A Cloudy Day

Maria is coming up the coast, too far away to cause any wind or even rain, but it still has pulled in a heavy cloud cover.  

Much of the garden is showing the wear and tear of a long, active growing season.  The Caryopteris incana 'Sunshine Blue' is just reaching the top of its blooming cycle.  With the variegated foliage and pale blue/lavender flowers, it doesn't jump out on most days.  But today, with the soft light, it brings a sense of light into the jumble around it.  The deeply wrinkled bud of the hibiscus, Robert Fleming adds a nice deep magenta nearby.

I have prepared the garden for being away for the next few weeks.  Fortunately at this time of year with the plants preparing for cooler weather, there is no need to worry about watering or other duties while I am gone.  I wonder what will still be blooming in November?

More Fall Flowers

Just yesterday I was working in the flower bed under the magnolia tree, cleaning it out.  And I didn't see these new Colchicum speciosum flowers.  Maybe they sprung up over night?  Anyway, they are another signal of the cooling weather and the arrival of fall.  While these bulbs would much prefer a bright sunny spot, they have been very willing to grow, and multiply in this very shady spot.  After the blooms fade, they put up very large, deeply folded leaves to build the bulb back up, then all evidence of them disappears for 3-4 months in the summer.

Although it is supposed to bloom in the late spring, the Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia purpurea, is putting out a blossom.  I have never seen one of these before, and it is quite dramatic.  This is the second year we have grown this plant, and we did not expect it to survive the winter.  So it must like it on the tub on the porch.

Early signs of Autumn

Not only has temperature dropped and the summer humidity gone.  Many plants are moving into their autumn moods.  Some, like this  Cyclamen hederifolium are putting on their annual display. 

This is the only hardy cyclamen that has survived of the three I planted two years ago.  I saw the flowers this morning from the bedroom and let out a quiet cheer, because I felt such cheer seeing it.

Tree Frog

Cute, isn't he?  Or is that she?  I wouldn't know how to tell, not that this little creature would have put up with my checking.  I came home to find this Upland Chorus Frog sitting on the edge of a large terracotta pot on the front porch.  The edge of the pot is 1/2 inch wide, so that gives a sense of how tiny it is.  Looking at the linked website, they don't grow much larger.  So, tonight I listen to hear for "its call, the slow ascending scale of the sound of a finger running up a comb, Creeeeeeeeeek."

Reds in August

With the intense sunshine the garden gets during the summer, dark or intense colors work best.  Those light yellows and blues that are so appealing in the spring get washed out when the sun is ramped up.  Also, since I spend more time looking out at the flowers from the inside a cool house, they are much easier to see.

Yet, this modest Oxblood Lily, Rhodophiala bifida, hides near a peony bush and is only up for a short time.  Researching its history, it is originally from Argentina, and was planted by settlers all across Texas.  This one was planted six years ago, and has fought to keep going since one of the furry plant eaters likes the leaves, sapping its energy.  But it is tough.

Also tough, and quite visible from the house is this hardy Hibiscus, "Robert Fleming."  I dug out a large clump of roots from the now shady place where it was growing.  I moved it to the South side of the labyrinth, in a very sunny and visible space.  It has been blooming all summer, with lots of flowers. I suspect it has also be browsed by our new deer, but the new individual pickier in eating habits, so there is a lot less damage.

Pitcher Plant

On the porch is the water garden where this pitcher plant lives.  The flower pot is partly submerged in the water in a peat moss mixture.  There are four other pitchers on the plant, but they were blown over during a strong wind and rain storm.  So this one stands alone. 

This particular plant was bought last year, and wintered over in the shed, to come back and begin regrowing.  What cannot be seen in this shot is that this two feet tall, and it is still growing!

No, I haven't tried to look to see if they have caught any insects.

Maybe This Year?

For the last three years, just as the Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus ‘Stevie’s Wonder’) got to this stage, the "long legged animal that destroys all in its path" ate off the flower buds like they were lollipops.  So, with a bit a luck, they may survive this year.  A few weeks ago some things were eaten, but we have been regularly applying repellents.  It also appears that some of the pathways that they have followed for years have been disrupted.  So, I am hoping to see them bloom this year.

Lots of insects

Walking in the labyrinth this morning, there are lots of bumble bees feeding on the salvia, Bee Balm, and Purple Milkweed.  As well as a variety of other insects. 

I tried to do an image search on the yellow/black/white insect in this picture, but was unable to find anything to match.  The search engine kept trying to match the color of the milkweed flower.

