Several Joe Pye weeds (Eutrochium spp., below) pruned by deer months ago are flowering weeks later as others have faded by early September. The remaining flowers attract swallowtails and bumblebees, though in smaller numbers than early August when many were flowering. With fading flowers of mountain mints (Pycnanthemum muticum) visited only by bumblebees and carpenter…

A few stray flowers remain on blackberry lilies (Iris domestica, aka Belamcanda chinensis, below), but most have moved on to seed production with some seeds already ripe. Several times, I’ve harvested seeds to start in the greenhouse in late winter, though I think that direct sowing is similarly successful. This year, I plan to leave…

Today, I wake to cool breezes and clear, blue skies. Overnight temperatures fall into the fifties, not the stuffy seventies more typical for August. We’re in desperate need of rain, but otherwise, how could late summer be any better? The garden shows signs of dryness, but while I’ve had to water the containers a time…

I have a problem. Many, I think, but today’s issue is the constant desire to add plants and the lack of space available in this thirty-six-year-old garden. Several weeks ago I removed an American persimmon with pendulous branching (Diospyros virginiana). It was okay, but it didn’t fruit without a nearby male for pollination and there…

Surviving the reflected heat of the driveway must be a challenge, but the yellow-leafed ‘Worcester Gold’ bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Worcester Gold’, below) thrives despite this unfortunate placement bordering the asphalt. In fact, this could be good fortune as other bluebeards have been overwhelmed by neighbors or shuffled about in search of a small spot…

I have habitually referred to the Gordlinia (x Gordlinia grandiflora, below) as a shrubby tree with its dense growth and comparative lack of height. No longer. While still multi-branched, I see that I must now accept that it has achieved tree status as it has grown to ten feet or slightly taller. The gordlinia still…

Thank goodness that July has passed. I’ve seen no dependable measure of the rainfall through its first three weeks, but here, the quantity must be a foot or more with several storms quickly dropping a few inches. Happily, late in the month into the first half of August, it’s become drier. Today, I watch the…

I’m guessing that there are fewer Verbena bonariensis (below) in the area just upslope from the greenhouse. I try to isolate the verbena in this area since it spreads readily by seed, and there are slightly fewer since I removed many seedlings so they would not impede growth of long-established toad lilies (Tricyrtis) that performed…

The side garden is suddenly naked, at least it looks that way with the ground layer of decaying leaves and other debris washed away by torrents of rainwater in a series of July storms. The leaves will be replaced with a new batch in autumn, but without the debris, I notice that the wide spreading…

The huge ‘Jane’ magnolia that spreads over the driveway annually displays a few scattered flowers in midsummer. These are most ornamental before opening (below) as they fade quickly in the heat. I suspect each flower’s peak is before sunrise, the morning it opens. In retirement, I pledge never to rise so early, so I must…

Barbara disputes my claim that I spend little time laboring in the garden. No doubt, there is some truth to her disagreement, but my slight exaggeration is intended to counter popular notions that demand lengthy monthly lists of necessary chores. Certainly, this densely planted acre and a quarter is larger than average, but I’d wager…

There’s good news and not so good, but little that’s truly bad. After a pessimistic start in very early spring, I’m now more positive about the garden’s hydrangeas. Typically, flowers of Oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia, below) fade gracefully to pink then tan despite scorching summer temperatures. But, not this year when they have quickly turned…