Holiday over...

An empty pot to fill , after having  had quite a job removing all the  summer holiday Succulents . It doesn't look that thrilling at the moment: A little Corokia that I dug up, it wasn't growing well in the ground anyway, When I was digging it out I could feel something very solid underneath it, no wonder it wasn't growing!. The silvery growth in front is Ozothamnus 'County park silver' which I've had in a small pot for years, forming a nice sized mat. In the ground it tends to disappear in the gravel. The two tiny feathery things are: cuttings of Chamaecyparis thyroids 'Heather bun' and Hebe 'karogold Eek' . 

And what about the evicted ? This trio have found a home in a midcentury pot I picked up this summer.  Small enough to get in doors .  The others are having to squeeze back into any spare pots I could I could find and I mean squeeze , they have really grown.

Chutney making in the Shed...

A first today, chutney chopping in the shed; and very pleasant it was.  Such a beautiful day, I didn't want to be in the kitchen. 

Yet more frontier to conquer..

I always refer to part of the front garden; as " The last frontier" ,  having spent two years digging out Vinca Major and various other weedy things. Since then I've discovered  more areas that need seeing to: like this, the shade garden. Since I 've been sprucing up the shed all summer. I've discovered a good area of available  planting space. That was after pulling out a row of very dead Aborvitae ,  that lead to having a grouping of old Lilacs cut down…sorry. I know it looks worse, but I have plans. The neighbors  only recently put up the wooden fence, it used to be just wire fencing, not private enough.

No Lilacs, no Abovritae , and no Hydranga Queciflia …sorry I had to be ruthless . It looks awfully bare and dusty; but this will be a small shady seating area , very much needed , I realized this summer. 

As I have been spending a lot of time in the further reaches of the shade garden , I thought…  the Forsythia !  
With much digging , hacking, snipping , sawing and pulling , I've got even more space. I've even got a Schefflera and a Podocarpus badly needing  a shady home . so, on it goes !

September Garden bloggers bloom day ..

Once again I've been caught out; and  forgot it was Bloom day. I did get out this morning   to take some photos. And a beautiful September morning it was. The Saccharum ravennae blooms gently swaying. 

Nicotiana sylvestris self seeds, usually in the wrong places, this year I've dug a few up and   relocated them. I'm still finding new ones popping up. I wonder if they'll have time to bloom.

My favorite, of the Asters I've planted , A. laferiflorus 'prince' with it's almost black foliage; and I love these tiny daisies.

Kniphopia 'torch lilie' 

I've got all my Asters confused , this could be A. woods blu' or A laevis 'kurt' or a NOID I got from my mother's. Never mind I love them all in September.

Catananche caerulea 'cupids dart' which was a late purchase this spring, finally blooming , I think it got too hot for it and it refused to bloom. I like against the smoky pink and purple stems  of the Sedum' Matrona'

One of the N. sylvestris I moved with blooming Panicum' Cheyenne Sky' 

Blooming Persicara' virginiana'

And finally another Aster, which could be any of the one's I mentioned above.
Thank you Carol for hosting and here are more beautiful blooms May Dreams Gardens

September in the garden...

 Every time I try to take a photo this summer there is a hose in sight. Even with cooler temperatures  this  week , the soil has become so dry that I seem to be watering even more. Today I'll be doing even more watering , with the temperatures up again.

The areas with the plants packed in tight would have needed little water , but I've tried to keep the banquet going for the buzzy ones; and added new plants, so I've had to water a bit more.

 The shade garden hasn't been a problem , except for a thirsty Rogersia: and a pest of a mole or two  up lifting all the planting.

The 'Last frontier' formally all Vinca Major is fillling in , I removed one Azalea; and replaced it with  Epilobium canum 'El Tigre' a California fuchsia ,10" ' 4-5 wide . Perfect for rocky banks and slopes .  You can't really see it behind the grass blooms.in this photo. Now I have only three more Azaleas to think about. I just wish they weren't red and pink.

I've found several self seeded Euphorbia Rigida along the path , which I've been hoping for…less vacant  space for weeds. 

And finally the front , with hose, again.  We were  happily double digging away all spring , then the temps jumped up and upwards into the upper eighties and nineties; and the digging came to a sudden halt. I'm going to start up again when this latest heat wave ends ...will it end ? I've got 100 crocus and species tulip bulbs on order. I want a mass of small blooms in this area... 200 bulbs sounds like  a lot , but I know from experience you can never have too many bulbs .