The most recent issue of Fine Gardening magazine had an interesting article by Toronto gardener Mary Gore entitled “Continuous Color in the Shade.” There’s a lot to commend in this article, not least the marvelous photos, but among other things it got me thinking about color schemes for shade. In most shady gardens, color in …
gardeninacity
Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
For the last in my series of posts on seed and plant orders, I’ll focus on plants bound for containers. We’ve got lots of containers – some in sun, some in shade.
I used to fill my borders with perennials only, but then I discovered Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia). And I realized: why wouldn’t you mix annuals with the perennials? They add so much color over such a long period.
It’s foolish to take the weather personally, but I can’t help it. It’s especially foolish given what is going on elsewhere in the country. Even so, I check the weather app on my phone several times a day. We haven’t had a good rain for over a month. A rainless 10-day forecast provokes exasperated sighs. …
The first Monarch Butterflies of the year were spotted in our garden back in June. However, they were loners who made a brief appearance and then were seen no more. It’s only been in the last week or so that we’ve seen a pair of Monarchs maintain a consistent presence. Or maybe it’s been multiple …
So let’s take a look at our containers in the shady back garden, shall we?
A happy Mother’s Day to you. We celebrated Mother’s Day pandemic-style, with our offspring and their partners via a zoom brunch. It was a jolly online gathering. Let’s move on to seed starting. With one exception, germination has gone well and the seedlings are healthy. We are growing Zinnias (3 varieties), Marigolds (2 varieties), Mexican …
Do you know about Botanical Interests? If not, you should – especially if you like to start flowers and vegetables from seed. This seed company has over 600 items to choose from, with a strong emphasis on heirloom and organic varieties.
October is generally the last month for blooms. This year I think the unusually warm September prematurely wore out some of our fall flowers. Even so, let’s amble around the garden and see what we’ve got.
Phantom of the Mexican Sunflower
Butterflies are gradually becoming more scarce as we slide into the last week of September. However, this weekend I got a lucky capture of a Black Swallowtail on a Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia). This guy’s stance and coloring made me think of Phantom of the Opera, plus it kind of looks like he is wearing …
