International Tulip (Or Daffodil!) Guerrilla Gardening Day.

Saturday 9 October, is the first International Tulip Guerrilla Gardening Day. Just like International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day in May it's an excuse to go out and plant tulips (or daffs) in your neighbourhood and beyond, knowing that others are doing the same all over the place at the same time. This feels pretty good and will look good come spring 2011. I've heard that guerrillas in France, Italy, Canada, USA, Belgium, Austria, Germany will all be taking part... and for those for whom it's spring time well... why not make 9 October your sunflower day?


Join the Facebook event for more info here.

(If October 9 passes you by the tulips or daffs won't mind, you can still plant them well into early winter).
 
I'm going out to plant a few dozen daffs and Muscari in Pennsylvania Garden on Saturday. Join me?

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One week before the sale!

Phil obliterates weeds

Today we had an extra volunteer day to help with prep for our big plant sale on October 16th

We had a great turnout! Leanne and Phil, Alison and Rick, Emily, Arum, Gina, Michelle and I worked from about 9-2pm, and in that time we weeded the entire dog area, sheared the lavenders and watered them well (thanks Rick and Alison!), deadheaded Cannas, Scabiosas etc, planted loads of Muscari bulbs and daffodils "Fragrant Rose" and "Replete" and labeled tons of plants for the sale. Whew! Great job guys!

Emily

We also presented the winners of the dog contest with their prizes: a fabulous set of doggie poop bag holder and refills of biodegradable dog poop bags! I think they went down pretty well: Big thanks to Arum and CSNStores.com for providing the prizes.






Arum, Rick and Alison

After that Emily was kind enough to drive me over the Sloat Garden Center on 3rd Avenue. This entire trip should have taken no more than an hour - we were just picking up donated plants to use as raffle prizes for the sale. However, due to Fleet Week it took... two and a half hours. Most of that spent inching across Golden Gate Park while steaming in frustration.



Leanne

This made Emily and I very late for our next appointments, and was totally aggravating. Gah! Lucky Emily and I always have lots to talk about ;) Sorry Ryan and Melissa. Don't hate me - hate the Blue Angels, people!

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Sale plants looking GOOD!

Salvia elegans, Plectranthus
argenteus and an Echeveria
ready to sell.

I was perusing the plants we have for the sale and wow: they are looking really nice! We have over 550 plants for this sale - loads more than last sale, and they are beautiful quality. We have quite a few from Whole Foods, some from Sloat Garden Center, and a geat many have been grown on for us by Matt's dad in Mendocino who has a nursery business there.

I'd say the standouts are some beautiful 1 gallon white gingers - they will smell heavenly when they flower: awesome patio plants. Then I have a matched set of three powder blue Agave americanas in 10 gallon pots that will make someone a very imposing set - their leaves are in perfect condition and form - so architectural.

There's a massive specimen Agave filifera that you won't find just anywhere, some Peruvian Lilies just covered in flowers, and the unusual and exotic Euphorbia lambii - one gallon size and they'll quickly grow to a magical 10' tall tree-let with a very Dr Seuss look.

We've got loads of sweet peas just getting ready to cover your arbor in scented flowers, pots of delicious-smelling Pineapple Sage that are just about to bloom flame red, and millions of succulents for that vertical garden you've been dying to build. We even have Anthurums and variegated spider plants for indoors (why don't more people do border edges with these? In a shaded spot they brighten things up and make a great outdoor plant here in the Bay area - grab some Clivias too and make a rocking shade garden!)

Here's a list of the species we'll be selling, in various sizes (2', 4", 6", 1 gallon, 2 gallon, 5 gallon and 10 gallon) with more to come daily:


