Some months ago I found this monthly invitational hosted by The Patient Gardener and it is a monthly chance to show off your garden. Since that time Helen has handed off the duties to Steve at Glebe House Gardens. I invite you to support Steve as he carries on this fun chance to see gardens from far and wide, you can check out his EOMV here.
Unfortunately my garden is only worthy of show for about 6-7 months each year. Right now is the last days of good production across the spread, so I hope you enjoy what will likely be the last EOMV with plenty of color.
Just for variety and to keep you from wondering if I simply copied my post from August I will rearrange my photos this time around. This first one is the geraniums at my wife’s hair salon sign. I visited the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC in March and loved the way they use stone work in their beds. We have a loose arrangement of rocks which doesn’t allow for a deep bed, therefore the geraniums don’t grow as large. I plan to remake this before planting again in May.
Another trick we learned was that we can pull up the geraniums, shake off the dirt and hang them up over the winter. When the weather warms a little we will plant them in pots in our greenhouse where they will break dormancy and begin to grow again. You can read more about that here: Can I Keep Geraniums Through the Winter to Replant in the Spring.
This is a Clematis I moved when I remade our deck this spring. I used to have a huge Montana Reubens variety of Clematis here, but this one might be able to withstand better. I love having blooms this time of year even if they aren’t nearly as plentiful as in the spring.
These are the twin Dragon Wing Begonias that flank our den door. They get plenty of heat from the evening sun from the front and the radiating heat from the bricks behind.
This Lantana is planted in the ground less than twelve feet from another, but is nearly three times the size.
This is the center piece of our window box arrangement, with two under our living room picture window. We started out with wave petunias, geraniums and trailing verbena, but the wave petunias grew so large they smothered everything else. My wife jerked them out and planted more geraniums.
Moving to the back side of our homestead we encounter the dahlia garden. This has been a glorious summer for them as two new varieties have become the stars. The first is a variety called . It has a large bloom that did not fare well during the Hurrican Irma wind that found its way through our mountains, but as with all plants even harsh pruning usually is followed by new growth and plentiful blooms.
Yes, that is a canopy you see in the photo. We pick in the hot sun, so the canopy helps shade some of our bed.
Our raised bed with green beans has been such a wonderful experience. For those not in the know we were guilty of maintaining a groundhog welfare system by planting our vegetables in the ground where they had easy access. But this year we erected a 32 foot raised bed and as of the latest harvest have been able to reap the equivalent of 78 quarts of green beans. I expect to be able to pick another couple of times if we can keep them watered. We are in a prolonged dry spell with no precipitation for at least two more weeks.
The Mandevilla is still spreading blooms along the deck rail.
On the East facing hair salon window the two New Guinea Impatiens and trailing Verbena also continue to thrive although only due to diligent watering.
Although I resist fall because I know it is a herald of colder weather, I do enjoy fall mums. In the center of this osteospermum and begonia planter is one of the mums we were fortunate to bring through from last season. With copious tender loving care from my wife it is looking fabulous as it begins to bloom.
The other two mums we managed to keep flank the one above on the other side of the concrete pad.
They may be hard to see because they are freshly planted, but these are pansies we replaced our wave petunias with since they were not thriving in the dry conditions. By planting the pansies now we can look forward to a great spring display. Also they should be much more showy in the October EOMV.
One of the benefits to having a home business is you develop relationships with others who enjoy your hobbies. Below is pictures of a Moonflower grown from seeds shared by one of my wife’s customers.
This particular customer and his wife were still here when I made this photo and as we examined the blooms finally appearing he told me his had almost 250 at one time this year. Again I am thinking by the October EOMV I will have more to share.
I led off the September EOMV with our newest bed, which was a remake of a sprawling one that at one time had Japanese Iris, creeping phlox, a Clematis, Day lilies and more. Now it has a mix of annuals and perennials, but the annuals are merely for the purpose of saving zinnia seeds for a new project we want to start next season. There is an upcoming post on that called Planning for 2018 is underway.
The seed pods have opened on the blackberry lilies and I am recruiting new homes for the extra plants I need to thin.
There is a few other plants I could share, but I think I have covered the majority. I look forward to enjoying other EOMV posts and invite you back to see the end of my growing season with the EOMV for October.
If you want to check out more End of Month View posts click here: EOMV
Opposite the blackberry lilies is summer phlox and a darker day lily variety.
