Garden Rock Stars

Fall is clearly just around the corner.  While the daytime temperatures are still warm, the mornings have been cool and misty, with the yard showing signs of overnight rain.  This time of year always makes me a little sad.  Not only is the carefree playfulness of summer coming to an end, but the peak of the gardening season is over and the plants are starting to look a little tired.  The colors start to fade and some of the plants begin to die back.  Everything takes on a more subtle appearance as Fall creeps in.

Thanks goodness for a few late-season winners that keep things looking pretty for just a little while longer!  These are my garden "rock stars."   My personal favorite is Rudbeckia hurta, or Black Eyed Susans.  (Even the name sounds like a rock band!)  It kick-starts the garden again with a giant dollop of gold and black and makes gray-skied days a little less bleak.  The other great thing about Black Eyed Susans is that they are prolific and easy to grow.  If you add 4-5 starts in one small area, by the next season they will have quickly filled in, creating a giant mass of blooms and greens, in only one year's time.  Who doesn't want their garden to go from baby-starts to full-blown gorgeous in as little time as possible!?!

Black Eyed Susans pair nicely with Sedum Autumn Joy, seen above in the center foreground.  As the season progresses, the Sedum will change color, deepening from soft pink, to dark pink, to dusty red.  The other flower I like to pair with my Black Eyed Susans are Penstemons, particularly the deeper shades shade varieties, as seen on the far left.  This one is called "Firebird" Penstemon, and I love its  deep pink hue--perfect for my (front yard) garden's color scheme of gold, yellow, hot pink, red, and deep burgundy.   The other interesting note about this type of Penstemon, is that last year, when I clipped the seed heads off in late Fall, the stems and leaves stayed green and lush all through Winter and into early Spring, when I finally trimmed them back to encourage new growth.  They never went through the usual dying-back process--unusual for a perennial.

Another great find (I have my husband to thank for this one) is this "Flame" Salvia greggii, seen below.  I LOVE the unusual color combination--deep burgundy stems, contrasting with the vibrant red flower heads.  Like most salvias, it likes full sun, but this one is unique in that it grows to 30-36"high.  It's definitely an attention grabber!  After we planted it last year, I was worried that it wouldn't be hardy or come back the next Spring, but lo and behold, it did!  (I've had my fairs share of disappointments that way, so it's fun to find a plant that looks tropical and somewhat exotic, but can withstand NW winter temperatures.)

In general, deep burgundy foliage seems to be a favorite of mine and I have to be careful not to over do it!  I love the way it contrasts with all the green of the garden and adds color even when something's not in bloom.  One stroll through my garden and you'll quickly notice the repetition of this shade of red.  I have a new plant I'm trying out, called "Mahogany Splendor" Hibiscus. (See image below) It doesn't really produce flowers of any significance, but the leaves themselves are decorative and attractive on their own, with their rich color and delicate ruffled edges.  I'm excited to see the drama this plant will lend to the garden when it reaches it's full height: a whopping 5ft!  Right now I have it paired with Japanese Anemones (pink version)--also long and leggy.  They should be fun combination in a couple years as they both fill in. 

(Red-leafed Hibiscus plant w/ Japanese Anemone in the background)

And speaking of "filling in," we have some new areas of the garden (back yard) that are freshly planted and in need of some filling!  This summer my husband and I decided to work on the bare patch of planting bed that separates our back lawn from the private golf course beyond.  We added some salvaged stepping stones, laid in a meandering fashion, and then started filling in some of the blanks with ground covers, ferns, hostas, and hydrangeas.  It doesn't look like much at the moment, but I am SO excited to see how this develops over the next couple years.  It's a very shady area, but I think I'm really going to enjoy this part of the yard, especially when the hydrangeas are in bloom.  Next year, I'm sure we'll add a few more plants, after we've had a chance to see how it looks in all four seasons.  Here's what it looks like now:

Like most things in life, gardens are always a work in progress and never perfect.  There's always something that needs pruning, relocating, or filling in, and there are endless possibilities when it comes to plant pairings and garden design. When I retire from interior design someday, (laughing) odds are pretty good that you'll find me in my garden, trying to perfect that other imperfect art form, garden composition.  For now, I'm the happy weekend novice, getting my hands a little dirty and appreciating the beauty of God's creation.  Here are a few more photos I took of views around the yard.  A little past their Summer prime, but beautiful in their own way.  Enjoy!