Aeonium arboreum “Atropurpureum”
Aeonium sp.
Aeonium haworthii
Aeonium "Kiwi"
Aeonium "Sunburst"
Aeonium - variegated
Aeonium "Zwartkop"
Agave americana
Agave americana variegata
Agave attenuata
Agave fillifera
Agave parryi
Agave lophantha
Agave scabra
Aloe arborescens
Aloe brevifolia
Aloe maculata
Aloe nobilis
Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily)
Anemone sp. (pink)
Anthurium
Aster “Bill’s Big Blue”
Atriplex lentiformis ssp. breweri
Brugmansia
Calandrinia grandiflora (Rock Purslane)
Camellia
Canna indica – red
Canna - variegated
Carex flagellifera (Weeping Brown Sedge)
Ceanothus
Centranthus ruber (Jupiter's Beard)
Chlorophytum (Spider Plant)
Citrus x limon (Lemon)
Clivia miniata (Fire Lily) - orange
Conifers - unidentified, weeping
Cordymine "Red Sensation"
Coreopsis (yellow)
Cotyledon orbiculata
Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblongata
Crassula erosula "Campfire"
Crassula multicava
Crassula ovata (Jade plant)
Cuphea ignea (Mexican Cigar)
Cypress
Dianella tasmanica
Echeveria sp.
Echeveria "Blue Curls"
Echeveria pulv-oliver
Echium pininana
Euphorbia sp
Euphorbia lambii
Euphorbia lathyris (Gopher Spurge)
Freesia "Scarlet Red"
Fuchsia sp (pink & purple flowers)
Graptopetalum paraguayense "Pinky"
Graptoveria "Fred Ives"
Haemanthus albiflos
Hedychium coronarium (White Ginger)
Hydrangea sp (White Lace)
Hydrangea sp
Impatiens balfouri
Iris douglasiana
Iris douglasiana "Canyon Snow"
Isomeris arborea (Bladder Pod)
Jasminum blinii (Pink Jasmine)
Juniperus chinensis ("Old Gold" juniper)
Juniperus horizontalis "Blue Chip"
Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi (Lavender Scallops)
Kalanchoe thyrsiflora (Paddle Plant)
Kalanchoe tomentosa (Panda Plant)
Lathyrus odoratus (Sweet Pea) 'America'
Lathyrus odoratus (Sweet Pea) 'Berry Dare'
Lathyrus odoratus (Sweet Pea) 'Mrs. Collier'
Lavandula sp. (Lavender)
Leonotis leonurus (Lion's Tail)
Lysimachia nummularia (Creeping Jenny)
Mentha suaveolens variegata (Pinapple Mint)
Miscanthus sp. (Ornamentakl Grass)
Myrsine africana (African Box)
Nepeta "Walker's Low" (Catmint)
Nicotiana alata "Lime Green"
Oenothera biennis (Evening Primrose)
Opuntia sp.
Ornithogalum umbellatum (Star of Bethlehem)
Passiflora sp (Passion Flower) - lavender/pink
Pelargonium (Geranium)
Phormium (New Zealand Flax)
Phormium tenax (New Zealand Flax)
Plectranthus amboinicus (Cuban oregano)
Plectranthus argenteus
Rosa (Rose - pink)
Rosmarinus (Rosemary)
Salvia elegans (Pineapple sage)
Salvia elegans (Pineapple sage)
Salvia greggii "Moonlight"
Salvia karwinskii (Karwinski's Sage)
Salvia leucantha (Mexican Sage)
Sedum sp.
Senecio madraliscae (Blue Chalksticks)
Sisyrinchium californica (Yellow-Eyed Grass)
Stachys byzantina (Lamb's Ears)
Stipa tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass)
Tulbaghia violacea (Society Garlic)
Viola sp. (Violet)
Washingtonia (Mexican Fan Palm)
Zantedeschia (Calla Lily)

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Potrero Hill Festival

The 20th Annual Potrero Hill Festival will be held on October 16th on 20th Street between Wisconsin and Missouri Streets. Yes that's right - the same day as our plant sale!

Potrero Hill, the iconic neighborhood is hosting the 20^th annual festival with of a “New Orleans” Style Brunch created by the California Culinary Academy and an exciting street fair at our great location on 20^th Street. We’ll have music, food, crafts and activities for the young and old alike.

The Potrero Hill Festival will support the programs of the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House (NABE). The NABE is an invaluable community resource that provides important programs for the community, including youth and senior nutrition, employment and supplemental education programs and programs for developmentally disabled adults.

