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| Above: Late summer colour, including kale and leek in the border. Below: Sedum Autumn Joy is beginning to go from green, to pink, to red, to burgundy. A great plant! |
Bring on an Indian Summer!
Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.
Oh...where do I begin? Your delphinium with the Zinnia is such a beautiful combination. I am writing that one done in my garden journal right now to try. Who would have thought that Canterbury Bells would be prickly? I have always admired them and wanted to give them a try, but do not know if they would grow this far south. I also love the Curly Scarlet Kale, what a wonderful color.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry about your friend. Lost my dad to it 6 years ago. You would think that they would be able to figure out some sort of cure by now.
I am with you....bring on the cool weather. We are in the 100*degrees down here, and I am wilting! Hope you had a wonderful vacation!
Ditto DesertSnowdrop. Your garden is gorgeous. I enjoy seeing it as a landscape, for it is quite impressive. I love the contrast of the old, mossy stone with the softness and pastel of the plants.You have such nice structures in the garden to give it shape and to anchor the plants. Truly lovely and reflects all of your hard work that you write about.
ReplyDeleteWow... I am a big fan of your kale. They are an eye catcher.
ReplyDeleteYou still have so much going on in your garden. The curly scarlet kale doesn't look out of place growing amongst the flowers, funny how many vegetables are ornamental in their own right.
ReplyDeleteLots of lovely flowers there, Kelli.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Canterbury Bells produced a second flush. I think I pulled mine up as soon as they finished flowering, didn't dead-head them at all. I do dead-head perennial campanulas though, and get a second flush with them.
Hi Kelli,
ReplyDeleteI just love the curly kale in your flower beds. I must try this down the road. The color is a wonderful contrast to your late flowering plants. We've just endured a rather late hot spell and I'm quite ready for cooler nights and dare I say, a few rain showers ;) Cheers, Jenni
Hi Kelli, your flowers are gorgeous. I love the delphinium with the zinnias, too...the color combination is very nice. Your garden is changing and getting a Fallish look, which is really pretty. That Sedum Autumn Joy is nice.... you will have to show us the color changes.
ReplyDeleteSedum Autumn Joy truly is a joy in my garden, because once it begins to turn pink, it becomes a veritable playground for pollinators. It is covered in bees, wasps, butterflies, and skippers of all kinds. I love it!
ReplyDeleteYour late summer garden is really full of lovely blooms. Sedum Autumn Joy is one of my favorites since it attracts all the pollinators from butterflies to flies! Enjoy your Indian Summer!
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