Today was a garden workday. There was trimming and weeding to do, pulling gladiolas out and getting them ready for storage, even repotting an orchid that is languishing. And then I found it – the first daylily seed pod to open. Only 3 seeds, but there are many more pods on scapes getting ready.
August is one of those months – the daylilies wrap up, but the hostas are super full. The days are shortening, but the morning air is right on the edge of crisp – perfect! The crickets sing and the monarchs start showing up much more, but the robins are scarce again. The feeling starts to turn the corner into fall, but with plenty of warm days still on the horizon.
I have noticed once again I don’t have a lot of mid to late August blooms in the garden. I need to do something about that. I have also noticed I have plenty of weeding and trimming to do in the garden after a couple very busy past weekends, and I need to do something about that.
A few weeks ago I accepted a more challenging role at work, and at the same time we started to really think about how we want to downsize again and work on some more bucket list items. This whole year and all its events have brought priorities into sharper focus. So my thoughts are turning again to simplifying the things we can so we are able to amplify the things that nurture us. It is once again a time of both weeding out and filling in.
It seems that “Poof! There went the daylilies!” Not totally, but last week started a big wind-down. There were lots of “lasts”. Each day we said good-bye to some of our favorite blooms for the year. The ‘Just Plum Happy’, the ‘South Seas’, the peach daylily, the ‘Hush Little Baby’. I miss them already. Even the hosta blooms are winding down and some of the leaves are already starting to look tired.
This is the time of year when looking at the garden could make me sad. I have to discipline myself, to regroup, be thankful, and get my thoughts on how to make the garden even better next year. And we are adding little touches already. More on that in the next few days.
Yesterday morning I committed to our garden donations. The two Aureomarginatas that are 5′ wide each deserve better than the crowded space they have overgrown into. If we ate hosta greens I would keep them, but we don’t. I may save a small division, but that would have to go up north and be put in chicken wire. Much more joyful is the thought of them maybe being divided to share with many and absolutely being primary specimens in neighboring gardens.
I also decided to harvest the daylily seeds again this year, and they are plentiful.
Above are the ‘Purple D’ Oro’ but almost every daylily formed seeds this year. (The peach daylily is our exception.) Those seeds will be my early April seedling project next spring.
Today we were cleaning the garage, going through things. Some things with many fond memories were put aside to donate. We don’t use them anymore, but we know others who are very excited about receiving them and will really enjoy them. So it is with the garden. We grow, we enjoy, we improve, we share, sometimes we pass things on, all with the hope the joy will continue. We can be thankful. We can remember fondly. We can continue to move forward and improve.
Yesterday was an overcast day, with a bit of breeze, and rain on the way. Perfect day to put additions into the garden.
Saturday I visited the local garden store. I decided to bring home three additions. One was a chocolate colored sedum, to fill in a spot that previously had a chocolate drop sedum. It did not return last year but I held out hope. It did not return this year so I decided to get another chocolate colored sedum to match one we alread have (SUNSPARKLER Plum Dazzled) and see how that goes.
The other two additions are coneflowers. Years ago, at our house, I had a 20′ x 20′ wildflower and daylily corner. I really enjoyed that. We need a bit of late summer/early fall color on our path by the linden, so I tucked the new coneflowers in there (POWWOW Wild Berry).
Today also started the daylily wrap up. Our last ‘South Seas’ daylily bloom of the season was today.
I suspect the last ‘Hush Little Baby’ bloom of the season will be tomorrow.
It’s all good. Today I watched as the bees and butterflies flitted from bloom to bloom on the hostas. They do the same on the daylilies. Next year they’ll do it all again. And maybe those seed pods that are forming on the daylilies have something beautiful in store for us down the road.
We may have almost 6 weeks until the official start of fall, but fall is definitely poking it’s head around the corner here in Minnesota.
Mid-week I also noticed we are past the half-way point of daylily blooms. I still have a wonderful palette of all the colors each day, and seeing what the new day has brought continues to be breathtaking. Sadly, however, we are only a few days away from having some colors wrap up. The peach, the ‘South Seas’ and the ‘Hush Little Baby’ daylilies are at the “one bud left” stage. The red daylilies are not far behind. They bloomed in abundance for the past couple weeks and were absolutely gorgeous individually and en masse.
But … the sedum are looking so good, and their color is right around the corner.
And so begins the “thinking” time of year regarding the garden. First I “think” and think and think and think. Then I plan, then I do. I have some Aureomarginata hostas that are huge and should have been divided last year. Now a year later I have joined our association’s “newly formed” landscaping committee – as in three of us – lol. There are people in our association that have expressed interest in a landscape refresh. We have loosely discussed going more toward perennials. They are beautiful and can easily be trimmed to ground in fall by the landscape service. So I’m looking through my garden and thinking, and thinking, and thinking.
There will be gifting. I love to do that. But what scope? The Aureomarginatas deserve space. Could divisions be a good start at single, easy landscaping for folks that don’t or can’t do gardens, but like them? I suspect that’s where I will reasonably land for this fall. “Do not despise the day of small beginnings” (Zechariah 4:10).
Susan's Daily Garden 