So, I was able to find the red beetle on the next picture.  It is a Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, or in common language, the Red Milkweed Beetle.  This is a new one for me.

Tetraopes tetrophthalmus

Flowering Maple?

Abutilon 'Linda Vista Peach'

While actually belonging to the mallow family, and in no way related to maples, the common name for this charmer is Flowering Maple.  The leaves look somewhat like a maple leaf to the eye, but of course maples don't flower like this.

We bought this at the National Arboretum plant sale, having a different variety for the last three years.  They delight in the sun, but need to be kept moist.  But the best part is that when taken into the house in September, and kept in a sunny window, they will continue to bloom throughout the winter.

Great Mullein Volunteer

Verbascum thapsis

It is a weed, and should be pulled out of the ground before it can produce thousands of seeds that will persist for decades in the soil.  For thousands of years it has been used for skin, throat and breathing ailments, as well as an astringent and emollient.  This is only the second mullein in our 16 years that has lived long enough to produce a flowering stalk.  It will be allowed to stay.

Growing outside my office window, the flower candelabra is visible just a couple of feet away, at the edge of my view of the Bay.  I look forward to watching it continue to reach up to the sun and sky.   

Blooming Little Gem

Magnolia grandfolia ‘Little Gem’

Magnolia flowers, for all of their size and thick substantial petals, are surprisingly short lived before turning brown.  Yet if it is possible to let go of the idea that they should be white, the brown is quite beautiful by itself.  A few months ago I was walking behind the Smithsonian Castle.  Along the edge of the path are large Star Magnolias which had been blooming very early in the warm spring weather.  However, overnight the temperatures had dropped below freezing.  Brilliant white flowers had turned brown.  At first thinking it was a horrible loss, a close look revealed a carmelized brown still translucent with layers of shadows. edges outlined by dark lines.  As they are this afternoon, on the first day of June.

May Flowers

Last week I attended a contemplative photography workshop at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York.  It was a time to reflect on when and why I take pictures with a group that ended up being much more serious about their craft than I am.  In contrast I also visited with my nephew Neal, who told me that he enjoys seeing my pictures.

I know others enjoy the pictures and have a sense of connection with this small plot of soil that overlooks the Chesapeake Bay.  Yet I want to keep it simpler to produce, so going forward I expect to choose only one, or maybe two pictures, along with producing posts more frequently. 

The photo above is in what used to be the heather bed.  As there were fewer and fewer living heather plants, it is now the lavender bed.  So for those who want the specific names and varieties, here goes. Here are two Lavandula angustifolia, ‘Munstead’ and 'Hidcote Blue.'  The dark pink spikes behind them on the left is Penstemon x Mexicali ‘Red Rocks Penstemon’ while the flat headed pink flowers on the right are Spiraea x bumalda 'Goldflame.'  In the front right corner and behind the Penstemon you can see the leaves of Senna marilandica or Maryland senna, which will be blooming in August.

Snowy Morning

The last several weeks I have been focusing on long deferred maintenance.  With the volunteering then full-time chaplain residency position over the last three years, the limited amount of time that was available focused on the necessary tasks.  Things that were important to the life and well being of plants were done.  Many other tasks. such as cutting out and removing invasive plants and removing old, dead wood had to wait.

This last weekend was spent pruning back the overly ambitious holly between the house and the Bay, to open up views from the house.  Then cutting off two sumac trees hanging on the side of the ravine which would have ripped out a large amount of soil if they fell over.  My shoulders, arms and legs are still sore from that work.

Then this morning offered the delight of a couple of inches of soft, wet snow.  It is perfect for showing off the winter bones of the garden, the evergreens, the trunks and branches, and the remaining berries with patches of color. 

I am particularly excited that the Ilex verticillata 'Winter Red' still has its berries.  The last two years a deer has chewed off all of the berries early in the fall.  Curiously, the squirrels which have eaten almost all the berries in the large evergreen hollies back in November did not climb up into this holly to devour these, which are much larger and I think more delicious looking.  There is no accounting for taste in the wild creatures.

It is well above freezing, and the snow was mixed with rain, so I was surprised to see this single drop of ice hanging from the trunk of the Heronswood Globe Katsura in the middle of the labyrinth.  It hangs like a tear drop, waiting until it is warm enough to fall down onto the ground.

Then my final shot of the sun coming through the clouds behind the snow covered branches of the same Katsura tree.  As I write this just two hours later, the snow is gone and the branches are bare.  The moment was fleeting.