I was able to spend some time in the garden this morning before our clearance sale started at 10 am (scheduled until 1 pm). Unfortunately it has been overcast all day and intermittently drizzling too. Signs of autumn are everywhere
including the start of fall color on the Tiger Eyes sumac (
Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger') at the top and the ripening seed heads on the Northern sea oats (
Chasmanthium
latifolium) seen directly above. The gardens still look colorful but the next couple of weeks will see that transition to more fall color and plunging night time temperatures. Marianne came in this morning to get the sale up and running and I'm in charge of closing it up. The weather was not the best for plant shopping this morning but overall, the sale has gone fairly well. Thanks to Mike P., Mary, Roy, Ron and Bev for helping run the sale and Mary brought three RECAP ladies down to help water containers (not much need after yesterday's rain) and helped set-up for the flower auction this afternoon. This is the "closure" to the daisy art project that visitors have enjoyed all summer. Those 27 flowers will be auctioned off with proceeds coming back to the gardens. To the left are the ripening hot peppers (from black to red) of the 'Black Pearl' (
Capsicum annuum) variety that has the nice dark foliage as well. To the right are the fruiting structures of the balloon plant (
Gomphocarpus physocarpus 'Oscar') in the sunken garden. Also called cotton-bush or hairy balls, this annual milkweed is a conversation piece for these structures and its current 8' tall stature. Below are just some area shots I took this morning when the lighting was perfect (and before the rain!).
After the sale today, we'll decide what will go up to the visitor's center to continue clearing out some of these surplus sale plants. We have some mums and bulbs that will go up there for sure and will make decisions on our pansies and flowering kale (
Brassica) as well. The remainder of the shrubs and pe
rennials will go back to the vendors that supplied them and while we wish we had less to send back, we had a solid sale overall. Both our spring and fall sales raise an important piece of our revenue and all proceeds benefit the continued maintenanc
e and improvement of the gardens (and my paycheck). Below (and to the sides) are some shots of our three bush clover shrubs (
Lespedeza thunbergii 'Gibraltar'). This dramatic, weeping form was found on the historic Gibraltar estate in Wilmington, DE and is known for clean, blue green foliage, arching vivid purple-pink blooms and its tough disposition. Considered a zone 5 "sub-shrub", this plant will typically die back to the ground each year and come back with arching sprays of branches up 6' or more. The bloom time is fabulous as not many other shrubs are blooming this time of year besides hydrangeas and some scattered others. Bush clovers are legumes and will tolerate poor soils as they'll fix atmospheric nitrogen. I've always been impressed with this plant and enjoy seeing it every late summer/early fall. The bottom photo is another from Santos that he sent me this morning. He is a master at photographing hummingbirds and noted that this one looked "tired" as it was sitting and not hovering!
including the start of fall color on the Tiger Eyes sumac (Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger') at the top and the ripening seed heads on the Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium
latifolium) seen directly above. The gardens still look colorful but the next couple of weeks will see that transition to more fall color and plunging night time temperatures. Marianne came in this morning to get the sale up and running and I'm in charge of closing it up. The weather was not the best for plant shopping this morning but overall, the sale has gone fairly well. Thanks to Mike P., Mary, Roy, Ron and Bev for helping run the sale and Mary brought three RECAP ladies down to help water containers (not much need after yesterday's rain) and helped set-up for the flower auction this afternoon. This is the "closure" to the daisy art project that visitors have enjoyed all summer. Those 27 flowers will be auctioned off with proceeds coming back to the gardens. To the left are the ripening hot peppers (from black to red) of the 'Black Pearl' (Capsicum annuum) variety that has the nice dark foliage as well. To the right are the fruiting structures of the balloon plant (Gomphocarpus physocarpus 'Oscar') in the sunken garden. Also called cotton-bush or hairy balls, this annual milkweed is a conversation piece for these structures and its current 8' tall stature. Below are just some area shots I took this morning when the lighting was perfect (and before the rain!).
rennials will go back to the vendors that supplied them and while we wish we had less to send back, we had a solid sale overall. Both our spring and fall sales raise an important piece of our revenue and all proceeds benefit the continued maintenanc
e and improvement of the gardens (and my paycheck). Below (and to the sides) are some shots of our three bush clover shrubs (Lespedeza thunbergii 'Gibraltar'). This dramatic, weeping form was found on the historic Gibraltar estate in Wilmington, DE and is known for clean, blue green foliage, arching vivid purple-pink blooms and its tough disposition. Considered a zone 5 "sub-shrub", this plant will typically die back to the ground each year and come back with arching sprays of branches up 6' or more. The bloom time is fabulous as not many other shrubs are blooming this time of year besides hydrangeas and some scattered others. Bush clovers are legumes and will tolerate poor soils as they'll fix atmospheric nitrogen. I've always been impressed with this plant and enjoy seeing it every late summer/early fall. The bottom photo is another from Santos that he sent me this morning. He is a master at photographing hummingbirds and noted that this one looked "tired" as it was sitting and not hovering!
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