Fall is Almost Behind Us

It was an incredibly busy summer, gardening-wise.  We had plenty of rain to keep things looking nice.  I only used the soaker hoses a handful of times.  That's not to say it didn't get hot and gross, but the plants didn't seem to mind.  Or maybe I've done a better job at selecting plants at this house that don't require much water.

I had fully intended to post before now, but life always gets in the way.  I almost completely missed the fall colors outside this week, after being sick several days.  So I decided to grab my camera and capture what was left of the color.

Can't forget to make the entry inviting!  Wreaths are an easy way to do that.

A little color goes a long way.  Lowe's was giving up these babies for $1.



I love the color red.  These mums were especially striking, and I also love how the oakleaf hydrangea (back, center) puts on rainbow foliage this time of year.

What I was trying to capture here is the yellow Maple tree in the background.  Although my little collection of sedums growing in the rocks is quite nice too.

The contrast of the golden cypress (left), red azalea leaves (middle), and dark green weeping evergreen (right) was a nice vignette.

A few weeks ago, I trimmed some of the evergreen bushes.  Not one to waste anything, I stuck the trimmings into the pots flanking my entry.  Surprisingly, they still look green and fresh.  They're also helping to conceal leggy coleus.  These are ones I picked up from Rural King on the distressed plant rack for 75 cents.  Very odd shaped, but totally cool.



The colors are still decent on the hills surrounding us.  We have three Maple trees down our driveway, and you can see one of them blazing red toward the middle of the photo.  They need friends.



The geraniums fared well this year.  Keep in mind I only planted pale pink ones this year.  I only see a few blooms of those in the photo.  All of the others came up from seed from geraniums I planted last year.  Good spot for them I guess.  I'll take free plants any day.

The lantana in this pot continues to bloom like gangbusters.  The purple heart on the other side still looks bright and fresh too.  And that blue spruce stuff sticking out the left side of the pot is just that -- blue spruce hedge trimmings that I couldn't let go to waste.  Still holding their color and shape after several weeks.  Made an excellent free fill-in after my basil bit the dust.



Roses are still going strong.

Sedum kamshaticum is starting to turn color.  It turns red, pink, coral, orange, and a bit yellow all at the same time, mixed with green. It's a wonderful 3 season ground cover.



Tyler's zinnias sure are happy.  Not that he watered them, weeded them, or paid any attention to them whatsoever after they went into the ground, but... they are hardy and were a great choice.



I know what you are thinking here... what is this photo supposed to be of, tree hugger?  Well, I couldn't resist capturing the wonderful contrast of two great ground covers that have met edges -- creeping jenny on the left, and sedum kamshaticum on the right.

A pennisetum grass (Black Moudry, I think) saved from the distressed plant section at Lowe's last year.  Blooming just fine.

This Gingko tree is one of two on our property.  It hasn't looked so good the past couple of years, but this year it started to put on some new growth and the fall color has been very pretty.  I suppose it is trying to redeem itself, as Eric keeps threatening to cut it down.  The center branch is dead, what you see with leaves on it is the only living portion.  I am game for keeping it around, trimming out the center, and seeing if that causes it to grow better or differently.



Most of the garden looks pretty good!