some flowers

in the yard- Zinnias are doing much better than I expected in the back perennial bed. It gets more sun now (neighbors cut down two more of their remaining pine trees). 

I cut a few to bring in the house. 

The petals are stiff and tough- they last a long time stuck in a jar. 

Want to grow a lot more of these next year. I noticed the swallowtail butterflies visit them, too.

Hydrangeas are blooming dusky pink-

Most of the echinacea patch is faded, darkened and falling off petals. But some that I cut back (to clear the path or remove stems coated in mealy bugs) have grown more flowers, bright and new:

It's hard to get the effect of turtlehead on camera but it's one of my favorite spots in the garden. Bees are starting to crawl in and out regularly, so fun to watch them

Tithonia aren't as numerous as last year- I didn't plant as many, and one sickened and got pulled up early on. But they're much healthier this time around- I don't have to clear as many withered leaves from the lower stems, and hardly find any aphids to wipe off. Almost every day see monarchs and/or swallowtails on the tithonia, and many skippers.

I liked how the standard joe pye-weed looks against the strappy leaves of gladiolas (even though no glads flowers anymore)

My black-and-blue salvia is doing amazing. Look how it's overtaken the spot- definitely crowded by the growing lilac and completely obscuring the stepping stones to the driveway now

When I get the energy and bravery to do it, think I will relocate the mountain laurel there to left of steps, and move the lovage also, put the black-and-blue salvia below the wall in that spot

It just blows me away. I love the blue. Hummingbird is a regular visitor again. I've gotten quite close to it a few times and it still feels like a small miracle, a wonder, to see that bird hanging in the air feeding from my flowers.

some herbs hung

Earlier in the season I cut and dried a bit of thyme, summer savory and parsley (from the second-year plant). Just took the big harvest of sage

and dill. Soon will start freezing lemon balm leaves, too.

Wonder if I could dry or freeze lovage. It's grown so much! Looks very nice in the corner next to gladiolas-

which are a thick stand now. Cut peony flowers in the house are dropping their petals now, but soon will have glads.

Daylilies are budding

and the mountain laurel has opened a ton more of the bright, pleated cup-shaped flowers.

beautiful shrubs

My husband was out pushing daughter on the swing and they both admired the yard- told me it actually looks like plants are in places on purpose and someone cares for it. That's me! Before I lived here, it was pretty much just grass, trees, and a muddy slope the bottom half. So I'm secretly tickled pink to have my hard work beautifying the yard noticed, and felt like taking tons of pictures...

Here's the brightest new thing- sunny sideyard, my mountain laurel in bloom. The color is much more vivid than I expected.

The flowers have just started to open, like pleated cups:

My northern bayberry is actually doing fine-

new foliage a nice fresh bright green

Behind it the summersweet is looking lovely too, but I didn't get a photo of that. My rhodies are blooming!

Lots of buds but the plants started opening flowers on just one side.

The third rhodie (next to the forsythia, which I just pruned) doesn't seem to have any flower buds. Lots of new tender leaves, though, which are slightly tacky.

I can't wait to see the new rose-of-sharons bloom later this year- they've grown amazingly.

I swear twice as big as when I planted them in fall. And look how lush:

the front corner

More about this- because I ran out of steam last night. Lilac is finally filling its space- beautifully- so the smaller plants I had placed around it need to move. I'm glad to see all the salvias coming back strong-

but they're a bit overwhelmed

I cut back the lilac slightly- trimmed out some lower branches in the rear, to give black-and-blue salvia some breathing room-

because I am undecided where they could go. This has been such a great spot, the salvia coming back well through the winters, I'm reluctant to move it. I have started to picture what if I moved two of the salvias below the wall, where the little mountain laurel now is- 

it's about to bloom, by the way-

I think that spot would be sheltered, and get enough sun, and the salvias would look great there, but I'm not sure where I could move the mountain laurel to... Here's lovage in that corner- up to my knees now!

