October 31, 2015 by grammapenny

Boo!

Here it is Halloween already. Fall went by too quickly. The cutting back has begun. It has a bit of double meaning this year. I am cutting back on the number of plants I am keeping over the winter. I had a huge “porch give-away” and many of the plants went to new homes. I’ve also begun the arduous process of cutting back the garden. Some I do with a lawn mower, some with clippers and some with garden scissors. The leaves are mostly gone.. this is from last week before the rain and wind storm.

I also tried something new. I love tulips but the voles and moles and deer and rabbits eat them. So this year I am putting some in pots and then in the unheated space between the garage and basement. I hope in the spring to have two pots of beautiful tulips instead of nibbled stems. A few things are still blooming.

Fall blooming crocus – Colchicum “Water lily”

My mom’s old fashioned mums

A view out the back window

I went paddling with old friends on the Squannacook River in W. Groton yesterday. It was spectacular. We found this huge beaver lodge – I thought the entrance was quite nicely decorated. On the left, you can see their winter food cache all stuck down in the mud and ready for winter munching.

Here it is

Good bye October…you were a beauty.

October 13, 2015 by grammapenny

Autumn is happening…

It has been a glorious fall despite the dryness. The garden is throwing its last big party before the frost and freeze predicted for this weekend. The tomatoes, peppers, and basil must be picked. The geranium pots, elephant ears, dahlias and brugmansia need to be covered at night. I can’t quite let them go yet … too much color.

Geraniums – early morning

The Brugmansia decided to put on a big show the last few days… this is its 5th year. I will overwinter it in the basement.

Cimicifuga – “Black Negligee” and some Baptisia seed pods

Orostachys

Gentian

These porch plants need to come inside

View from the bedroom window this morning

September 24, 2015 by grammapenny

Hanging on through the drought…

The weather is spectacular…. cool crisp mornings and sunny afternoons. Its very dry though, and I have had to do a little spot watering to keep things going. I’ve been transplanting things too. Many plants have just outgrown their spaces, and I decided its time to do some thinning. Here’s what things look like now.

Dahlias provide lots of color

Feathery grasses in morning light

I ended up moving these grasses today because they were taking over the space. I think I’ll put dahlias there next year

A long view.. I did a lot of thinning there today

Crabapples ripening – its a bumper crop and the birds will be happy this year

Today I visited an amazing garden in town and brought home some grapes..

Esther just likes hanging out on the back step watching me work

September 10, 2015 by grammapenny

Blogpost number 100!!!

Wow.. This is the 100th post I’ve written since beginning the blog in March of 2014. I feel like I should do something very special, but what I need to do is a rain dance. We haven’t had significant rain since mid-August, and it has been a real struggle keeping the plants alive. Thunderstorms promised for tonight and tomorrow may help and at least the heat wave will be broken. The garden and I will sigh with relief.

The morning light was quite nice, so I grabbed a few photos before it got really hot out (93 yesterday).

Allium, birdbaths and succulents

A new digitalis

Cimicifuga

Unnamed rose

Cimicifuga seed pods

Mom’s red dahlia

Daylily – Little Women

Dragonfly

Dad’s pink dahlia and Verbena bonariensis

A trio of cherry tomatoes

Butterfly on Verbena

Boltonia, asters, mums, fall salvias, grasses, cannas, … there is still much to come. And if we can have some rain please, all these lovely plants will thrive.

September 3, 2015 by grammapenny

Humidity and some end of summer surprises

I have started putting all my house plants out on the porch in the summer time. They get some morning or afternoon light and absolutely love the humidity (I do not care for it). The plants really took off the last few weeks.

I put all my old Christmas amaryllis bulbs out.. one didn’t bloom last winter but it decided to in September.. this one is called White Nymph and is fragrant as well as beautiful. The others are resting in the garage. I’ll repot them in the fall and hope for blooms in December.

I don’t remember the name of this wee orchid, but I purchased it at a little orchid nursery in St. Petersburg , Fl a few years ago. It started to spike a few weeks ago and then bloomed.

The Tillandsias I collected in Florida last winter are spiking .. I hope I get to see what the blossoms look like soon.