We support this cause - and we'll be hosting a booth at the Festival so drop on my and say hello, and buy a raffle ticket for one of our splendid prizes before you wander down to the plant sale at Pennsylvania Garden! It'll be a great day out for everyone and the weather won't be as blisteringly hot by the weekend ;)

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Nickels for P. Garden!

Whole Foods is doing their Nickels for Nonprofits thing again. This is where you bring your shopping bags and they donate $0.05 for each bag to one of three nonprofits. Between now and the holidays, PG is one of those nonprofits!

So, every time you shop there, even if you’re only buying a tiny lip gloss or one apple, take a bag! And please pick Pennsylvania Street Gardens as your nonprofit of choice. We’ll let you know how much we raise and what we’re going to spend it on later.

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Sloat sponsors raffle prizes!

This just in! Sloat Garden Center (home of all plants we drool over) has agreed to donate prizes to us for the raffle at our plant sale on October 16th!

Come to the garden and buy a ticket or five, or get tickets at our booth at the Potrero Hill Festival on October 16th too! Oh I'm dying to know what they're donating... I'm sure it will be something very, very cool.

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Garden City Workshop Oct 10th: Sign Up Today!

A Three Part Workshop Series- October 10, 17, and November 7th.

Have you been dreaming of starting your own urban oasis, a garden where you can grow you own food and find some peace of mind, but you don't have any space and don't know where to look to find some? If so, this 3 part practical workshop series is for you! Attend one workshop, or all three. This workshop series is co-presented by the San Francisco Parks Trust and Garden for the Environment.

Garden City Workshop I: Finding City Land for a Garden & Bicycle Tour

Date: Sunday, October 10, 2010
Time: 9 AM - 1:30 PM
Location: San Francisco County Fair Building, 9th Ave @ Lincoln Way, just inside Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA 94122
Cost: $15-$30 sliding scale

Pre-registration is required, and space is limited, so sign-up soon.
To pre-register, please call (415)750-5110, or email julia@sfpt.org


"The future of life on this planet may depend on what we eat. Factory farmed junk food is the #1 cause of climate change." - Excerpt from Organic Consumers Association's "Food Agenda 2020: The Organic Alternative"

If you want to be part of reducing carbon emissions in your community and be part of the local urban agriculture movement, look no further- this workshop is for you!! You'll learn how to identify possible spaces for gardens in San Francisco, including city property, privately owned lots, school gardens, sidewalks and backyards. The pros and cons of each option will be explored. Workshop participants will venture out on bicycles for a rolling tour of innovative gardens implemented in such spaces and to meet the visionaries that created them. All participants should bring a bag lunch, water, and a bicycle.

The bicycle tour will end at Hayes Valley Farm at 1:30 PM. Workshop participants will then have the opportunity to get keyed into and play a crucial role in garden actions throughout the city organized by Kitchen Garden SF, including garden installations, maintenance and harvesting. Also planned at Hayes Valley Farm are afternoon workshops and a harvest party. The entire day's activities are part of the Global Environmental Work Party, day of action 10.10.10, organized by 350.org and local urban agriculture organizations.

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LAST CALL! Calling all dog owners! Win a prize!

UPDATE! We have some winners already.... just TWO more prizes left to grab folks! ENTER NOW!

Great day for dog owners at P. Garden: we’re having a contest, and you can win some excellent prizes!

We have 6 fantastic sets of dog poop bag dispensers and biodegradable bags up for grabs in this contest. All you have to do is answer this one simple question by emailing me: annie at psgsf.org

Name ONE dog who visits the garden regularly and who has been mentioned in this blog!

Yeah, pretty easy, but we want to give away these prizes so send your answers in right away! Spread the word on the contest and cleanup day (see rules) so we can get as many hands on deck as possible - we need to get things looking lovely for the plant sale on October 16th, where 100% of proceeds go towards improving the dog area.


UPDATE! We have some winners already.... just TWO more prizes left to grab folks! ENTER NOW!
Michelle and Gypsy
Alison and Peeka
Dorothy and Bella (I think?)
Gina and Tank

The Rules:
The first 6 correct answers win a prize.
Closing date for entires is whenever we get 6 correct answers!
You must pick up your prize in person at the volunteer days on October 2nd or October 9th, when we will be cleaning up the dog area a little in preparation for the plant sale on October 16th.
That sale is a benefit for the dog area’s new fence! If you can stay and pull a few weeds, great!
No substitutions, no whining, no howling!