The echinacea next to lilac will need to get moved, too- but I will leave in place those that edge the driveway- where I put up this low stone wall of edging blocks to keep the neighbor's lawn mower from chopping them

against the cold

We're supposed to get winter weather today- a several inches of snow then hours of freezing rain. I tried to shelter some plants in the garden and yard, ones that are more tender or new. It was late, already freezing temps by the time I got outside, so don't know if it made any difference but in case buffering them from the layer of ice would help, I did it anyway. Put a wire circle around the camellia, filled the bottom half of it with dry leaves, threw an old sheet over and heaped more leaves around the base. The garden already has a thick layer of leaf mulch but I piled more on top of the rue, chard bed and the perennial herbs. Heaped leaves on the black-and-blue salvia, scattered some over the stinking hellebores and lady's mantle, tucked an extra inch around the mountain laurel. That's all I did. Everything else will have to survive as it can. Snow is falling before the ice rain which will blanket and insulate so I suppose they will all be okay anyway.

different rose of sharons and . . .

Um, I should not have been so delighted to get all those rose of sharon seedlings. I did a bit more reading to make sure I had them spaced far enough apart- and learned pretty quick why that lady had so many to give away. It seeds into the wind prolifically, and is considered an invasive plant in my state. I promptly went outside and pulled all those little seedlings, feeling frustrated.

There are several cultivars developed specifically to either be sterile, or set very few seed. I noted a few names- 'Minerva' and 'Aphrodite'. I was talking about all this with my husband and we decided on a plant budget for fall- it was rather generous because I think last year I only put two shrubs in the ground- one rhodie and the camellia- and I spontaneously went out to do some shopping (the only kind I love- in a greenhouse)! Visited another local nursery I hadn't been to before. On the highway between us and the next town.

I couldn't find those two varieties, but got one sterile 'Pink Chiffon'

and a 'Purple Satin'. The fence length I want to shield has room for four or five, but I left space in case I can find the other two cultivars later on.

Here's the pink one planted:

and the purple:

I was a bit dismayed to see the purple one is twisted at base- like it was root bound. I bought it anyway against my better judgement, because it was the only purple one left. All the others at the nursery where white column shaped plants, which I don't want.

It does have a healthier-looking sucker growing up- I suppose I could always encourage that and trim other parts of the plant out?

It has healthy enough feeder roots all through, and no signs of japanese beetle grubs (which I once found in a rhodie pot). But about a third of the leaves look sickly- dried, pale, mottled.

I asked about this at the counter and was told "well, they're dropping leaves for winter" but it looks slightly ill as my lilac has before. I would feel worse about this except that rose of sharon are such vigorous plants I feel I can pull it through. I gave it a soap spray a few hours before rain (it did rain last night!) and then trimmed off all the sick-looking foliage and cut it back slightly.

I also got an Inkberry (Ilex glabra 'densa')! Native shrub, grows in understory, does well in poor or damp areas. I am not sure yet where to plant this one- I think on the slope in front of the rhodies. It might spread gradually by suckers and make a small thicket back there, which I wouldn't mind at all. I need some erosion control. Also can sport dark berries in winter that feed the birds- except I'm not sure if I need a male and female plant for it to produce, or which gender I have.

And I bought a Northern Bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica). This one also does well in tough spots, likes the damp (so I am going to put it at the bottom slope of the yard) and can spread nine to twelve feet! I've kind of got it situated in front of the summersweet- which looks great every spring but then falters by late summer. I'm planning to move that one anyway- maybe in spring..

Next was a small mountain laurel- Kalmia latifolia 'Little Linda' which stays small and blooms pink.

Only caveat is it needs acidic soil. Maybe I will split the loads of coffee grounds from our kitchen between this and the camellia. Planted:

It's mature size is supposed to be four feet across- just up against the space the lovage needs:

Situated alongside the steps my husband built to go from the sunny sideyard up to driveway. My plans for this sideyard are slowly filling in! On the left there is the patch of gladiolas- in spring I'm going to plant in front of the glads a few rudbeckia or a row of the osteospermum. Other side against the house wall is the milkweed spot. Going to sow more seed there, see what takes. Fill in with another line of osteospermum. Leaving hopefully, just a walking path down the center.

I also bought- another nandina. This one is supposed to flower very little, and have a nice blue-green summer leaf color. Yeah I know not a native but I've already got a row of them hopefully to create a good screen between us and the neighbor's yard, and I do like the foliage color and texture a lot. This one- 'Gulfstream' is small and compact- I thought it might work okay to have a short one in front of the row. Supposed to get max three feet.

Planted:

So that's six new young shrubs- and all were on sale!