Second Try at Foliage Follow-up

I recently switched to the new Blogger interface.  It's what I used for my GBBD post, but when I did my Foliage Follow-up, first, the photos didn't show up, then, when I went back trying to figure out why, and went back, the whole post was gone. 

I am focusing on sweet potatoes, some ornamental, some grown for food.

I think this is 'Blackie' filling in a bare spot nicely.

I forgot to include a photo of its bloom for GBBD.

I bought 3 kinds of sweet potatoes, but can't remember which ones.  One may be Georgia Jet.

I plant them in pots because rabbits eat them if they are in the ground.

I ran out of pots, and don't think the chicken wire was put around the vegetable garden, so I decided to see what would happen if I planted some in one of the 3 sections of the compost pile, which was not finished composting.  These plants sure have grown larger than the others!

I hope there are lots of sweet potatoes under there!

I need to be eating more kale for the calcium and to make good use of it.  I think the leaves are pretty, too.

I keep forgetting to use the lemongrass, too.  Do you have any recipes or favorite ways to use it?

Have a great weekend!

September's Bloom Day

When it gets to be this time of year, I start feeling sad that gardening season will soon be over.  In fact, it is supposed to get down to 34 degrees tonight.  There are so many flowers blooming, that I had trouble narrowing down what to post for Carol's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  There ended up being not very many blooms that didn't make it in, so I am going to limit how many I enlarge, and how many I label.  If you want to know what something is, ask, and I'll let you know.

I've mentioned seeing hummingbirds more often this year than ever, even though the only food we provide is flowers they like.  Yesterday, the one I saw stuck around a bit before it flew off, and I was able to get some photos.  Yes, they are blurry, but parts of the bird turned out better than the few others I've taken so far this year.

Ascelpias curassavica is an annual here.  I have planted it in pots before, but I think this is the first time I planted it in the ground.  It has just started blooming.  I saw a monarch on a bloom a couple days ago.

Obviously, the monarchs discovered it before I realized they did, since I just noticed this nice sized caterpillar two nights ago.

Love lies bleeding:

I'm glad I didn't pull these salvias out this spring when they struggled to grow for awhile.  I didn't imagine they would get this large.

The black jack sedum blooms are getting prettier by the day.

I love the two kinds of heirloom marigolds I planted from seed.

There are lots of butterflies in the garden every day.  I counted at least 5 monarchs yesterday afternoon on the kiss me over the garden gate and Mexican sunflowers.

The foxglove has another set of blooms.

Black Eyed Susan vine and nasturtiums, almost looking like a face:

The lisianthus plants have been blooming all summer, and with deadheading, have continued to look good.

I keep wanting to figure out what kind of rose this is that I rescued from a sale table a few years ago.  I sure love it!

Scott and Grace, I look forward to this persicaria I got from my friend blooming as full as yours and hers do.

I was surprised to see this bergenia that I moved out of the planter in front of the house after the removal of the tree blooming again.  It usually blooms in the spring, but I don't remember if it did.

I'm pretty sure this is 'Bushy Blue Bell' clematis.  It blooms all season, even after many great looking seedheads have formed.

An aster I just planted this spring:

Lavender:

Ice plant:

I deadheaded the butterfly milkweed, and there are a few more blooms.

Skullcap, 'Mongolian Skies':

Anemone, 'September Charm':

I have a few zebrina mallows that just got large enough to bloom.

Thanks to those who reminded me this iris is 'Immortality'.

I just discovered the next couple of volunteer celosias of some kind today.

There are a few clematis blooms here and there.

I'm still trying to decide if I have the patience to wait for dahlias to come up next spring.  The bare dirt sure got to me this year, but there should be more perennials coming up next year to fill up other areas.

Now that I'm figuring out this volunteer clematis is 'Sweet Autumn', I'll have to move it in the spring, because there is not room for it here.

The rudbeckia, 'Golden Glow', or outhouse flower is still blooming, but the 'Goldquelle' currently don't have any, even though I have been deadheading both of them.  This one is in a sunnier spot, though.

This pitcher sage is native to my part of Nebraska, I've learned.

Rigid goldenrod:

The tall bloom on the left is from the rigid goldenrod.  False sunflowers and zinnias are on the other side of the fence.

If you haven't been there yet, go to May Dreams Gardens to see what others have blooming.