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Rain?!?

Last night it rained a bit. Not in any meaningful way - just enough to make the patio wet - but the garden felt "fresh" when Matt and I went out there this morning.

Between 10am and 3pm we took care of quite a few things:

- Watered the left bed, Canna area, front border, back border, steps, sale plants, and the back half of the middle back bed.
- Deadheaded Cannas, daylilies

- Trimmed up the Watsonias
- Noticed that the Aster "Bill's Big Blue" is starting to flower (left)
- Tied the Mexican fan palm fronds together as they had a case of the flops.
- Planted two Artemisias donated by a neighbor (photo above), and potted two lavenders (ditto) to save for the lavender hedge in fall. Hate to plant anything now, but it was plant and water, or pot up and water... neither is ideal!

- Visited with our little orange cat friend (left), who was hunting mice in the borders. Also chatted with Arum, Ron, Nate and Tanya!

Tomorrow afternoon I hope to water the cactus wall and bamboo areas.

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Trimming

 

Today I got to the garden around 3pm, and stayed til 7pm. Matt propagated 3+ flats of Calandrinias donated by Deborah for the back border, while I hand watered the cactus wall, left bed, lavender hedge, sale plants and bamboo.

The Gazanas in the red bed are looking lovely - the colors fade in an interesting way. Shame the flowers only open in full sun. (left)

I also trimmed up the last of the Watsonias in the red bed. Youc an see from the photo, left, that they are growing in all nice and green and the dried up brown parts had to go. Which meant carefully nipping them out... quite tedious work! This clump is mixed red and white Watsonias that I need to separate out when they next flower - I think I'll have to put tags on the white corms and dig them up when they're done flowering, to move to the left bed.

Lastly I went along the cactus wall deadheading and tidying. The Puya venusta (left) is looking quite lovely in a twirly, serrated way - I wonder when it'll flower?

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Plant profile: Crassula capitella "Campfire"

This Crassula is one member of that large genus you won't forget. Words used to describe this plant include: Incendiary! Glowing! Hot! Wow! And as you can see from the photo, they're quite apt.

Latin name: Crassula erosula. ("KRASS-you-lah er-oz-YOU-lah")

Common name: Crassula, Campfire Plant
Originally from: Coastal southeastern South Africa.
Blooms: In the fall this plant has inconspicuous white flowers. Ignore them. It's the foliage that really wows!
Sun: Full sun to light shade.
Water: Rain is enough - the more stressed the plant is, the redder it gets!
Where to find in P. Garden: In the middle back bed.

This lovely plant is another xeric garden winner, requiring little to no water and looking stunning all the time. The leaves color up best in bright light, drought or cold temperatures. The plant offsets fairly quickly to form wide mats, and actually give off significant heat to warm your hands on a cold day (OK, that last bit is not true)

The only downside is that it gets a bit burned in frosty weather. Luckily this year it sprang right back,

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Calling all dog owners! Win a prize!

Great day for dog owners at P. Garden: we’re having a contest, and you can win some excellent prizes!

We have 6 fantastic sets of dog poop bag dispensers and biodegradable bags up for grabs in this contest. All you have to do is answer this one simple question by emailing me: annie at psgsf.org

Name ONE dog who visits the garden regularly and who has been mentioned in this blog!

Yeah, pretty easy, but we want to give away these prizes so send your answers in right away! Spread the word on the contest and cleanup day (see rules) so we can get as many hands on deck as possible - we need to get things looking lovely for the plant sale on October 16th, where 100% of proceeds go towards improving the dog area.


UPDATE! We have some winners already.... just TWO more prizes left to grab folks!
Michelle and Gypsy
Alison and Peeka
Dorothy and bella (I think?)
Gina and Tank

The Rules:
The first 6 correct answers win a prize.
Closing date for entires is whenever we get 6 correct answers!
You must pick up your prize in person at the volunteer days on October 2nd or October 9th, when we will be cleaning up the dog area a little in preparation for the plant sale on October 16th.
That sale is a benefit for the dog area’s new fence! If you can stay and pull a few weeds, great!
No substitutions, no whining, no howling!

