A Humming Blooming Friday

Glorious morning light filled Ipomoea 'Heavenly Blue' from a couple weeks ago . . . it is still too wet and cold in the garden.

All the rain has made it hard to be a morning glory or a butterfly! The landscape, however, is greatly appreciative for the much needed refreshment.

The now southern bound Ruby-throated hummingbirds enjoyed playing in the last blooms and seed pods of Impatiens Roylei. I have tried for years to capture more than one at a time. This day . . .  a couple of weeks ago . . . was my lucky day. Oh, how I wish I had a better camera. These first two (above and below) were taken through glass. They were not being territorial . . . these little juveniles are siblings . . . I wish I could have seen them in their nest! They are so sweet and it seems like they are sending wing hugs to one another. Now . . .  I know that is silly of me. 

As I opened the door, they moved over to the Thalictrum 'Lavender Mist' . . . a bit too far away for my camera. I do love seeing these two performing a duet days and weeks after they are no longer visiting the gardens. 

Today is Blooming Friday hosted by lovely Katarina over in Sweden. Be sure to visit her blog Roses and Stuff  to see other gardens from around the world. 

 I will be up to my neck in orchids for the next few days . . . zen inspired arrangements for a Sunday wedding. My work will keep me from taking part in the 10-10-10 global work parties. You can find out more about what might be happening in your area 350.org. Ninety five percent of all the flowers I have used this year in wedding work were grown either here or on neighboring farms. I love supporting other local farmers and it is best for the environment too. 

Have a lovely weekend!

September Bloom Day Garden Walkabout

Before we go out into the garden, take an eastern peek with me out my French doors. The early morning light is casting a magical spell over the north garden. A Crabapple tree and Tree Hydrangea are wearing the golden rays of sun like a brilliant mantle. 

Then suddenly the sun is hidden in a blanket of clouds . . . note how cool it all becomes and how it changes the mood of the photograph.

The clouds are playing with the sun . . . tossing it about . . . one minute it is hidden the next it is out. Looking east from the doors I see what appears to be a Monarch butterfly on the Sedums. Something looks a bit odd about it though . . . let's go out and see!

Just one minute more from the inside, I want to share this young Ruby-throated Hummingbird with you. In my last post of Late Bloomers . . . I featured this Miss Canada Lilac throwing out a repeat bloom. Does this youngster not look overjoyed.  

We are gazing out a east facing window now . . . I have not installed a screen so as to open and capture moments like this. Many hummers are passing through on their way south. I took these photos while finishing my last post. 

Yummy sweet!

Now outside walking through my funky Crabapple orchard towards the Tree Hydrangea. This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago . . . all the other photographs in this post  . . . except the hummer . . . were taken yesterday, as the sun rose over Walnut hill. Light and shadows enjoy dancing in this little grove.

Before we walk over to the Sedum, to check out the butterfly . . . take a look at this great feeder. The light is bright and fills the foliage . . . painting it yellow green.

Then the clouds hurl the sun back beneath their downy fluff and all is cooler and darker green. The Pokeweed or Inkberry is a volunteer, as are many of the wild native plants about this jungle of a garden. Birds love the berries, which are poisonous to mammals. The seeds simply pass right through our feathered friends. 

Now let's try to find the butterfly. 

It is never hard to find a butterfly or bee when they are feeding on the Sedum . . . the world seems lost to them. As it turns out, this is not a Monarch at all, but a Viceroy mimicry. There are many differences but one that is easy to quickly identify is the black line going through the two hind wings.

Sedums and Hydrangeas are still making a show in the garden.  Looking back towards the Crabapple orchard we see the Hydrangea paniculata (Pee Gee Hydrangea) then by turning around . . . 

a large mass of Hydrangea macrophylla Snowball are piling up on top of themselves in front of a Viburnum.

A fresh white cloud (mophead) is just forming.

We walk past this Rugosa just as she is joining others in a repeat performance of bloom. 

Then straight ahead and around the corner of a Viburnum a sweet Fairy rose spreads her shinny green leaves and tiny spray clusters like a lovely gown about the ground. Many Sedums are scattered throughout the gardens, for they are easy, stand up to Bishops Weed and maybe most importantly . . . they are great feeders for butterflies and bees. This little Viceroy seems to like the roses too.

Wild Asters create a natural tasty filler in this arrangement of pinks.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' might be consider common to many but not to these butterflies. You can keep it from flopping over by giving it support or cutting it back early in the season. 

Bumblebees seem to prefer flowers that offer doors that open and shut, such as this Impatiens Royalei.

Lobelia siphilitica  blooming between Sedums is a native member of the Bellflower family.

Looking south from where we stand Nikko . . .  another 'mophead' Hydrangea . . .  is gracing the gardens with late repeat blooms. This image is cooled by the cloudy sky.

When the sun comes out again, it sure warms everything up. The blue is striking next to the wine colored hue of Lilac leaves.

Now we are walking over towards the veggie garden. I should say what was the veggie garden, for the rabbits simply refuse to let me have it! A delicate Hydrangea paniculata is unfurling fresh blooms too. 

Walking out into the middle meadow garden and looking back there is another Hydrangea paniculata before a Japanese Tree Lilac wearing faded blooms. Yes! that is yet more Sedum growing near the Joe-pyee Weed.

Purples join the palette of blooms in the form of Asters now beginning their open house for wild honeybees and butterflies. Faint in color but not in stature, are the Smoke bush and Joe-pye Weed mirroring each other in less saturated pinks. Oh, and there is another cluster of Sedums. This 'meadow' was filled with Iris, Daylilies, Roses and other perennials earlier this spring and summer.

