Today is the last day of September, which means that no matter how many lawyers you hire to argue otherwise, autumn has truly begun. It’s simply undeniable. And yet, should we want to deny it, there are certain plants that stand ready to back us up in our denial. These are the plants that, once …
My favorite butterfly on my favorite annual flower. That’s all.
This has been a pretty good summer, if not a great one, for our flowering containers in the sunny front garden. I feel like we’ve developed a style and a palette of plants we can keep going back to. At the same time, there are always lessons to learn – particularly those taught by stretches …
We haven’t seen a Monarch since last weekend, but today there were several Painted Lady butterflies fluttering around the Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia) and the various Rudbeckias.
On Saturday we flew back to Chicago from Japan. It was a 12 hour flight, during which I did not sleep at all. Nevertheless, I was fairly alert on the drive home from the airport, focused mainly on what we would find upon returning to the garden. My anxiety gradually rose as I took in …
Pollinators love Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia).
Now that it’s almost the middle of August, maybe it’s a good time to do an update on the flowering containers in the front garden. Overall, my assessment would be: they’re doing pretty well. Not spectacular, perhaps, but certainly pretty well.
The front containers have just been sitting around for a month or so, containing nothing but ripening Tulip foliage and the Sweet Alyssum ‘Easter Bonnet Lemonade’ which I used to underplant the Tulips. I’ll let the Sweet Alyssum age in place while the new plants fill in. Speaking of aging in place, it’s funny that …
Summer is coming. I know because last Saturday I planted Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia). This is the moment every year when I feel that spring is starting to fade away and summer is coming over the horizon.
gardeninacity 