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Power corrupts (me!)

I was asked to be a judge at a plant competition that happened today at the inaugural planting of the Indiana Street "Progress Park." Naturally this brought every officious, power-hungry, judgemental fiber of my being to attention. Fun times ahead!

I asked John to join me and he arrived at P. Garden with some plants for me. This never gets old! To my delight, he had 2 Yucca aloifolia cuttings (Spanish Bayonet - awesome. As in, awe-inspiringly pointy!) as well as 2 Agave americanas for Sharon (special request) and 2 leetle pups of a very special variegated Agave that I will be hiding on my patio until they are ready for their debut at PG. Pictures at bottom of this post.

My pals Bill, Bruce, Katie and all their crew were there today with a massive selection of gorgeous plants from (where else?) Flora Grubb. Katie had arranged the plants ready for planting, and my co-judge, John and I enjoyed overthinking such categories as "Most Dog Friendly" (friendly to dogs, or dog-proof?), "Greenest Plant" (in hue, or ecological terms?)  and "Tallest Plant" (current height? Eventual height?)

Eventually, after much deliberation, we decided on our first-through-third selections, consulting the iPhone to determine which plants were least toxic to pets and so on. Ribbons were awarded and the planting began. John and I hadn't realized there'd be planting (could it be I did not read the emails carefully enough?) so were no dressed for the task, but what the heck! We put a few in the ground anyway.

So it's nearing noon, and it's hotter than a dutch oven in the city this week (I want a dutch oven. But I don't want to be in a dutch oven). John and I had to go, so we took the pots the Indiana Street gang were going to throw out, and scarpered.

Later on, I went to P Garden and watered for about 4 hours. I happened upon Nate who was passing by in the street, and he offered me his help for an hour. We propagated a flat of Calandrinia cuttings from Deborah. I also deadheaded the Scabiosas, and tied the Mexican Fan Palm to it's stake. Need another stake. H'm. Then I potted up half a dozen Aloe brevifolia and inventoried the sale plants.

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Neighborhood Getting Greener All the Time

The Mission Bay neighborhood may be getting a new public green space in the future. I met with Bekah and Julie about their plans to get a new community garden going somewhere (maybe you can help them secure a spot?) in Mission Bay. Here's their official blurb and call to action:

GRASS ROOTS ACTION: COMMUNITY GARDEN AT MB
Online petition available now for signature
There is a grassroots movement to get a community garden going at Mission Bay, and UCSF student/staff/faculty support is really needed. If you want dirt under your nails or just think this is an idea worth doing, add your name to the online petition at http://tiny.cc/xaodd . It won’t add you to any listserves or involve more participation. More info: mbcommunitygarden@gmail.com

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Berkeley Arboretum Sale trip

Yesterday John and I went to the Berkeley Arboretum sale and silent auction. We got there 15 minutes before the members-only time opened, and the line was already huge. When the gates opened it was mayhem!

We scurried in and picked out some plants (Agave ovatifolia, Aloe speciosa and a Dudleya for me), then looked at the silent aution items. They had several impressive, rare specimens up for bid,a nd it was very hard for me to stop myself bidding on a Yucca "Bright Star" that ended up going for $85 and a Dendroseris litoralis (Cabbage Tree - photo above) that went for $63... but I managed to stay sane.

I felt the prices on most plants were comparable to retail - some a good bit higher though. On the whole I think it's good to support the Arboretum though, so that's OK with me.

After the sale we drove to the CVS Pharmacy in Oakland that John said had some nice plants... and he was right! Oddly labelled, oddly priced, and many of them looking like they'd been dropped on their heads, but I got an Aloe polyphylla and another Dudleya (unnamed). I somewhat regret leaving behind some nice Agaves there though...

Next we went in search of some Aloe "Goliath" plants reputed to be at the Piedmont ACE hardware. They ended up only having the more-desireable (to me) Aloe "Hercules" but it was a 10 gallon plant in poor shape, for $80... so I skipped it (think about it - coulda had a much rarer plant for less at Berkeley Arboretum!).

