I'm late, I know. My garden is fried and so am I. Between
the Fling and having out of town guests and trips all summer, I've let my garden coast much more than usual. I gave up on weeding a while back and I'm very close to giving up on watering because I'm so sick of doing it.
I recently noticed that my bumble bee numbers are down dramatically while all of my other bees are way up. I posted to a gardeners' group on Facebook to see if this was the normal time of year for them to die off. People suggested that maybe I need to work on prolonging my bloom successions and, because I'm cranky and I've been watching a LOT of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, I got super defensive and like, "Bitch, why are you hating on my garden? I am very rich in blooms!"
And I really am. The salvias, the zauschneria, the sedums, the agastaches, the penstemons (all bumble favorites), they all keep going even though I've abandoned deadheading. My milkweed hit six feet, then blew over, so I cut them back and now they look like they might bloom again. If only my tomatoes would keep going, I might not mind all this watering so much.
Just in case the pollinators are sick of the same old fare, we've got fresh flowers-formerly-known-as-asters popping out.
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| Aster douglasii or Symphyotrichum douglasii if you're not into the whole brevity thing. |
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| Aster douglasii/Symphyotrichum douglasii |
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| Aster oblongifolius |
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| Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick' might as well be an aster. |
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| Datura wrightii likes it hot and dry, therefore I like it. |
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| My Miscanthus sinensis 'Little Zebra' looks like a giant party favor |
When I was in high school I went through a religious phase. I always found the part of the Sunday sermon where they told you to "greet your neighbors" very odd. It was a weird, mumbly ritual in what was already a very stuffy Presbyterian service. One time we visited what I think was called a "jubilee church." People danced in the aisle! People clapped! People sang beautifully! And when the time came to greet your neighbor they seem elated to see you and shake your hand. It was actually fun. That's what bloom day always feels like to me. So I'm cranky and I want rain and autumn, but I wish you a very happy, non-Presbyterian bloom day. Be sure to visit
our host Carol and see who else is dancing in the aisles.
