Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Foliage

I made myself limit the number of foliage photos I took for Pam's Foliage Follow-up.  I am enjoying being back at work, but am coming home very tired.

I've shown the amaranth before, but since they provide so much color, that I figured I better include one.  I've not grown these before, and can't decide if I like them well enough to plan on planting them next year.


The painter's pallet was looking bedraggled when it was so hot, but it seems to have recovered.


The coleus is still providing some nice color.


I put this sweet potato vine in a bare spot in the ground near the curb, and it seems to be doing the job I put it there for.


The amsonia hubrichtii is beginning to get its fall coloring.


I forgot what this is that I planted this summer, but this one is doing well, and the other is struggling.


I didn't see as many caterpillars on the rue plants this year as usual.


A friend of mine gave me this plant, and the name isn't coming to my mind, but I like the shape of the leaves, so I'm keeping it in the post.


The mother of however many has lots of babies on the edges of the leaves.


I am not getting pesto made this year, but have used some basil for cooking and putting on fresh tomatoes.


My sage I had had for a number of years died over the winter.  For the first time I can recall, I had several volunteer sage plants come up in the vegetable garden.  I'm guessing they were from compost that had the seeds of the one that had died in it.  This one survived being transplanted into the herb garden.  There is parsley behind it, some that was there most of the summer, and some, I just planted last weekend because I was afraid the caterpillars were running out.


I don't remember seeing as many swallowtail caterpillars as I have this year.  I forgot how many instars they have, but this is a young one.


This one is a little older.


This one looks to need to find more parsley.


I recently cut back a volunteer clematis from sprawling all over the hostas.  They struggled through the hot weather, too, and some were eaten by some kind of insect.



The houseplants on the deck are doing OK.




I went back to the front to take a picture of Larry's vine.  I had thought it was a perennial, but we figured out it comes up from seeds that drop from the plant.  Now that the grass is out of the area, I am going to have to do battle with the many seedlings that are not needed.


I'm glad I was able to muster enough energy to do some putzing around in the yard this evening.  It was pretty nice out there.  I hope it's nice wherever you are.

23 comments:

  1. nice post. fancy foliage for sure. Going back to work can be a drag, physically. My wife went back Monday and I'm going back from surgery next Monday. Yikes!

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  2. This is a great foliage follow-up post! I love that you included your herb plants -- foliage we can eat. Is the plant your friend gave you maybe a plume poppy? Macleaya cordata? Your houseplants don't just look ok, they look great. And your Painter's Palette looks so thick and lush too. Mine is pretty bedraggled, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Maybe it's just too crowded.

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  3. Oh Sue, your garden is just so inviting! That pic at the top of the house with the garden in front is amazing...you've done so much work this past year! I agree...the mystery plant is Macleaya...gorgeous!

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  4. Wow, Sue, this is cutting back? :-) You've included so many interesting leaf shapes in this post -- that's what really caught my eye. Thanks as always for joining in!

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  5. Love the caterpillars. I've not been able to find many on my plants this year. You'll have a "bumper crop" of butterflies!

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  6. Hi Sue your plants are all healthy especially that vine which looks good at the corner. I love the variegated ones though and those which look like laces.

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  7. Lots of beautiful foliage to enjoy. Things looks really good, especially for this late in the season.

    I haven't found a single caterpillar this year.

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  8. Oh, what wonderful pictures in this post and last!! It was positively eye-candy!! Glad everything's going so well, I'm sure looking forward to when I can get some things established, and when my trees get big enough to give everything some shade here on The Blast Furnace. Your posts always cheer me up. Hugs, Ilene

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  9. Very nice on the foliage. I haven't seen many caterpillars here this summer so it's nice to know they are out there.

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  10. The mystery plant with the awesome leaves is Plume Poppy. It gets quite tall so I'd plant it by the Joe Pyes in front of your house where I think it will look awesome next year. Love your swallowtail babies.

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  11. Hi Sue! I have not been by in a while as my life has become very busy. It's wonderful to see you've been awarded Yard of the Month! Well deserved it is, too! Your garden is coming on marvellously and I really love your latest header. You know just how much of an impact you have made when even the neighborhood kids comment and notice! Well done!

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  12. I often grow Joseph's Coat amaranth, but they don't always do well. They seem to rot by this time of year. But I love that colorful foliage!

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  13. I have most of those plants at home as well.
    Great shots!

    Cassy from Beginner Free Guitar Lessons

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  14. Love seeing all the foliage, and the caterpillars! Great post, as always!

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  15. Hi Sue,

    Glad you went to the effort to post the foliage photos. I am pretty pooped after work as well, and know it can be challenging to sit down at the computer. (I find photos take a very long time to load on blogspot as well.)

    Anyway, great shots today. Hope all is well.

    Diane

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  16. Dear Sue, Wonderful foliage pictures. It's so important for perennials to have interesting foliage if the blooms don't last long. Sorry I haven't visited lately - I need to stop by more often. P. x

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  17. I like the idea of using sweet potato vine in the bare spots. I usually use it in containers, but this is a good idea as well. I have a few of the Black Swallowtail larvae on my parsley...now to protect them from the birds...

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  18. Sue, I love all of your foliage! If you figure out what the mystery plant is (the first, lacy one, not the plume poppy) please let me know. I'm pretty sure that my heart skipped a beat when I saw that silvery beauty!

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  19. Hey Sue, I love your new background. I've only seen a few caterpillars this year. Your garden always looks so inviting!

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  20. How exciting to see those caterpillars, Sue! I've been really disappointed this year in the number of butterflies here, and I still haven't seen any swallowtail catts on the fennel, which is usually covered with them.

    You have a nice variety of foliage. Now that so many blooms have faded in my garden, I'm appreciating all the foliage more, too.

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  21. Loving the foliage. Boy oh boy your yard is so full of plants/flowers just beatiful Sue.

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