Burying fall treasures

I planted bulb number 192 today and have 100 crocuses yet to go (but they're small and you can bury them in groups). Today's bulb plantings include Eranthis (Winter aconite), Tulips, and Scilla campanulata. This picture shows the planting of the Tulip "Skagit Valley", a frivolous botanical splurge for bicolored purple and white may-flowering tulips. I use the manual bulb-planter I bought in BC last year, a replacement for the cheap one that broke on last year's muddy soil.

The fluffy backyard companion is happy to have company outside, but would rather go for a walk than supervise bulb-planting from behind the fence!

I dug up 3 of the cannas from the whiskey barrels today. I am not really intent on drying and saving the roots for next year (because it's more fun just to buy new ones every year!). However, I brought the 3 plants into the garage and potted them up. One has buds on it and I will feel cheated if I never get to see a bloom out of the poor tropicals that tried and ALMOST made it in this forelorn northern climate.

The fall colors are cheerful as some of the trees still cling to their leaves. The Siberian dogwoods have brilliant red leaves and the spirea shrubs are bright yellow. This pretty seed head belongs to Pulsatilla vulgaris (Prairie crocus) which rebloomed late in the season, after its big showing in Easter.

At left is the full bloom of Aster dumosus "Alert", a late-season bloomer. It is certainly the only plant with such a floral show in October! In another two weeks it will likely be covered in snow. It works much better here than the standard chrysanthemums, which never did bloom before snow and hard frosts.

Fall seeds and leaves

Well, fall is officially here today -- at least that's what the Autumn Equinox and colored leaves are telling us. I have left almost all of the dead flowers and foliage on the perennials to keep them hardy over winter, as they will trap more leaves and snow that way.

The squirrel has found the dried up sunflowers and made quick work of the seed heads.



I planted most of the first box of 135 bulbs from Botanus. Triumph Tulip "Negrita" (dark purple), Single Late Tulip "Florissa" (dark pink), and a bicolored purple/white "Skagit Valley" Tulip are the large bulbs of this fall. I also ordered/planted mini botanical tulips, crocuses, narcissus, and a few others. The show of bulbs in May/June is sure to be pretty next year!

September Garden Colors

My garden is still a work in progress and I have yet to fill in the perennial beds. However, several plants are blooming now whether through natural processes or fortunate accidents creating out-of-season flowers.

(Right) Blue flowers of Gentiana dahurica, a small perennial with lovely true-blue flowers.




(Right) The Japanese pink-flowering crabapple has tiny red apples on it. The tree is really just ornamental, as the little apples aren't really worth picking.





I was suprised by the delicate-looking yet tough little primulas in the perennial border. They have bloomed from spring to late summer! These are yellow "Spring fever" primulas.





Potentilla "Helen Jane" is one of the new color varieties of the plain-old common yellow potentillas of shopping-mall-parking-lot landscaping.




Wild and domestic roses are making bright red rosehips. We discovered that the doggie likes eating rosehips! Her diet will be certainly be complete in vitamin C.