Sunday, October 16, 2011

More from the Autumn Garden

As it was a fairly nice day,
I spent some time outside trying to ready the 
garden for the winter.
That meant bringing in containers that would
break if left outside in the cold 
and cleaning up debris in the garden.

Most of my garden is past its prime at this point in the year,
but there are a still a few points of interest
even this late in the season.

The seeds of the Blackberry Lily.
It is easy to see why this plant has been given this name.
I got this plant from the Master Gardener Demo Garden,
and they had gotten the seeds for this plant from Monticello.

This lily was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson.
Interestingly enough, the Blackberry Lily,
which Jefferson called "Chinese Ixia", is actually
a member of the Iris family.


Autumn sedum.


This is a new addition (read volunteer)
to my garden.

It is Late Boneset.

Early herbalists believed that the plant was useful
for helping to set broken bones
and the plant was wrapped in bandages around the 
broken appendage.





Gertrude Jekyll, an English rose, in bloom.


Pokeweed has been an unwelcome, and prolific,
visitor to my garden this year.

Despite the striking form of the plant and the purple berries,
this is a plant I'd rather not have in my garden.
Birds love the berries though and keep "gifting" me with the seeds.


The rhododendrons became confused this fall and tried to rebloom.

We are not sure if it is because of the dry weather or because
we disturbed the roots when we put in the new border.

It is possible it was a combination of the two factors.


A mimosa tree seedling has appeared in the landscaping.

I have already found out that this plant does not like to be disturbed,
so I will wait until it is a bit bigger before attempting to move it
to a new spot.

Update: I had always wanted a mimosa tree,
however it is considered to be a nuisance plant and invasive species.
I will have to consult with my local extension agent before proceeding.

One must be a good steward and good neighbor.


Victoria Blue Salvia.





Rose hip.

Did you know that rose hips are edible?
Just make sure that chemicals were not used on them.


The house and garden as seen from the "back forty".


And thus concludes our mini tour for today.
Happy Sunday.

3 comments:

Rosie Hawthorne said...

I have everything you have except for the rhododendron, the boneset, and the blackberry lily. Somehow I missed that at Monticello. Yes, Rosie has been known to purloin seedpods from across the country.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Re: Mimosa.

I love them. Delicious scent.
When the plants are this size, one is able to easily dig it up and transplant.
When the plants are taller, you can't dig them. You'll break off the long tap root. What you do is grasp with both hands and slowly and carefully pull straight up out of the ground. The tap root should come up intact. (I've done this for mimosas up to 3-4 feet tall.) Immediately set in water. Best to go ahead and transplant now, but you can leave in water for 2-3 days. When you transplant, the mimosa usually goes into shock. All the leaves fall off, but it's only dormant for a few days. Keep well-watered.

Marilyn said...

Thanks, Rosie, for the helpful info. I will have to research ideal site conditions for mimosa trees before I attempt to transplant it as I have both drier and wetter conditions in the "back forty.