Above is a beautiful shot of the Hungarian daisy (
Leucanthemella serotina) blooming in our English cottage garden. Although it looks like a shasta daisy, this specimen is almost 6' tall and blooms in September in to early October. It was a beautiful day today although a bit on the breezy side of things. It looks like potential rains this evening which would be again welcome to help make up for such a deficit in September. I'm presenting at Olbrich Botanical Gardens tonight on "Ornamental Grasses" and hope to get up there early to walk around a bit. I'll take my younger daughter with as she likes to go to these on occasion (probably to avoid chores at home...). Below is a shot of the silver Swedish ivy (
Plectranthus argentatus). This 30"+ tall annual offers large, felty, silver leaves and is great along a sunny border. We plant this every year and are asked about it frequently by visitors.
We had a small crew today with Larry, Little Jerry, Janice, Big John and myself. We had two nurseries send trucks today to pick up plant sale left-overs and we helped load them up efficiently. Larry worked on weedwhipping and some other projects while Little Jerry continued pruning and mowing duties. Big John worked primarily on his juniper shearing project around the reception garden and is doing a top notch job. Janice planted lots of perennials today and she and I finished the afternoon watering some select areas and our plant sale plants. Kay was in to tidy up, remove spent annuals and make the gardens look neat and tidy for our late season visitors. Mary and Dave came in to work in their area and we saw Mary and Elle cleaning up portions of the herb garden. Rose and Urban were here to continue painting the Japanese fence and Dr. Gredler was a whirlwind of mowing, aerating, cardboard recycling and also some trips to the dump included. We also saw Bev F., Mary D., Maury and Gary. In zipping around the gardens, I took pictures of three more neat annuals that look sharp out in the gardens. Directly below is 'Moonsong Deep Orange' marigold (
Tagetes erecta) that has 3-4" diameter blossoms on 24"+ tall plant and really glows this late in the season. Next picture down is the bold, maroon foliage of the castor bean plant (
Ricinus communis 'Carmencita Red') that looks so nice texturally, particularly when combined with bright surrounding colors and/or fine textured neighbors. Watch out as this plant is poisonous, particularly the seeds. Regardless, castor beans are "high visual impact" plants and love our hot summers (while enjoying lots of water and rich soils). Last, but not least, is the cup & saucer vine (
Cobaea scandens) which is also called cathedral bells. This annual vine is always vigorous for us in terms of stems and foliage but not real heavy on the flower power. However, the blooms are exquisite and quite large (2" in diameter).
Work continues down around "the point" each day. Todd and his workers from Nature's Touch have done a nice job on the retaining wall and most of their handiwork can be seen below. Dr. Yahr has been offering advice and keeping an eye on things out there too. He has a great eye for detail. This view is from across the pond from the boat launch. The terracing looks good and we'll soften that look with plantings as well. Our hope is to still put up a seating arbor on that point (in October) and address the landscaping next spring.
Above is a beautiful shot of the Hungarian daisy (Leucanthemella serotina) blooming in our English cottage garden. Although it looks like a shasta daisy, this specimen is almost 6' tall and blooms in September in to early October. It was a beautiful day today although a bit on the breezy side of things. It looks like potential rains this evening which would be again welcome to help make up for such a deficit in September. I'm presenting at Olbrich Botanical Gardens tonight on "Ornamental Grasses" and hope to get up there early to walk around a bit. I'll take my younger daughter with as she likes to go to these on occasion (probably to avoid chores at home...). Below is a shot of the silver Swedish ivy (Plectranthus argentatus). This 30"+ tall annual offers large, felty, silver leaves and is great along a sunny border. We plant this every year and are asked about it frequently by visitors.
We had a small crew today with Larry, Little Jerry, Janice, Big John and myself. We had two nurseries send trucks today to pick up plant sale left-overs and we helped load them up efficiently. Larry worked on weedwhipping and some other projects while Little Jerry continued pruning and mowing duties. Big John worked primarily on his juniper shearing project around the reception garden and is doing a top notch job. Janice planted lots of perennials today and she and I finished the afternoon watering some select areas and our plant sale plants. Kay was in to tidy up, remove spent annuals and make the gardens look neat and tidy for our late season visitors. Mary and Dave came in to work in their area and we saw Mary and Elle cleaning up portions of the herb garden. Rose and Urban were here to continue painting the Japanese fence and Dr. Gredler was a whirlwind of mowing, aerating, cardboard recycling and also some trips to the dump included. We also saw Bev F., Mary D., Maury and Gary. In zipping around the gardens, I took pictures of three more neat annuals that look sharp out in the gardens. Directly below is 'Moonsong Deep Orange' marigold (Tagetes erecta) that has 3-4" diameter blossoms on 24"+ tall plant and really glows this late in the season. Next picture down is the bold, maroon foliage of the castor bean plant (Ricinus communis 'Carmencita Red') that looks so nice texturally, particularly when combined with bright surrounding colors and/or fine textured neighbors. Watch out as this plant is poisonous, particularly the seeds. Regardless, castor beans are "high visual impact" plants and love our hot summers (while enjoying lots of water and rich soils). Last, but not least, is the cup & saucer vine (Cobaea scandens) which is also called cathedral bells. This annual vine is always vigorous for us in terms of stems and foliage but not real heavy on the flower power. However, the blooms are exquisite and quite large (2" in diameter). 
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