A splash of yellow skirts the meadow in panicles of Goldenrod and composites of Rudbeckia Herbstonne. In the background a Linden topiary stands next to the Smoke bush.

What a joy to find this bloom! 

An orange brushstroke or is it an American Painted Lady . . . 

How good of the rabbits to let me have a few shoots of Verbena bonariensis, or I could never have shared this dazzling creature with you today. It's the day after bloom day . . . I am so slow these days.  Be sure to visit Carol's May Dreams Garden to see more blooms around the world.  

Late Bloomers Feeding the Soul and Lingering Wildlife

Late blooming plants grace our gardens and are very beneficial to wildlife. I am sharing a few of my favorites with their wild companions. Many of these photos are from one or two weeks ago. 

Hibiscus syriacus 'Rose of Sharon' is almost faded now, but a week ago many blooms were still enticing the Ruby-throated hummingbirds. The hummers left last Friday . . .  perhaps as I was writing my last post mentioning they would be leaving soon. Now I see migrating birds stopping by for a quick feed, before continuing on their way. This double Hibiscus is a great feeder for hummingbirds through most of August and into September. 

Thalictrum rochebruneanum 'Lavender Mist' is an airy plant also known as meadow-rue. Seven feet is about the height of this beauty in my north garden just across from the Rose of Sharon. The hummingbirds are often seen here perching. They will not find any food within the remaining blooms, for this member of the Ranunculaceae family is built without nectaries. The delicate flowers are caressed and pollinated by the wind.

Sweet scented Joe-Pye Weed stands proudly native and tall. This stately fellow reaches nearly seven feet and is named after a Native American called Jopi or Joe-pye, who knew of its medicinal qualities.  Eupatorium purpureum is a member of the Asteraceae family and can also be listed under Genus: Eutrochium . . .  just to confuse. This lovely plant is a division . . .  a gift from my neighbor and a welcome sight for insects and people alike.

Monarchs are happy for their late flowers.

On a windy day a butterfly can lose balance high up in the flower bracts. 

A bit lower to the ground . . . standing about three feet, when not flopping over . . .  Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is just that to butterflies and bees. Fresh Monarchs and wild honeybees fine them irresistible. 

Honeybees do get lost in their sipping frenzy in this landscape of florets . . . losing all sense of propriety.

Hosta Honey Bells or Royal Standard is still ringing her last bells and the hummers . . . 

go in for her chimes.

'Miss Canada' is truly not a late bloomer . . . more an early bloomer out of season, that will be a nectar treat to migrating hummingbirds. Newly emerging butterflies will get a late spring sweet sip they will not normally have in near early fall. It is the oddest thing . . . how a plant or shrub decides to send out one last bloom . . . a beacon for wildlife. 

Whatever her reasons Lilac 'Miss Canada' is feeding my soul too. There will be a long wait through winter, for her other blooms to exhale into spring air. Just as I was writing this text, I noted a hummer in the hostas and knew it would find the lilac . . . so I to the window went and sure enough . . . I will have a photo to show you soon. 

Impatiens glandulifera Royal is a fave of the hummingbirds and blooms well into fall, making it a great source of nectar for migrating hummers.  Also called 'Policeman's helmet' it is considered 'detrimental' as each seed pod will let loose up to eight hundred seeds. It can reach up to six feet offering hundreds of orchid like flowers in varying rose pink tones. It does not do too well in drought conditions. I will be lucky to get many plants next year.

Hummingbirds love the nectar deep inside the dangling blooms. 

Ironweed . . .  Vernonia altissima grew secretly from tossed seeds collected from our food co-op. Her bright purple sang out to me one day and I was puzzled until remembering loosely planting the seeds between clumps of iris. She will look lovely along side Joe-pye and offer late nectar to migrating Monarchs and other butterflies. Another member of the Aster family and a lovely addition to the middle meadow garden, where she may tower up to ten feet with iron strong stems. A beautiful native plant with many medicinal properties. I would like to think that the nectar too offers different properties from plant to plant enriching the lives of the visitors. Diversity in diet is a plus.

Young seedlings did not last a full June day, for the rabbits decided Verbena bonariensis . . .  were great to chew . . . though some were able to make a comeback. Fifty of these lovelies were planted near Joe-pye Weed and Rudbeckia Herbstonne, for I knew butterflies were keen to sip and sit upon the 'purpletop'.  Rabbits!!  

What do they know or care of plans . . . of how the Verbena would complement the stature of these two late bloomers and feed countless Fritillaries and Aphrodites up until frost. 

Salvia was spared in the terrace garden . . . it seems rabbits do not find it so delectable as this hummer clearly does. This little fellow has departed . . . he will be missed. Flower Hill Farm was his world for his beginning life and I hope he will return next spring having had many adventures under his wings and iridescent green.

Weigela florida 'The Ghost' is contributing a few late flowers for the hummers. Her foliage turns a pale yellow green late summer making the red flowers more striking reaching out from the ghostly leaves. She loves full sun and will grow to about five feet tall. 

Buddleia never disappoints on her promise of continuos blooms.

A Great Spangled Fritillary enjoys dipping into the long purple tubes. 

Tall and lanky Rudbeckia Herbstonne is new to my garden this year . . . what the rabbits did not eat is still standing 9 feet tall and I believe she will make it! A welcome newcomer offering late summer feasts.  Asters and swaths of goldenrod are abloom in the fields surrounding the gardens.  All these plants and shrubs keep the gardens alive with activity from visiting butterflies, birds and bees. Their colors and forms raise the spirits, as the days grow darker and the chill of fall spreads about the land. These are my successes for now and I plan on continuing to add more plants and shrubs each year to extend the flowering season.