LATE SUMMER GARDEN CHECK-IN

This summer has been quite rainy and quite hot, which has mostly led to a glorious garden. Here are a few wins I’ve had this year so far, and a few losses as well:

Some plants that have stood up to the weather, deer, and everything in between are my gaura and zinnias. I’ve had poor luck with perennial gaura sticking around after the winter, but I hope these showstoppers survive the cold and come back next spring. They add the perfect amount of whimsy, flowy texture and I hope to fill up the entire space beneath the dogwood with them next year. This variety is Belleza White and it has been in bloom continuously since June.

I think my new favorite annual is the zinnia. I had a hard time finding varieties I liked at garden centers in the past, but this year was fantastic. Some I started from seed indoors in April and some I picked up locally. The lower-growing Profusion mix varieties filled in beautifully, but the winner was the Zinderella Peach I started from seed. It is over 3ft tall, has non-stop blooms, and the pollinators absolutely love it. The deer have kindly left all of my zinnias alone, which has led me to stock up on lots of zinnia seed for next year.

The Profusion mix filling in nicely alongside the patio

Zinnia Zinderella Peach underplanted with some very long-blooming Moonbeam Coreopsis

I did have quite a few hosta casualties to the deer this year, but they’ll be back again next spring. (The hostas, I mean. But probably also the deer). We also had one very tall poplar tree that had to come down after suffering over the past few years. Below is a before and after. This does give me the chance to completely retool that side of the yard, which I hope to get to next year. The arborvitae along the fence are filling in nicely and will make a nice backdrop to a shallow garden bed that swoops around to the back of the yard where the poplar was. I’ve always wanted a birch tree, but I also want to fill in the area with some red foliage that will contrast against the wall of green in the back. I’m taking a few landscape graphics courses this winter at both Phipps and the NY Botanic Gardens, so I’m sure I’ll have some fun designs to share.

Let’s end on a high note. This is a small change but a much appreciated one. We have a sliding glass door in our kitchen overlooking the back patio and the grill is situated right outside of it. And unfortunately, we can’t move the grill. I’ve had pots and flowers next to the grill each year and I love the look, but all you see each winter when the flowers are gone is the grill. I decided to find a permanent solution after staging a Kagiri Nishiki Japanese Maple next to the grill while it was awaiting its final home in the front yard.

I loved the height and the screening it provided to that space, so once it was planted in its final home I went on the hunt for an evergreen to place there permanently (or at least until it outgrows the spot). I walked around Cavanaugh’s Nursery for about an hour and almost settled on a topiary I wasn’t really in love with when I spotted a Sherwood Frost Arborvitae. You know I love an arborvitae. It was a match made in heaven. This variety is a mix of green and a yellow/lime green on the tips, which is a color I don’t usually like, but I just fell in love with this plant.

Grill B Gone

I hope you all are enjoying your gardens this year. I’m trying to stay on top of weeding and mulching to get all of that under control before the season ends in order to set myself up for success next spring. I’ve also already placed my bulb and seed orders for this fall and winter and can’t wait to show you what I have coming in. The cooler temperatures here in Pittsburgh over the last week have been a welcome reprieve and have allowed me to get back out onto the patio (with the cats, of course) and enjoy the garden even more. Happy almost-fall everyone!