Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Appreciating the Beauty of September in My Garden

In many places this Paulownia tomentosa or Princess Tree is considered a weed tree. I love it because it has spectacular lavender and gold fuzzy blossoms in spring and these gorgeous gold seed pods that linger through winter. I enjoy the view of it from my kitchen window. I saw a gorgeous specimen at Monticello years ago and I fell in love. As you can see it is now a very large tree (I grew it from seed) and so far it has not become a pest.

This is my favorite autumn blooming brown-eyed Susan. A rudbeckia species-I collected seed years ago in a field. It is so cheerful as other flowers are fading.
I love the way it brightens up the vegetable garden paths. I am really enjoying the afternoon sun now. Not so scorching as in July and August, it feels pleasantly warm as I make vain attempts at taming the late summer- early autumn jungle. I am making the effort to show the reality of my garden at this time of year. It has definitely gotten out of hand as is usual after a hot summer!
Amidst the color there is quite a bit of tall grass that takes over in August. Also the honeysuckle (Lonicera)and trumpet vines( Campsis) and a few oak seedlings planted by the squirrels keep popping up every week.
There are still hummingbirds, dragonflies and many butterflies.  Despite the messiness of late summer there is so much color and fragrance to enjoy!
 I hope you are enjoying this late summer /early autumn. Taking walks in the country is a real pleasure now -especially if you see the same places everyday. I love watching the subtle changes as autumn begins to edge out the summer. The summer birds are beginning to head south and the winter residents are beginning to arrive. The colorful summer flowers are slowly giving way to the leaves coloring up on the trees.
I will be away until October on a media-free retreat and a visit to a dear friend. When i return I hope to have more clarity about the mastermind I will be joining. Also I hope to have some lovely photographs.
Please leave some comments below or email me or pm me on Facebook. I love connecting with you , reading your comments and replying.
You might want to peek at my Pinterest boards.
https://www.pinterest.com/colleen2322/
Until next time- enjoy  your life and Appreciate Beauty Everyday (especially your own!).

9 comments:

Barbara said...

Dear Colleen, your garden is absolutely beautiful. I love brown-eyed Susan’s, although I’ve always called the ones in our garden black-eyed – maybe they are a different species? I’m waiting for the little purple Michaelmas daises to flower. They are very tall and very messy at the moment, but the insects love them, so I’m prepared to live with messy for a while. It is only a matter of weeks before we will be cutting everything down for the winter. It is always sad but next spring everything will reappear, and the cycle will begin again. Nature is truly wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures. I can almost feel the warmth and smell the blossoms. You must be proud to have grown such lush surroundings mostly from seed. Thanks for sharing your sanctuary!

colleen said...

Dear Barbara, I think they are a different species. When i have time I will look them up. We have both brown eyed and black eyed Susans. I LOVE Michaelmas daisies- I have purple as well, and one called Calico that is pink and white. I hope I can get photos... I think I still have a more blue one with yellow centres. They are a major source of nectar for the late foraging insects. Messy, yes- and some of them close up in the afternoons! We are so lucky to be able to have messy gardens in the country so that the birds and insects benefit! I plan to return here in early October! See you then.

colleen said...

Thank you for your very kind comments, Marcia! Yes, my landscape has been a good part of my life's work. It was solid forest when we bought the property. It was like being an early settler, carving out the landscape, making the gardens, and building the house. It was fun collecting and growing so many seeds!

Stephanie Faris said...

Oh wow, that's breathtaking! So far I'm mostly seeing leaves on the ground--not much color in the trees. That's my favorite part of Autumn, so I'm waiting for it!

colleen said...

Thank you, Stephanie! Sorry it took so long to reply. I have been away and i won't be fully back online until next week! I hope autumn color is beginning to appear for you! Please stop by again, do you have a blog?

laurin42 said...

WOW your garden is a magic place to rest! Love Laura

colleen said...

Laura, you are welcome to come and relax and rest any time in my garden!
Your English is so good! I hope my Italian will improve as I read your blogs. Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. I LOVE your blogs.

Barbara said...

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and leaving comments Colleen, I really appreciate it. Thanks also for sharing my giveaway post, you are a lovely lady.