Here’s a sampling of what’s in bloom in mid-August for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. The garden is ablaze with late-season perennials in flower alongside a variety of ornamental grasses. It’s that late summer, almost autumnal garden look, which I love best because it suits the prairie-style openness and size of our property so well.
Sedum 'Matrona' with Russian sage and Eupatorium, Miscanthus 'Morning Light' with Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' and R. nitida 'Herbstsonne' in the distance
A view of our house from the pond, which is planted in a variety of native wetland species. The house is surrounded by a variety of grasses and late-season perennials. It's been a great season for Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
Ornamental grasses, along with Echinacea, Eupatorium. Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' and R. nitida 'Herbstsonne' and Sedum 'Matrona'
In our foursquare garden, Rudbeckia again, the grass is tall moor grass (Molinia arundinacea 'Skyracer'); in the back, Limelight hydrangea
Our meadow delivers acres of color: here purple coneflower and prairie coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) dominate; the white flower in the foreground is wild quinine
Our containers have held up reasonably well in the heat, here a collection of tropical succulents, and petunias with dark leafed sweet potato Vine
I couldn’t agree more — we have been enduring hot and humid weather for weeks now. However, in spite of the weather, it’s lovely and colorful here even though rain is needed now.
I love what Carol at May Dreams Gardens ( the founder of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day) has to say about this time of year: “August is what separates the real gardeners from the wanna-be gardeners. It’s hot and dry and who wants to be out there now?”
Visit May Dreams Gardens to check out more contributions to August Bloom Day, and don’t miss Nan J. Ondra’s contribution. Nan is a garden writer who has worked magic on 4 acres in Bucks County in Pennsylvania, and her August photos are simply awesome. I was blown away!
Home-grown Eupatorium from wild collected seed, with Rudbeckia subtomentosa
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Lovely August images Yvonne! Just got a chair to photograph a monarch on top of my ironweed. We could use rain here in Muskoka too, though please not the monsoons that descended last Sunday in black clouds that swirled through the forests and descended on the lake so you couldn’t tell which water was up and which was down!
Cheers, J
aloha,
i love that first photo, the grassy area with the colorful borders are so classic, and i also enjoyed your formal garden with the grass in bloom.
so many beautiful blooms today, your garden looks great
Oh, Yvonne – your garden is absolutely breathtaking. It gives me chills just looking at those glorious masses of perennials. What a treat! Thanks for sharing your pictures today.
Your garden pics did the same for me…
You make me want to buy a large piece of property…
Resist the impluse! When we started this, we were a decade younger…
Yvonne,
Wow! Your gardens are spectacular. I love the drifts of the grasses and rudbeckia. I also have eupatorium and russian sage planted together in my garden – it a wonderful combination at this time of the year.
Oh, wow, such beautiful colors! Your garden is absolutely gorgeous.
Welcome, Noel, Debbie and Dorothy, and thank you!
The controlled wildness of your garden is just wonderful. You’re so lucky to have an old silo as a backdrop. I guess I’m a gardener because I grumble and moan, but I still find myself outside in the sweltering heat, pulling more weeds. I hope you get some rain soon, although your garden seems to be doing just fine without it.
Me too – not a day goes by without some light (or not so light) weeding. Rainwise, we’re still ok, but we’ve been spoiled with regular downpours all summer. So I’m sulking about that.
Between your garden and Nan’s, I’m enjoying eye candy of the highest order. I don’t envy you the maintenance of such a large garden, but the payoff of having that view every day must be very nice indeed. It’s just beautiful, and I really love the image of your foursquare garden.
Now… this is what an August garden should look like! We have never concentrated on August because that is the month when we used to travel, and I was always very busy preparing for my teaching during August. I really haven’t taken the time to appreciate all the possibilities of the month in the past… your wonderful photos remind me that I should reconsider, but space is now at a premium with all the other plantings I’ve made… I do want you to know that I think what you’ve shared in this post is fantastic…. L
Hi Pam and Larry: Thanks to you both for your comments. Yes, indeed,the maintenance is a full-time job in the summer. As for the August splendor, I pay for that bit in June when it isn’t as colorful as could be, but I deliberately aim for a real showstopping end to the season. Fall is my favorite time of year.
Your photos are gorgeous – because your garden is so! Thank you so much for the wonderful stroll through it today, Yvonne!
Lene
Lovely to see you, and thanks for lunch. And those peaches! I’ll have to make my first pie of the season, and surprise my garden helpers with a real treat along with the coffee break.
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