A Colour-full Summer

Even while summer is coming to an end, the garden continues to make me happy.

I’m really pleased with the gravel garden.  Early in the summer we adjusted the slate border; now it steps rather than slopes down, giving a firmer definition to the edge. While the yucca didn’t bloom this year, it did produce dense clumps that should bloom next year. The sedum ‘Dazzleberry’ is growing well and the small islands of sandwort (Arenaria verna) that I added offer good colour contrast.

Although it doesn’t show well in this photo, I added a top dressing of a honey-coloured gravel to make the grey gravel tone in more softly with the stone wall nearby.

And talk about bees! They are dazzled by the Dazzleberry.

This big fat guy stayed so long in one spot that I feared he was a goner. Nope, just getting all the dazzle that the sedum had to offer.

The shrub border in the Upper Field is full of strong colour contrasts, particularly striking on a sunny day.

Berries are weighing down the branches on the highbush cranberry.

We planted the shrub border in the Lower Field last fall, adding clumps of giant fleeceflower (Persicaria polymorpha) at the same time. The shrubs are still adjusting to their new location, the fleeceflower is thriving.  Next year the shrubs should be fuller and begin to grow. But in the meantime the astilbe (A. Veronica Klose) we added is blooming as never before, providing a powerful punch of bright pink that picks up on the fading tones of the fleeceflower.

Why a two-toned rock? The white section was buried until last September when we planted this border.

Although the yellow Ligularia has finished blooming, the Cascade still looks good. I like the contrasts in form and texture. The Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’ are starting to show their muscle… I’ll need to prune judiciously next year to keep everything in balance.

Take note: the fleeceflower (Persicaria microcephala ‘Purple Fantasy’) is a VERY vigorous grower.

At the Yin Yang, the contrasts in colour, shape and texture couldn’t be more obvious — soft billowy grey-green, hard static brick red.

I should have given the Artemisia a hair cut a few weeks ago. Oh, well, too late now.

Colours at Webster’s Column are less obvious. The Column, dwarfed by the tall trees that surround it, is filled with newspapers that recognize my husband’s 50 year career as a journalist. The colours on the papers have faded over the last seven years since the column was installed. That means the news isn’t fresh — but it isn’t fake, either.

I have a genuine sense of pride every time I pass this column, in part because it honours my husband and in part because it is one of the most successful sculptures I’ve designed.

On the deck where we frequently eat, the flowers are as colourful as they were at the beginning of the summer, and much more profuse. This is a combination I may repeat.

The Coleus is a variety called Indian Summer. I pinched it back regularly to keep it from getting too big. (Thanks for the warning, Nancy A.!)

The last touch of colour is one I’m not too happy to see… autumn will soon be here.

This horse chestnut tree is usually the first to turn colour in the fall. But you’d think it could wait until after Labour Day.

I hope your summer was as good as mine. If only it were longer!