We went home via Berkeley Horticultural Nursery (grabbed some large pots for the garden) and so ended our plant shopping odyssey. Good times. Second pic shows the middle back bed this morning, looking lovely with all the flowers.

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Godmother payback

Last week I got an email from Sharon, one of The Godmothers who helped Emily out with a donation for the Mariposa Center Garden. Sharon was looking for two freaky plants for planters at her school.  I thought Agave americanas would be good in that warm, dry spot, but didn't have a matching pair that was ready yet.

On a whim, I asked John if he had any lying around doing nothing... being John, he went and dug some up! Sharon planted them at the weekend, and you can see the results above!

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Weeds begone!

Up at the crack o'dawn today to go to the Sloat plant sale. I got some Penstemons for Emily's upcoming demonstration gardening event at UCSF (details to follow)

At 10am Matt and I made it to the garden. This volunteer day was another great show of might in numbers. In two hours Arum, Nataly, Elliot, Nate, Tanya and Miyuki cleared all the paths of weeds. Boom!

Miyuki and I also inventoried succulents, and Matt bought new locks for the tool shed. I chatted with Max from across the street, and David from around the 'hood. Matt set up the water and improved the path to the compost heap a bit too.

After that we all stood around eating ice cream Arum had brought from Mr & Mrs Miscellaneous which was excellent.

All in all, a lovely day! Photos show the Salvia elegans (Pineapple Sage) flowering nicely for the first time, and the Dyckia, getting ready to flower again.

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Potting session

Matt and I went out today and potted up some Agave lophantha that John gave us recently. Took about an hour to get them all set up for the plant sale, and we have more to do. Then we were hungry... so we left!

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention.... it RAINED today. The non-locals may not appreciate the significance of this, but it's a big deal to SF gardeners: first real rain since the spring! I just Googled to find out how much rain we got and let's just say it might as well never have happened, 'cos that statistic is impossible to find. I estimate 1/2" which is about enough to make the soil look wet, but if you scuff the dirt with your toe it's dusty underneath. It will take a few days of that rain, or a real storm, before we get nice damp dirt. In the meantime I'll be out there dragging hoses around as usual...

Photo shows two Salvias flowering away nicely: in the forground is "Anthony Parker" and in the background Salvia leucantha (Mexican Sage)

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Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - September 2010

 Our days have been cool and windy lately, but Monday and Tuesday gave us warm sunshine in the afternoons and that felt very good. Today was mostly cloudy and gray, with a very nippy breeze...not condusive to gardening, but I managed to force myself to go out for a little while and tidy some edges, which always seems to need doing.

As autumn approaches we still have quite a lot of color in the garden.

Jasmine follows me around, hoping for a photo op. 

She's a real ham!

The annuals are blooming beautifully in the Lily Garden, along with late perennials, filling spaces where daylilies bloomed earlier.

Sedum Autumn Joy has grown into a larger clump than I expected, hiding the 2 small Knockout rose bushes in this bed. They'll grow taller next year with a little luck. The Buddleia/Butterfly Bush is attracting plenty of butterflies with it's fragrant blooms.

Queen Elizabeth Rose is looking beautiful in the Rose/Clematis Garden, and those pink petunias, Homestead Purple Verbena and Alyssum are still making a pretty show. I cringe at the thought of frost.

 Obedient Plant/Physostegia Virginiana is gorgeous in the Pink Garden.

Japanese Anemones have replaced the Shasta Daisies in the Daisy Garden, and Gloriosa blooms still keep coming.

Hannah wants her picture in the post too! I love the color of this Chrysanthemum.

It's beginning to look a lot like autumn here on the farm and we're feeling sad to see the summer end.


There's lots more blooming - window boxes and containers are still looking colorful - but this is at least a small glimpse of how the gardens look in mid-September. I hope to post more photos soon.


Thanks again to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for inspiring Bloom Day. Visit her Bloom Day post to see gardens far and wide, as our seasons change once more.


Happy September Bloom Day everyone!

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