The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Category Archives: Summer

Enjoying the pre-autumn heat

Posted on by Posted in Summer .

This Labor Day weekend has been hot and humid and feels more like mid July than early September. I’ve spent most of the time drenched in sweat (a good thing) and completed some serious gardening chores.

It has been my little celebration of hard “labor”.  

I’m not ready to give up on Summer just yet. There will be plenty of time to enjoy the cool and comfortable Autumn weather in the upcoming weeks/months. For now, I am going to soak in the heat, humidity and even the mosquitoes and horse flies.

Having said all that, it is still obvious that we are in a transition period out in the garden.

The foliage is changing colors on the trees, shrubs and even the perennials. 

Leaves are starting to fall.

The warm season ornamental grasses are blooming or are about to bloom. 

All of which makes for incredible colors, textures and contrasts outdoors. Good times.

Here is a sampling of what is going on in my yard as of this evening:

I know I am boring you to death with all my ornamental grass love, but too bad, here’s some more:

Panicum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’, Boltonia, Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’

Helenium autumnale, Pancium ‘Rotstrahlbusch’, Boltonia, Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’

This is the time of year when many shrubs and perennials put on their best show:

Amsonia tabernaemontana, Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’

Truth be told, like a dope, I recently moved a few Panicum ‘Northwind’ to new locations in this hot and humid weather and they are already showing signs of stress. On the bright side, the color combination on the single grass is pretty cool:

I love walking up my front sidewalk right now with so many different colors intermingling:

One ornamental grass I haven’t full experienced yet is Miscanthus purpurascens (Flame grass) as I purchased three tiny plugs only two years ago. Here’s hoping they continue to rock as they have so far:

Even the Monarda (Bee Balm) have great Fall color already:

My Hawthorn ‘Winter King’ just started to reveal its peeling bark and while not necessarily an Autumn “thang”, the color fits nicely into the overall scheme:

So in conclusion, I still love the hot Summer weather but also enjoy the plant transition to Fall.

Got it? Good.

John

The dog days of summer

Summer birthday bash

Posted on by Posted in Family, Summer .

It was a weekend full of birthdays and we are still recovering from all of the festivities. In fact, I’m too tired to even put it into words. Hopefully the photos tell the story:

Battle Royale – Summer vs Autumn

Posted on by Posted in Fall color, Summer .

Last night I watched an episode of Ghost Hunters recently filmed at the Philadelphia Zoo. If you read my last post, you know that we were there this past weekend. In the episode, the “hunters” clearly discovered signs of paranormal activity in numerous buildings and in the awesomely terrifying underground tunnels. There were hushed voices, sounds of the waltz (no lie) and bangs that sent shivers down my spine and forced me to curl up in the fetal position.

What is the purpose of this story? After watching the show last night I was convinced I was hearing hushed voices outside early this morning so I got my paranormal equipment out and set out to seek the truth. Turns out, the noises were the result of a ton of trash talking between Summer and Autumn. It’s that time of year when Summer tries to hold on to what it’s still got and Autumn tries to force it’s way in with reckless abandon. It got pretty heated and a bit off color. It was like a tennis match with one touting one of their plants and the other returning serve by touting one of their own. I managed to record their back and forth and will present this in photo form to you now:

Summer – Russian Sage still blooming away and drawing bees like mad

Autumn – the Russian Sage will dry up soon and Caryopteris ‘Sunshine Blue’ will be the shit
Summer – Spirea ‘Anthony Waterer’ and Rudbeckia Goldsturm keep on keepin on   

Autumn – the flowers look weak, it’s all about the changing foliage now, like this Viburnum  

Summer – the Helenium blooms don’t look like they care that it’s September 

Autumn – did I mention the people want changing foliage already? Like with this Itea 

Summer – I’ll keep firing away with long lasting blooms, like with Phlox ‘David’

Autumn – and I’ll see your blooms and once again, raise you with more foliage change from this Geranium  

Summer – can you offer something as beautiful as this Daylily bloom? Can you punk?

Autumn – Yawn … my faded blooms look better as we transition to the cooler weather

I scored it a draw and must admit Autumn comes off a bit pompous and entitled. What do you think?

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