The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

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

Wordless Wednesday – Autumn creeping in

“Prune in June” – Boltonia – UPDATE

Posted on by Posted in How-to, Perennials, Pruning .
When last we spoke of my beloved (sarcasm should be applied here) Boltonia, I had cut them back by half in the middle of June. 
As you know or … as you will now know … each and every year these perennials topple over for me once they are in full bloom in late August. And each and every year I forget to cut them back in early summer prior to their blooming in order to manage their size.
But this year was different … and the early results are encouraging (although not all districts are reporting their results yet). 
Here they were in mid-June untouched:      

And then cut back by half:

As of this past weekend, here is how they look upon beginning to bloom:

And as of this evening with even more blooms:

I would say they are at about three feet tall right now and were closer to four to five feet tall at this time in previous years. So far so good in terms of staying upright and they have even survived some major winds and rain the past week or so.

Of course, Boltonias bloom like mad and they are only about half way there in terms of reaching their full blooming potential … but I wanted to bask in the positivity for a while.

Hopefully the good news will roll into September.

John  

Viburnum activity

“Happy Hour” at the Joe Pye Weed bar

“Prune in June” – Helenium (Sneezeweed) UPDATE

Posted on by Posted in How-to, Perennials, Pruning .
Back in the middle of June, I had written about my pruning experiment with my three Sneezeweed plants. I was closely following the advice of the legendary “plantswoman” Tracy DiSabato-Aust by pruning back in June for size control. 
Today, I will give you an update on all three plants as I know you all have been anxiously awaiting the results.
Sneezeweed #1 – cut back by 1/2 in June as seen below:    
And how it looks today:

Blooming has clearly been delayed and so far so good on how it is holding up and not flopping.

Of course, the real test is once the blooms explode in the next few weeks.

**Quick note: Please ignore the ugly legs on this one; they are actually covered by another plant but you cannot tell by this photo. Pinky swear.

Sneezeweed #2 – This one was pruned back in June naturally by some creature one night, so I left it alone as is. Ultimately, it was at the same size as #1 after it was pruned:

And how friggin wonderful it looks today:

This one clearly bloomed earlier than #1 and immediately collapsed under all of it’s bloomage. On the surface, this makes no sense when compared to #1.

But after some detective work, the roots of this one were inundated with water and it was more exposed to the huge rains and winds we’ve had the past few weeks.

This one will be relocated in the near future.

Sneezeweed #3 – This one was left untouched back in June with the thought being it would be sufficiently supported by its neighboring plants:  

So far so good, as the blooms have appeared and it is still standing at attention:

As the blooms continue to multiply we’ll see if it still remains upright. Fingers are double crossed.

I’ll hold off on the final analysis for a few more weeks as this situation is still fluid.

Until then …

Observations out in the garden this fine evening

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized .
It was a clear and cool evening here in Jersey for the first time in a long time and I ventured out with camera in hand.
Here is what I observed:
This one almost slipped by without me noticing, but luckily she contrasted well with the purple leaves of the Ninebark. Good looking katydid, eh?:
Um, is autumn really that close? Apparently that is the message the Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’ is sending:

Not many have managed to slip by the deer, but the dark purple berries on the Viburnum ‘Emerald Lustre’ are incredibly vivid this time of year:

One of my favorite Coleus but unfortunately, I do not know the cultivar name. Just one of these in a container on the deck makes such a bold statement:

The Zinnia ‘Queen Red Lime’ keep pumping out new flowers and I am forever indebted:

Even after the blooms are spent and the petals have fallen to the ground, these Clethra ‘Ruby Spice’ still look damn good:

Enjoy the upcoming week my friends.

John

Sedum and weep

Ornamental grasses take the spotlight

Posted on by Posted in Ornamental grass .

It is that time of year.

The time when the ornamental grasses take a giant leap forward, shake their ample booty and become THE focus in the garden.

Well, they do in my garden at least.

Here is just a sampling of these emerging superstars:

Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Northwind’ when the blooms first appeared:

  

And now after said blooms transformed into a pinkish hue (love the blue/green blades as well):

Next, we have Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ (yes, I have memorized that spelling):

Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’ behind the same “Rots”:

Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ not yet showing signs of bloom but still stunning in its own way:

Misanthus purpurascens (Flame Grass) with blooms just popping out in front of the giant Miscanthus ‘Gracillimus’:

Every night, I stare at these Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) ‘Karl Foerster’ blooms from my deck as they are backlit by the sun. Good times:

And finally, Chasmanthium latifolium (Northern Sea Oats) are at their peak, as we speak:

More grass love to come in a future post as they continue to transform with the arrival of autumn.

John

“Prune in June” – Cleaning up – UPDATE

Posted on by Posted in Pruning .
During the last week of June, I severely cut back three groups of perennials as a means to “clean them up”, as all three had bloomed their asses off and were now looking tired and spent. 
I knew they would bounce back rather quickly with nice clean foliage and some new blooms and I’m here today to show you that they came through with flying colors.
#1 – Tradescantia (Spiderwort) ‘Sweet Kate’:
After the the big cut back:      
And how they looked about two weeks later:

And five weeks later … :

… with some periodic re-bloom to boot:

#2 – Geranium ‘Brookside’:

The day of their haircut:

And as of this evening:

#3 – Nepeta (Catmint) ‘Walker’s Low’:

Sheared back:

And now sporting cleaner foliage and some blooms (not to mention the bees are back in droves):

While cutting back your perennials seems like a frightening proposition at first, I would actually be more frightened to leave them untouched. Trust me, it gets ugly.

If you chop them back (assuming you did your research and you know which ones are “choppable”), in two to three weeks time they will look better than they did right before they were snipped.

Remember, “Just prune it”.

John