I didn’t have a topic at the forefront of my mind for this post, probably indicative of my state of mind. There has been a lot of chaos, an epic amount of stress with little time to mourn. The garden has been on life support, receiving enough water to survive but certainly not thrive – band aids rather than medicine. How much more can it take? I have had a few friends visit this summer and frankly, there wasn’t a whole lot of adoration. Even though it is a drought-tolerant garden by design, it is showing signs of stress. I love drought-adapted plants and hope to share my successes with you all, but even this is pushing the limit. While it’s true that many of my plants receive no summer water, I suppose that my daily puttering under normal circumstances makes them happier, a fact that I did not realize until this summer, where zero puttering happened. That and projects that push the garden to be even better have just not been a part of the equation.
I am in the process of doing some serious healing. That means that the garden, my home and my family, furry, feathered and otherwise, are getting and giving the love after four solid months of preoccupation. I’m making plans for ordering compost, gravel, getting a few plants in the ground this autumn, pruning, loving, watering and more. It feels so good.
In the meantime, here are some of the better vignettes in the garden this early September. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all doom, but just tired. Just like me. Some of these areas have received love this past week so look somewhat better than a few weeks ago. Here we go: A crunchy but loved late-summer peek at the garden.
Admittedly, lighting makes all the difference. So if you’re coming to my garden for a visit, come in the evening or early morning, please. This is the edge of the labyrinth garden at sunset the other day with a few pops of color from cosmos and marigolds, salvias and more.
Evening lighting makes the layers show and tones down the harsher brown tones.
On the topic of neglect, this is Sambucus nigra ‘Pulverulenta’, a beautiful variegated elderberry. This is what I’m talking about when I say neglect. This was not watered before the two or three heat waves we experienced earlier this summer and it shows. While it will certainly recover, it is not pretty.
Circled are two Acanthus mollis that tend to go dormant in the heat of summer. They didn’t used to do this, but even with summer water they just fizzle out. No use trying to dig them out for once you plant an Acanthus, you always have one. It will grow back no matter what so I guess I’m stuck with this.
On to happier plants that appreciate heat and sun. Oscar, Agave parryi subsp. truncata is looking fine. My mother is smiling in the afterlife, for sure.
Agave parryi subsp. neomexicana behind an unknown sedum (Hylotelephium).
Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ has quadrupled in size the past year, I swear. I fear it will outgrow its current location, a lovely problem to have. Until I have to move it.
Arctostaphylos ‘Howard McMinn’ in a very hot and exposed area surrounded by rosemary, Helianthemum ‘Henfield Brilliant’ and other drought-adapted shrubs. This area has been good this year because in spring FM removed a rather unruly Stipa gigantea to give this area more room. That’s what I mean by small projects – we haven’t been able to do these kinds of tweaks to any other parts of the garden all summer, a pity because constant evaluation and changes make the garden so much richer.
A wider shot with the now trimmed rosemary hedge.
A little to the right, Ozothamnus ‘Sussex Silver’ gives a windswept look.
This area is doing fine, Hebe ‘Sutherlandii’ (Veronica ‘Sutherlandii’), heathers and grasses are all really low maintenance and haven’t required my attention although the heather did die in a couple of spots.
I had a birdbath that broke (thank you, raccoons) that I made into a succulent planter in April. I’m quite happy with how it turned out, a pleasant surprise.
My working shed filled with tools, drying seeds and more. We have a resident skunk who lives under it, which we are fine with us because they destroy ground-dwelling yellowjackets by night. We’ll wake up to ginormous holes in the ground and not a yellowjacket in sight. They also eat slugs. So the skunk stays. We have an understanding. Twice-stung FM is pro-skunk, too.
Slight hints of autumn color.
The bed on the right is likely the newest garden bed right now. It is filled with many native shrubs and perennials, several native to California that have proven to be quite happy here. It’s beginning to fill in, even with little attention in rather poor but well-drained soil. I look forward to it filling in.
The meadow has been pretty self sufficient, though I have hand watered a couple of areas to keep it from going completely dormant.
A wider shot with Stipa gigantea in the background, Digitalis ferruginea are the tall spikes.
Dramatic lighting in the same area.
Color at the edge of the labyrinth.
So the grapes could not care less about water. And they’re delicious.
Miscanthus ‘Malepartus’ also does no care about water. The fluffy blue plants are Dorycnium hirustum, hairy canary clover. A fabulous perennial/shrublet for sunny sites.
Baccharis pilularis, coyotebrush, a native evergreen shrub that also hasn’t been watered at all and looks lovely.