Here are all the succulents gathered together on the western side of the porch. They are very happy there.

I may be having a big plant giveaway come October!!

August 24, 2015 by grammapenny

Bees and a couple of late bloomers

We have had a week of humidity and hot temperatures and frankly the garden looks tired. Blossoms have wilted, foliage is dying off, the mums and asters and glorious fall stuff hasn’t popped yet.. so its kind of the ugly season in most of the garden. The bees don’t think so though. They are all over the few blossoms that are still around.

Ligularia

Allium

Veronica

Daylily “Condilla”

Zinnea.. blossoms within a blossom.. should bring the bees by soon

Daylily “Peggy Jeffcoat” with pollen to offer

I was also quite excited to see that N. Dakota Sunrise finally decided to bloom.. worth the wait

And Greywoods Papa Joe is happy in its new spot. It didn’t bloom last year so I moved it. Voila!

Some pink Chelone – otherwise known as Turtlehead – blooming down by the old shed spot

Phlox and goldenrod provide some color and pollen for the bees

The cannas are very late…I didn’t water enough… this one should have a bright orange blossom by now.. the foliage is nice though

This little warbler stopped by too

Just enough still happening in the garden so that I will be happy to get to the weeding on Wednesday when the weather cools off a bit.

August 18, 2015 by grammapenny

August – OTHWI

OTHWI- Oh The Heck With It. Its hot and humid out and not pleasant to be in the garden. Most of the daylilies have gone by and need cleaning up, but its too hot to do it now. So this time of year I tend to let the garden do what it wants, weeds and all. I’ll deal with it when the weather cools off a little.

I thought these blossoms looked refreshing on a hot day, however. This lovely hydrangea in the front yard came with the house.

The bees love it.

This Hibiscus was also here when we moved so I don’t know the cultivar, but its hardy and I love the big blossoms.

I never tire of this combo.. the Smoke Bush leaves and the Sedum Autumn Joy look nice together.

More later…….

July 29, 2015 by grammapenny

This year’s new daylilies and an old favorite

Every year I say that I have no more room for any new daylilies. And every year, someone brings me one from her garden or I see a beauty at a plant sale, and I have to make room. So in the fall, I dig and divide and move some things around and try to create some space for the newbies. There are now four new faces in four new places in the garden this year…….

I am not sure what this one is. There are some possibilities, but I haven’t made a positive identification yet.

This is an unknown .. no idea where it came from either – but it sure is lovely

This beauty is called Glistening Bouquet and is from my friend Kim’s gorgeous garden. I admired it last year.. and she brought me a piece for my garden.

I don’t know the name of this one either but the double almost triple blossom is very showy.

There are a couple of new additions that didn’t bloom. I’ll fertilize in the fall and wait til next year – drat.

This one is a late bloomer.. but its my favorite and I eagerly await the first blossom. I give you Techny Spider.

July 22, 2015 by grammapenny

Platycodon grandiflorus

The nickname for Platycodon is “Balloon Flower”. I went out into the garden to capture this wonderful plant in its many stages of flowering. This particular plant was grown from seed by Garden Club friend Camilla.

July 15, 2015 by grammapenny

Blooming mid-July

Where to start? I could fill pages with all the wonderful blossoms. We have had good growing conditions – just enough rain , not too many super hot days and no severe storms. Although the rabbits continue to visit, they seem content to nibble the clover and leave the tall plants alone.

Here’s a couple of views from an upstairs window

I have a new daylily this year – a gift from friend Laura S. It is called Laughing Giraffe – aptly named I think

Daylilies, Veronica and Lamb’s Ears

The tropicals are enjoying the summer weather. This is an elephant ear that I’ve had for 5 years now. I bring it into the basement every fall and ignore it and bring it back out in the spring. It is beginning to fill the corner in the grilling area.

This is an elephant ear blossom.

The Brugmansia is blooming already. I repotted it this spring and it seems pretty happy. I purchased it in a little 4 inch pot from Logee’s Greenhouse five years ago and look at it now. It is called Jean Pasco. The aroma is intoxicating in the evening.