After a Summer Rain

 

This year the rain has been fairly regular for us, encouraging everything to grow generously.  Yesterday's 1.23 inches continued the trend, even though the days before were very hot and dry.

Over the last few years this Crocosmia, 'Star of the East,' has been spreading throughout the Feather Reed Grass, Karl Foerster.  It is hard to weed but looks wonderful with the long display of orange flowers.

All of the hardy hibiscus have been stunning in size.  This one, Cherry Choco Latte has reached 6 feet, and has been swarming with bees, butterflies and the occasional Japanese Beetle.  The beetles are dropped into a plastic cup filled with soapy water.

The Sedum Autumn Fire is already showing its buds.  However, we are not sure if those buds will survive the browsing by the deer.  Each year we lose some or all of them.  At least it looks wonderful now without the flowers.  

Finally, there is this intriguing little, no I mean BIG, caterpillar for the Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly.  I had to look it up to determine its adult appearance.  I do have a few hanging out in the labyrinth.  I will need to watch out for its chrysalis and make sure it is safe.

These photos are all from my new "used" camera that my brother sold me.  It gets great images, and all kinds of functions I am still learning to use.

August Hot and Dry

While I was away for a couple of weeks at the beginning of this month, most plants have continued doing their best to survive the high heat and low amounts of rain.  We installed three different sections of soaking hoses for a few sections of the labyrinth beds, running them for a few hours before traveling and again on coming back.  Some plants have done well, a few have been lost, and others have naturally shut down while enduring the weather.

The Blackberry Lily, Belacanda chinensis, has had it tough all year, but continued to keep growing and blooming.  At the lower left hand corner of this picture you can see the ragged edged leaves where something chomped it down in the Spring.  What finally protected it were the Alliums that were planted among it, which discouraged further damage.  But there have been lots of flowers to replace those eaten.

The Pineapple Lily, Eucomis comosa 'Sparkling Burgundy,' shown here in late June, has put in its best performance in the three years in this location.  The reason for the name can be seen in the large maroon leaves and the dark stem.  Those other iris-type leaves are exactly that, iris!

The color has changed with the heat of July and August, losing much of the dark purple, and becoming more of a nondescript off-color green.  I have almost come to expect that of any other-than-green foliage, to fade in the heat, so it is not a surprise.

I took picture several weeks after the first picture which shows the top flowers. You can see how the color is mixed into each small flower a little bit differently, creating a very impressionistic appearance.  It becomes an interesting combination of the impressive architecture for the thick column of flowers with flowers that can be seen almost at eye-level, with their individual variety.

The other plants that have continued blooming through the harsh weather are the hardy hibiscus.  There are currently three plants, ranging from deep scarlet, to mauve to a bright, clear pink. 

'Walter Fleming' is the scarlet one, and it continues to perform well in its third year in the labyrinth.

The William Fleming had six different stems grow up this year, each with a few dozen flowers blooming in the first phase.  After the first set of buds finished their cycle, around the end of July, there was a period with fewer blossoms as the plant produced buds on side stems.  Those are now in the cycle of blooming, and I suspect they will continue doing that until sometime in September. 

With the size of each flower around nine inches, and the dark intense red able to hold its own in bright sunlight, this plant offers important color to the garden.  I am well pleased with this choice.

I don't know the name of this pink/mauve hibiscus, having lost the label since we bought it two summers past, and I forgot to record it at that time.  It spent its first summer in a pot on the front porch, then was moved into its permanent home. It has settled into its spot, putting up 5 stems with lots of flowers, and providing a nice contrast.

I have done some Internet research, but have been unable to positively confirm its name.  So, if you know, let me know. 

Hardy Hibiscus in July

Now that it is July, each of the plants is doing its best to make a show, as the picture above makes clear.  There was one casualty last winter, the large viburnum bush that screens much of the labyrinth from the road and the neighbors nosey eyes, got confused and entered Winter in Spring mode.  Much of it was killed off. 

If you look at the right of the photo where you see our neighbor's bright white front steps, you will see a few of the viburnum's remaining branches.  It is supposed to hide those steps.  You can see on the right, the new suckers that are coming up from the roots.  Each is only about a foot tall, but these are the future trunks of the bush.  Once they get big enough, the old ones will get cut out.

But the topic for today is the hardy hibiscus, of which there are now three.  Each provides some bright color in pink, red or mauve.  If you go back to the top panorama, you can see all three.  In order, from the right and below those white steps is a bright pink one, just to the right of the center tree trunk is a dark red one, and below the left side of our neighbor's arch top trellis is a mauve one.  Each has a different history and style.

The pink one comes from the house my family owned in Pleasant Valley, New York.  My parents bought a large, old farmhouse, and in the first few years I discovered a hibiscus growing along the side of the pond.  When I showed Mom the flowers, she knew what it was, and had me dig it up to plant it up next to the bay window.  This was in the mid-60's, and it was probably originally planted by the previous owners who had landscaped the area near the pond.  I assume it is an early variety of Hibiscus moscheutos, but cannot find any source on the Internet to identify it.

The color is bright and simple, and the flower is not complicated. Each flower lasts about a day.  This particular plant was moved to the current location last fall, and has settled into its new home very quickly.  Since there are not as many buds on it, there will only be two weeks of flowers, but that period may lengthen as the plant gets bigger. 

The one in the middle, behind the tree is Hibiscus "Robert Fleming."  Its flowers are HUGE, at least 8 inches across, and open up very flat like a plate.  As you can see in the picture there are many buds to go on this stalk alone, and there are seven stalks.  These flowers stand out even when partially hidden by the foliage of other plants.  I first wrote about it last November, and I am still thrilled with this plant.  My only concern is that at the current rate of growth, which is near a young boxwood hedge, it will soon become much to large.  But I like it where it is.

The last hibiscus, which is a mauve/pink color is to the left.  I must apologize because i had planned to get a close-up of it, but never took that picture.  But then, I also wasn't able to find its name, and since I am trying to be sure to include accurate names whenever possible, I will need to catch up on that one later.  We bought it to grow on the porch last summer, and put it in the ground in the Fall.

I will close with a shot taken from the road to the right of the top picture.  You will see the church bird feeder I painted a couple years ago - this is the first it has been put out in the garden.  We plan a vine to grow up the post, but haven't picked one out yet. The post is there to prevent future vehicles, including snow plows, from driving through the garden and hedges.  If they try it again, at least their vehicle will get as messed up as the garden has been.  Anyway, here is the shot.