I love my new single dahlia so much I had to post another photo. Blazingly hot but fresh color is a nice look for an August that feels autumnal already. A cool August has brought the small herd of elk down from the mountains to the coast earlier than usual this year to their favorite winter grazing, a farm field off 101 about 5 miles north of me. I have a feeling the herd will magically disappear again by Thursday, headed for cooler mountain haunts, with temps predicted for 85F — not terrific heat but uncomfortable enough if you’re wearing a fur coat. The garden glistened from overnight rain this morning, but my potted dahlia will need vigilant watering in the coming heat later in the week to keep floating those saffron daisies through September. I love the sensation of the garden serving course after visual course through fall.
Just behind the phormium is where a lot of the late show is happening — selinum, joe-pye weed newly blooming against the established, long-blooming backdrop of Sanguisorba ‘Red Thunder,’ dahlias, patrinia, Persicaria polymorpha. I’m thinking about thinning the burgeoning phormium next year, depending on what this winter has in store. Maybe it will do some of the work for me. (Not in photo — Eryngium pandanifolium has three bloom stalks this year, taller than joe-pye weed so 7ish feet. And on the subject of eryngos, E. yuccifolium has just one bloom stalk, possibly diminishing from too much shade from the maturing tetrapanax. I’ll move just about any plant other than this touchy, tap-rooted eryngium. Better to start again from seed.)
This display of characterful leaves that’s extended all summer may be a one-off, so I’m hesitant to talk about them because I don’t fully understand what’s going on. They are carpeting the narrow border on the north side of the house. Lunaria is a biennial, so when these plants bloom next spring this show of leaves will be over. Somehow the timing of when I sowed and planted them resulted in big lush leaves all summer. It’s probably just a fluke that will be impossible to replicate. (The same lunaria in the back garden shows spindly leaf growth.) Lots of seed-grown aquilegia planted here are now buried under the lush growth of the lunaria (A. viridiflora, atrata, oxysepala) — oof! Like all lunaria, ‘Chedglow’ reseeds like crazy, so there will be plenty of opportunities to experiment again. Hopefully the baby columbine buried under those leaves have a survival plan they’re working on…
That Dahlia ‘Windcliff Peach’ is stunning!! I wish I could grow more of Dan Hinkley’s plants.
As for the rest of your garden, if I ever find myself in a climate similar to yours, I’ll simply reproduce your plant palette, and I’ll be a happy camper.
@Gerhard, there’s a lot of great plants that like this cool summer — makes all the difference. I don’t think you’d be a happy camper going lower than zone 9 though 😉
I envy the many tall bloom spikes of your Lobelia tupa! Is it in full sun? Plenty of summer water? My Lobelia cardinalis needs help…
That selinum, joe-pye weed, sanguisorba photo is positively breath taking. Wowsa! (re: winter and the phormium, that line of thinking has been creeping into my mind lately as well…dammit)
@Chavli, yes, the lobelia is in full sun. I don’t water this area of the garden in summer regularly. The nearby stipa doesn’t need it. But I’m sure the lobelia is benefiting somewhat from water given to plants growing in the raised bed directly behind the lobelia even though it doesn’t receive water directly. That stipa is really too big for such a small garden. There’s a dwarf form I may try — I’d hate to be without it entirely.
@Loree, yes, those three plants are really fun in August. I need to split that phormium maybe in spring — had no idea it would keep growing so wide up here! I see them big around town too so maybe the coast escapes the PKW syndrome?
That’s a beautiful dahlia but they do want a lot of water when they’re in bloom. I’ve always wished I could grow Joe Pye weed! You have so many opportunities we don’t have down here in the hotter, drier south. But then you’ve always had more success with some plants than I have. My nominal success with Eryngium (planum) last summer seems to have been a fluke.
@Kris, dahlias in the ground here aren’t too tricky to keep watered, not like trying to grow them in LA. Again, a cool summer, softer light makes all the difference.
Ooooh, that Dahlia is perfection! I’m sure a few drops of rain was very welcome. How wonderful. I love that Lunaria show, wow!
@Hi Tracy — so many dahlias, zillions, to choose from, but I’ve been trying to track down a single orange for a while, so this was a nice score.
I like that Lobelia/Stipa combo. My L. tupa is blooming for the first time this year. Haven’t watered it once, so it’s tough! Everything else is looking very good. Joe-pye-weed has always been a favorite. The one thing that is really standing out to my eye about your garden is how many grasses you have, and how well the tanning seed heads complement the flowers in both texture and color. I’ve been cautiously adding a few grasses into my palette. As you say, some of them really get too large, but tempting to try anyway.