Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for September 2024.
Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, the garden is slowly putting on its Autumn colors.
Emphasis on “slowly.” Though we occasionally feel a bit of a chill in the air early in the morning, the days are still hot, like summer!
Despite the heat, the asters still know it’s fall and are opening up for the bees and butterflies
And the tall sedums are showing their colors as well.
Colchicums have been blooming for several weeks now.
This particular clump is under the honeylocust, which is slowly shedding its leaflets. They’ll quickly disappear into the lawn, no raking needed. The colchicums will then just melt into the ground to rest for the winter.
Nearby, the hardy begonia, Begonia grandis, is still blooming.
I like how the backs of the leaves almost look like red flowers.
Nearby, we switch to yellow, offered up by Short’s goldenrod, Solidago shortii ‘Solar Cascade.’
This is one of the most interesting plants in my garden because it is endangered in the wild and was once thought to be extinct. Though found and propagated to be sold, it’s still a protected species in its natural environment. So how is it that I have it in my garden, you ask? You can read the story about how I got it in 2010 and then learn more about it from the Missouri Botanical Garden. Or just do a search for Short’s Goldenrod.
This is the first year I didn’t cut this goldenrod back in the spring to make it cascade a little less than it does and you can see it is quite cascading. It is also demonstrating how drought-resistant it is once it has been established, and it is well established in my garden.
That lawn does look dry, doesn’t it?
That’s because it is dry. We could use some rain, and not just a shower. We could use a couple of days of a slow, soaking rain. Maybe in a few weeks?
I’ll stop whining about the weather now and wrap this up with one more flower, the ever-blooming Geranium ‘Rozanne.
It truly blooms from June to frost.
(Yes, peaking out behind it in the upper right is a Buddleia, a smaller variety that has been quite well-behaved in my garden, and is a source of nectar for visiting butterflies. How astute of you to notice!)
Oh, wait. One more flower!
Verbena bonariensis ‘Vanity‘ has also been blooming most of the summer, attracting all kind of butterflies.
And that’s a brief look at my garden in mid-September for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day.
What’s blooming in your garden as we approach the end of the growing season?
Join in this long-standing meme/tradition and show us what’s blooming in your garden. It’s easy to do. Just post about your flowers on your blog, Instagram, or wherever you are online. Then return here and leave a link in the Mr. Linky widget so we can find you and a comment to let us know what you have to share.
“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” – Elizabeth Lawrence