Sunday, October 14, 2012

Grasses and Blooms in October

We continue to have some gorgeous days in October.  The garden is still growing, fall is the best time to plant and transplant in our area.  My native grasses, Schizachyrium scoparium, Little Bluestem,  have started to reseed a little and I am happy to move the babies to spots that need filled in.

These grasses were planted along the driveway to help slow water runoff.  Some of the grasses have done very well, others, not so much.   I love the no care attitude with these grasses.  I have a soaker hose that sits on the top of the ridge where I have some trees and shrubs planted, but these grasses are on their own, subject to whatever Mother Nature has to offer. 


Another native grass I have in the yard is Panicum virgatum, 'Dallas Blues'.  The idea initially was to put this blue grass along the side of the yard where I have Callitropsis glabra 'Blue Ice' and Cupressus arizonica 'Carolina Sapphire', repeating the blue color.  Well, as you can see in the photo below, it got lost.  


I decided to move them from along the right side of the yard to the left side, up on the ridge.   We had a tree go down last year, almost on the property line.  It doesn't bother me so I am leaving it down.  There had been a redtwig dogwood shrub in this open spot, it didn't do well (that is code for it died).  


Adding the three blue Panicum was a good idea, they will do well with minimal care....less water needs than the shrub.  Here they stand out better, showing off their great blue color.

Also along the driveway, closer to the Bluestem grasses, is a little gully.  In that gully is where I found the Cranefly Orchid, Tipularia discolor, growing a couple years ago.   I looked for the blooms this fall, none were found.  I thought perhaps the plant had disappeared, but look what I found the other day.
 The winter foliage of the orchid emerging through the pinestraw!  Hooray.


Some more happy findings-- my Snail flower Vigna cararalla is blooming, oh so fragrant!!  I got this plant from Julie at Growing Days.  It took so long for it to bloom, I thought it may never happen.  So happy it bloomed!!  It is an heirloom vine, seeds from Monticello, a lovely vine grown by Jefferson.  It is a tender perennial in the South, crossing my fingers it makes it through the winter for another year!!
 

The cooler temperatures have spurred my Janet rose to bloom again.  Love the hint of yellow/coral in the center of this delicate pink bloom.

The buds are so pale pink with a hint of peachy yellow.


Wonder how long I will continue to have blooms?  Wow.


 Another fall bloomer is the Mexican Sage, Salvia leucantha.  Love these purple blooms on long stalks!!  There are four of these subshrubs in the yard, each full of blooms. 

The Gerbera daisies are coming back into bloom again.  Really had wanted red ones, these are more tomato soup red.

Finally, the Coca-cola box I got from my mom is planted with succulents and ajuga, making a nice addition to the area where my planted Croc is .  It is really dry in this area and there are some tunnels -- voles?  Maybe, who knows, but they do leave the Euphorbia alone.  This is  Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow'.


How is your fall garden?


©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

45 comments:

  1. Got a kick out of 'code for dried out'. 'Janet' is looking quite lovely!

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    1. Tina, glad you enjoyed my coining of a phrase. 'Janet' is still going strong.

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  2. I love the coral color of your Janet rose, and the snail vine is such an interesting flower, so exotic. It is sometimes hard to figure out where grasses will both thrive and look their best.

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    1. Alison, I love the coral color too, it is so subtle. I like using grasses in the garden, they are so resilient.

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  3. A lot of plants get the second wind in the fall. Basking in the coolness of the season change. I like your edged drive with the rocks and grasses. I am waiting for when I can get in the garden again. Now one of our daughters has pneumonia......sheesh.

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    1. Darla, We sure could use some rain to help this second flush of growth. The area along the driveway was so compacted and rocky after construction, I am glad I have ANYTHING growing in there.

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  4. I like what you're doing with grasses. Have you thought about trying prairie dropseed, Sporobulus heterolepsis? (think I got the spelling right)

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    1. Jason, thanks! Grasses are so forgiving. I haven't thought about prairie dropseed, will read up on it. thanks for the suggestion.

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  5. Your namesake rose is quite a beauty, Janet! Your grasses are a great idea for the places where you've planted them--low-maintenance is always good, and they look so natural in these areas. How exciting to have an heirloom vine from Monticello! I hope it thrives for you.

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    1. Rose, thanks, I think so too. Grasses are amazing. I am crossing my fingers with the vine, thanks to Julie for sharing it!!

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  6. My fall garden is fading fast...love he grasses and continue to plant more natives myself...I adore those peachy pink roses and that snail flower.

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    1. Donna@GEV, I imagine your garden is fading being so far north. Natives are the backbone of my garden. Less headaches!

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  7. Interesting how everyone complains about the difficult ways of roses, yet they seem to outlast everything else.

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    1. Ricki, yes, especially in the fall the roses seem to put out a new flush. Love mine.

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  8. I agree with Ricki. The roses up here will be blooming with a light snow covering. Your roses are lovely and I like the creative container for succulents.

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    1. Donna@GWGT, Love the imagines of roses blooming with a fresh dusting of snow, gorgeous!!

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  9. thanks for the nice comments on my blog - I love Mexican Sage - where did you find it? was it somewhere locally?

