Flowers and Foliage, Oh My

So much is going on. I've been reworking a lot of the blah spots in the garden this year. It's enjoyable but, being a visual person I have difficulty envisioning full-grown plants when they're still dormant. For instance, the Joe Pye and Canna lilies are still eensy, weensy things but in a few months, they'll tower. So how do I place them? Due to my ambivalence (aka "cramscaping"), I suspect there will be some summer amending. Hopefully there will be a few rainy days to undertake the project. Or maybe everything will be perfect. Ha! 

A few years ago my neighbor rooted this gorgeous pink Clematis for me. We don't know its identity. Is it 'Pink Champagne' or 'Asao' or...? Any ideas?

Clematis .... ?

Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Red Bells'

Phlox stolonifera 'Sherwood Purple'

 The second rose to bloom in my garden is this one:

Rosa mutabilis

And the second blossom, almost ready to pop.
Note the plethora of aphids too.

Lewisia cotyledon in bloom

Lewisia up close...

Gypsophila cerastioides 'Pixie Splash'

Heuchera 'Georgia Peach' (I think) in front of Weigela florida 'My Monet'

And my favorite Weigela, almost in bloom...

Weigela florida 'Variegata'

Tinkerbell Lilac (Syringa meyeri x microphylla 'Bailbelle')

Variegated Comfrey (Symphytum x uplanicum 'Axminster Gold')
among the throng

Impatiens omeana always look so good before the weevils start chewing on them.

Impatiens omeana

Silver Vein Creeper is really filling in this trellis, despite how shady this area is now, thanks to a burgeoning Japanese Maple.

Silver Vein Creeper (Parthenocissus henryana)

This Silene has reseeded all over my garden now. I like it, to a point.

Silene dioica seedling

Allium schubertii almost ready to pop!

While shopping with my friend Vicky recently, I found this simple birdhouse. I'm hoping maybe a bird family will take up residence. 

Finally, it used to be we rarely saw butterflies in our garden. However, in the last few years we're seeing more and more. Yesterday my daughter and I spotted a pair of Red Admiral butterflies twitterpating and nectar-sucking. Such a regal thing!

Red Admiral butterfly resting on the warm fence boards.

Are you amending areas of your garden?

Seeing any butterflies or other interesting visitors?

My Garden Looks Like Crap

Contrary to most people, I'm not terribly fond of autumn. It's not that I don't love the brilliant foliage and the golden, slanted sunlight. It's that fall is a messy season. I mean, come on. I spend months trying to keep my pathways clear and my beds and borders free of unnecessary detritus. And then it all goes to hell in a hand basket in October, reinforcing the futility of this thing called gardening. It's like splattering paint all over my canvas and it's depressing. 

Rosa 'Cinco de Mayo' in front of Rhus typhina 'Tiger Eyes' or Tiger Eye Sumac.

So the macro shots are aplenty as I wander the garden paths, ignoring the frustration of leaf litter. 

The Dahlias are happy. 

This is the first blossom on this Dahlia. Patience. (I don't remember its name.)

And also the first blossom on this one.

Serendipity. . .

Arbutus unedo and Fuchsia hatsbashii

This is a "climbing" fuchsia but it needs support. I love how it wends its way up
the Arbutus and to have them blooming simultaneously is just good luck.
The bumblebees find those white bells irresistible.

The rose blossom below is no bigger than a nickel. Tiny, but powerfully fragrant, it comes from a plant growing in a container outside one of the hoop houses at Gindhart Nursery. A sign below it reads, "Mom's Old Rose, 1955." I've admired it for years and this spring, when I saw that they had propagated it, I had to get one of my own. It's been blooming all summer.

Rosa 'Mom's Old Rose'

Dainty and exquisite. Unfortunately the leaves are plagued with spider mites but
I just cut them off when they start looking yucky.

Rosa 'Jacques Cartier' is extremely fragrant.
I'll be picking this, adding a few sprigs of Hall's Honeysuckle to a vase
and enjoying the combined fragrances for several days.

Also during a trip to Gindhart Nursery, I purchased a small pot of Boston Ivy. At the nursery, there is an entire wall of this beauty and I hope I can get mine to do something similar on a trellis near my compost pile. 

Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) 

I will allow one photo of a particularly decent looking area of the garden. LOL

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' is in the foreground. I bought it recently after learning that it
is the identity of Mindy's fabulous plant. If luck is on my side,
mine will someday look as outstanding as hers.

There you have it. I hope you all are enjoying every moment of your fall gardens.