Wildflower Wednesday September '12

A couple days ago, when some friends had dropped by, I looked out from the deck to the abandoned field next door.  What is the purple-pink thing?  An Aster I'd planted last year and forgotten about.  There it is, happily doing its small part to brighten things up.  I must plant a few more out in that field, from the many seedling that are growing at the Cottage.  It's in a wild enough spot to count for Wildflower Wednesday, eh?

See it blooming, dead centre in the picture?

In the "unweeded bed" by the deck, some native asters are fitting in quite nicely.  Whenever I've thumbed the pages of "The Flora of Nova Scotia," or see some in the field, I think to myself I should study and get to know the Asters of my own province.  Maybe next year.

Yeah, there's Goldenrod too.  A spectacular weed in our yard - one I've not seen anywhere else, ever - is this Tansy.  I guess it is a Tansy.  All the others I've seen elsewhere are not so robust.  I have some fancy-leaved Tansy in the "unweeded bed" that behaves itself a lot more than this stuff.  These annual stems are quite woody, and it gets six feet fall or more.  And the seedlings come up EVERYWHERE.

Tanacetum vulgare

Prunella vulgaris

The Heal-All, above, dots the lawn for much of the summer, and now fall.  And the bit of Crown Vetch, below, blooms just as long, in a little patch along the driveway.  It mounds up along the ground, and scrambles as far at it can up into the twiggy Choke Cherries.

Coronilla varia

How wonderful it is to have weeds so nice at the end of September. 

Visit other blogs to enjoy Wildflower Wednesday, kindly hosted by Clay and Limestone.

September Rebound

Daylily 'Stella D'Oro'

This past week I finally made time to be out at the Cottage a bit, and the colours are rebounding.  Lots of rain has revived a few things, and come along just in time to prosper the usual seasonal sensations.

Aster blooms and Privet berries above the high tide

The Burning Bushes are starting to turn, wild apples are ripening, and Actaea, Black Snakeroot, is blooming.  I notice  the Snakeroot is shorter this year, along with a few other things; likely due to our dry summer.

I find that the 'Autumn Crocus' (Colchicum) bloom at a different time each year.  Right now they are coming out, but not all at once.  In other years, they all arrived at Thanksgiving (8 - 14th of October).  

Some of the perennial seedlings I put in the ground just last month have really taken off.  I can hardly wait to see how they prosper next year.

And even the little papaya seedling is flourishing.  Maybe I will have to rescue it and take it in for the winter.  I've not had much success with these in the past.  

May The start of autumn keep things growing for you too.

Blomidon Visit

Yesterday, our garden club had lunch at a well-loved local spot, the Blomidon Inn.  Two days of wind and rain were just ending as we enjoyed our lunch, the gardens, and the gift shop.

 

After living in this area for a couple decades, I had never wandered through this property.  It was about time!

Those hibiscus are wonderful, and blue hydrangeas are a favourite of mine.

This next corner looks like a scene from the Danger Garden.

Notice the weeping willow and the goutweed, below!  They seem under control.  Then, there is the spider plant being serenaded.  I say it's a matter of going from the ridiculous to the sublime.  The last photo is of some striking New Zealand flax.  I won't bother informing you of the Latin in this post.  

I'm sure the plants are happy to be well-watered, at last, and we gardeners are always grateful for times to gather.