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    1. David, thanks for coming over to this blog. I was thrilled to find it at Wyatt's. Will share some of mine, we can jointly cross our fingers that they will survive this coming winter.

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  10. You've got some great triumphs in your garden this fall. Love that the orchid resurfaced and the snail flower made it another year. These are such unique additions to your garden.

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    1. Marguerite, I do have some nice triumphs. The orchid reappearing is a biggie!

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  11. You have lovely, rain-washed flower photos in this post, Janet. That delicate peachy-pink rose is gorgeous! Does it have a nice fragrance as well? I am looking forward to seeing the orchid flowers. The foliage almost looks like that of tulips. It is interesting that they bloom this late in the year.
    I am so glad that gardeners like you are keeping plants like the snail flower growing in contemporary gardens. A vine that has been around since Jefferson's era demands to be respected and appreciated.

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    1. Jennifer, it has been a while since we have had any rain, sure could use more!! I love this snail flower. Yes, a plant from Jefferson's time is surely a good one to keep.

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  12. The snail vine is popping up on various blogs. It is such a beautiful little vine. I hope yours survives. The blue stem will be wonderful when it becomes established. I have wondered where I can get some going in my garden.

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    1. Lisa, yes I saw it on a few blogs too. My vine is getting quite large, hoping it will survive the winter.
      Bluestem grasses are great.... High Country Gardens has a nice variety of grasses for sale. I am not sure about the viability of the seeds or I would offer to send you some. Interested in trying some??

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  13. this from Aerie-el- Wow, you've still got a lot blooming. Those happy blooms make me smile. Hope your Vigna makes it thru the winter!

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  14. I didn't realize that Panicum virgatum can take part shade but evidently it can. I have 'Heavy Metal' I think and it always flops over when it blooms so I vow to remove it every year. I wonder if you have the same problem with 'Dallas Blues'.

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    1. Carolyn, yes it can take some shade...though the new location is full morning til about 2 pm full sun. I have Heavy Metal, it doesn't flop. Will update the progress of the grasses. I do think natives are great.

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  15. I just added 'Ascot Rainbow' to my garden, too! :o) Sea Oats will thrive in that dry shade. I added several grasses last fall/this spring and am really glad I did. I love their movement and ease. Love your Coke box garden!

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    1. Tammy, I love Ascot Rainbow. The underground critters and the bunnies leave it alone. I really like the small Mexican Ponytails, Stipa tenussima.
      I am glad I finally got the Coke box planted!

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  16. You've got so much going on! Grasses, roses, sages...wonderful stuff

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  17. Hey--I recognize that snail vine! I remember it when it was just a little seed...awww... ;-) Mine took a long time to bloom this year, too--much longer than last year. I wonder why? Your 'Janet' rose is just superb--what a gorgeous color. I'm so envious--I'm becoming tempted to plant some rose bushes back by the greenhouse, just so I can have some blooms to bring inside. Darn this shady garden! Can't wait to see the blooms of your ground orchard. Beautiful garden and photos, as always!

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    1. Julie, thanks again for sharing one! I am glad to hear yours took a while to bloom too. This has been a screwy growing year (to say the least).

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  18. I like your Coca Cola planter, Janet. My grandfather worked for that company and I inherited some of his memorabilia.

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    1. DJ, thanks!! I wonder if you have the same Coke box like mine? Mine is plastic, so it isn't that old. Bet you have some neat memorabilia.

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  19. All beautiful, especially the rose!
    Have a great week-end!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  20. Nice photos, love that rose.
    Truth be told, I'm finished with my garden and ready for some snow. That probably sounds awful, but that's how I feel.

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    1. Kim & Victoria, thanks I like this rose as well. I understand looking forward to having some snow, letting the garden rest is a good thing.

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  21. So glad to read your post. I work for CocaCola so I am going to visit your garden when I'm in South Carolina and steel that crate . he he. Not really, do plans to travel. But I was very keen on the color of the seed heads, kind of a pale cream, just had I had thought. I planted Pennisetum 'Dewey Blue' which has brown or rusty seed head. As I was going to add to the grouping I purchased additional Dewey blues on clearance, only to find out they have cream colored seed heads, thus Dallas Blues. I will send you mine to match. You should look at using dewey blue. Check out the plants on my latest blog post. Happy gardening , Greggo.

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    1. Greggo, I will jump over to your blog in a sec, thanks for stopping by here. Keep your hands off the crate, ;-)
      I have a number of Panicum, 'Heavy Metal', 'Shenandoah', and 'Dallas Blues'. I will check out Dewey Blues, thanks for the recommendation.

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  22. oooh Janet ~ your namesake rose is SO gorgeous! I'm definitely going to have to add some Mexican sage next year. I don't know why I don't already plant it.
    Glad you found the orchid again ~ how are your other orchids doing??

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    1. Kathleen, thanks, I am glad you like it. Mexican Sage takes a long time to bloom (late in the season) Hope you can find some.
      I am happy about the cranefly orchid, at least it is alive. My other orchids are still alive as well, though not blooming. I am happy for the small successes.

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