Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Wildflower Wednesday

The season flew by too quickly, and here we have arrived at September's Wildflower Wednesday, hosted by Gail, at Clay and Limestone.  My previous post was on the different kinds of goldenrod that I grow, so I won't be including them right now.  They are still the stars of the show, but others have joined them.  We have had a good amount of rain this year, so most of the plants are doing quite well.  Some of the goldenrods have white on the leaves from a disease of some kind, I'm thinking from more moisture or humidity than is best for them.  I looked up powdery mildew, and the images I saw were worse than what mine look like.

I trimmed back the asters this year, especially the New England ones, because they get so leggy and get a disease on the lower stems.  They still have that, but they are loaded with buds, a few of which have opened, and been found by pollinators.  This is a sweat bee of some kind.


The brown eyed susans have been blooming a week or two, and are still looking pretty good.


This Clematis pitherii is on a second flush of blooms, and a bumble bee is taking full advantage of it!


I normally cut the beautyberry bushes back early summer so they won't sprawl, but did not get to it this year.  They are doing OK, though.


The common milkweeds have been getting a disease the last few years.  The pods have black on them.  A friend of mine said that if the seeds look OK, they probably were protected inside the pods.  In my searching to learn about diseases they can have, I read that one should cut some of the plants back about half so there will be new growth for the caterpillars.  Do you do that?


Illinois bundleflowers are pretty even after they bloom.  The seed pods turn a beautiful dark brown, and the foliage looks good.


I am pleased to have locally native pitcher sage in different spots in the yard.  The pollinators seem to be as well.



Sometimes the blooms of a Pitcher sage will be white.  There is one clump of the white this year.


I am not sure what kind of ex-aster this is.  I wonder if it is a heath aster.


I took this another day when there was a tiny bee on it.  I do not know what kind of bee it is.  Do you?



With the days getting shorter, I guess I am accepting that it is fall.  I hope to let myself enjoy it.  Usually I am struggling because I do not like winter.  If spring weather would arrive here in March instead of April or May, I would not mind winter as much.  I hope you are having a good fall, with plenty of wildflowers to enjoy.

14 comments:

  1. Hi from the UK.. I'm a new follower. I love your garden... In Spring 2013 we started to transform our garden in a pollinators haven, still lots of work to be done but this year our garden has been alive with bees, butterflies etc.. love it :o)

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    1. Sue that picture of the Monarchs on the white sage is just spectacular! I hope you have a long fall and get to enjoy it before the dreaded cold of winter.

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  2. Sue, as always, your corner garden is putting on a spectacular show for the neighborhood. Yeah, I'm not looking forward to Winter either. I just took my snow blower into the shop for a tune up. I didn't use it last year because of the lack of any heavy snow. I just have this feeling that this Winter is going to be different. Thanks for giving us the fall tour of your gardens.

    Have a great wildflower day.

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  3. It's wonderful to see all the pollinators in your garden, Sue--such a testament to the benefits of planting natives. I haven't seen nearly the number of Monarchs that you have, but I have had one or two the past several days. I keep thinking each one may be the last as they are beginning to make their migration south. I pinched off a milkweed pod from alongside the road last week, and I noticed it had the black spot you mentioned. I wonder if it's safe to plant the seeds? Surely, as long as they don't look moldy or spotty inside, they should be okay. I thought it was the easiest way to get some started in my garden.

    I was admiring your goldenrod so much I had to go back to your previous post, which I missed, to see what type it is. All of mine is volunteer and looks quite a bit different; I think it's either Tall Goldenrod or Canada Goldenrod. I really like the different types you have.

    I vote for spring to start in mid-March, too!

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  4. I understand how fall can be hard to accept with a long winter...we have that too...but your flowers are fabulous and I really like that Pitcher sage.....my asters are starring right now too. And I pulled up some milkweed and they grew back with fresh foliage...so in a way I did cut them back...sort of!

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  5. I know what you mean about wishing spring would come a little earlier--that would make fall and winter a little easier. My Asters are struggling to get some sun--we've been especially shady this summer because the Oak foliage in the garden is so thick and lush with all the rain we had early in the summer. That's good for the Oaks, but my garden was in deep shade this summer so the blooms are a little more sparse. We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks--the leaves are starting to color and drop!

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  6. The pitcher sage is so popular, I wish I had flowers right now that were drawing in the butterflies. I know how you feel about the coming of fall, I had a very hard time last year, but this year the summer was unusually hot and dry, and I was not enjoying that, so I feel better about this fall, though I won't be looking forward to winter either, but last fall my antidote was to start a lot of flowers early under lights, and it did make me feel better, plus I got to enjoy the flowers this summer. Though not everything bloomed.

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  7. Hello Sue, i am not here as often as in the past. Your wildflowers are doing well, and i am happy to see a seed pod of your milkweed which is in the same family as our hoyas. I realized they have the same characteristics of the seed fiber attachments, although hoyas have smaller and thinner pods.

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  8. So many wonderful flowers still in bloom Sue, and I love your photos of those butterflies. So pretty!

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  9. Everything is beautiful, Sue. I especially love the NE Asters......I really should invest in some. The x-aster you have I have as well.....I did a search and looked in several books to identify it and couldn't......The pods of the Illinois Bundleflower are very interesting.....I bet they look great in dried arrangements.....Have a great weekend!

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  10. All your wildflowers are beautiful Sue and I love the photograph of the two monarchs. Summer did fly by too quickly and hopefully it won't be too harsh a winter. So far the fall has been lovely and your gardens are looking well. Have a good weekend!

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  11. Your butterflies on flowers-pictures are absolutely wonderful! Best wishes from Anne-Kristin in Norway

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  12. Yours has got to be my favorite garden blog to follow. :) I haven't done a lot of gardening lately as I've started a long arm quilting business (about a year and a half ago) and it's kept me busy with work. This year I have vowed to take on LESS so that I can do other things that I love to do. Really love seeing the transition from summer to fall in your garden! You inspire me!

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I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.