In the labyrinth garden Santolina ‘Lemon Queen’ looks a bit crunchy, but that’s probably because of its brown flower heads. Lots of that going on this time of the year with Phlomis russelliana brown pom poms in the background and Baptisia australis seed pods on the right. Eriogonum compositum, arrowleaf buckwheat, bottom left also has brown stems and seed heads.
On a fresh, green note Ceratostigma plumbaginoides is such a delight to see this time of the year.
Newer borders (and often times reworked areas) are usually my favorite because plants look happy, aren’t too overgrown and generally have a fresh look. This southern edge of the labyrinth garden, extended last year, is my current favorite.
So I took lots and lots of photos of it.
Looking northwest.
While I love the Phlomis russelliana here now, it will likely outgrow this spot and be removed. For now I’m loving the pom poms and enjoy how the light reflects off of them. They will add autumn, winter and spring interest until I remove them in late spring.
Standing almost behind my garden shed looking west towards the house, Miscanthus ‘Cabaret’ (variegated grass, straight ahead below the windows) and Stipa gigantea stand out, both excellent for low to no summer irrigation, which they have not received at all this year. The Ceanothus gloriosus underneath the Quercus garryana (large trunk) have been dying off branch by branch, turning pale and then brown. They’ve been doing this for a couple of years now with one rather large patch completely dying. I have no idea why. Ideas are welcomed.
Allium senescens ssp. montanum var. glaucum just now blooming, a lovely late summer bit of color.
Quercus hypoleucoides, silver oak, is an evergreen oak with gorgeous silver leaves and a fast grower, too. It’s become a real anchoring point in the garden and we enjoy seeing it from our bedroom window. The birds seem to love it, too, as small songbirds bop around its branches.
A FEW SHADE LOVERS
While technically hardy fuchsias can handle sun in our climate, they appreciate regular irrigation and frankly, a little shade is welcome in our super hot periods. This is Fuchsia ‘Dying Embers’ in a pot by our front door, a favorite.
Good old Fuchsia magellanica ‘Alba’ has been reliable in the shade garden with a little summer irrigation.
Another magellanica form, F. magellanica ‘Aurea’ is another favorite for its hardiness and robustness. It doesn’t whimper out like some other fuchsias.
FM has kept the shade garden on life support with his sprinkler routine, for which I am eternally grateful. It actually looks pretty good despite the neglect by me.
A couple welcome surprises were Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake’ flowers as my other Hydrangea quercifolia forms have fried, brown, crunchy flowers this year.
Earlier this spring I removed the last of the Ceanothus ‘Italian Skies’ from the base of our deck as they perished. Now this is the view, unobstructed.
Speaking of the deck, one small improvement we started with this week was fixing the deck railing which required me to cut back this rather unruly Clematis cirrhosa ‘Wisley Cream’ that goes dormant in summer heat so I was happy to do it. It’s not the best spot for a summer dormant vine as it’s in a very prominent spot. I think I’ll dig it up and move it this autumn. In the meantime, I’ll begin training the Trachelospermum asiaticum ‘Theta’ up the railing instead. It is truly evergreen and will be lovely year round. It is there, and vigorous, just below the clematis to the right.
After: The clematis cut back. That took longer than expected to remove.
One sweet, small project was moving this hollowed out trunk of a maple tree to the part of the garden I call Deanna’s Garden, for my mother who died earlier this summer. It has a lovely cavity so I filled it with soil and planted bunches of shade lovers. She would have loved it.
A parting shot of the setting sun on an early September evening. Good night, summer. I barely knew ya this year.
How blessed I am to say I am healing. How blessed I am to have had such a wonderful mom and how much I miss her. While it’s been a long journey going through a lifetime of belongings at her house and getting it ready for sale, it has been an honor and it has been therapeutic. I hope she likes what we did and sends her blessings from the stars above. Now I can hopefully hold those memories dear to my heart while once more caring for my own home and garden. The band aids helped, now the real healing can begin.
Saturday September 13th please join FM and myself as well as several plant lovers for our annual autumn plant sale! Lots of goodies to be had, including a few I’ve highlighted in this post. There will be several of us and we’d love to see you. In fact, if you ever shopped at Joy Creek Nursery you’ll be delighted to know that my dear friend Maurice, former owner of Joy Creek Nursery, will be there selling a few treasures he propagated this year. We’ll be there 11 am to 3 pm. The address is 334 N. Baldwin, Portland.
That’s a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we do love hearing from you. Keep on gardening, it’s an act of rebellion after all. Thank you again for your patience with my sporadic posts lately, I’m feeling back on track now.
