It is already feeling quite Autumnal in the garden with windy days and falling leaves but a quick look around the garden reveals that there still are welcome pops of colour everywhere! Here’s my pick from the garden this week, as slide into September, for #SixonSaturday!
Echinacea purpurea is great for late colour right through to the end of October and they do best in full or partial sun with their tall, strong stems. These flowers are a magnet for bees and are filled all day long with visitors stopping by to load up from their conical shaped centres of nectar. I love that Echinacea spreads a little every year giving more blooms for your buck. Like all perennial plants, after a few years, you can dig up the clump and divide it to give you more plant divisions to plant on in another spot in the garden. I split a clump into four this spring so although each new clump isn’t yet very full, it’ll bulk up nicely by next year.
I absolutely love the handsome Shuttlecock Fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, which is also known as the Ostrich Fern. I love when it unfurls its fronds in springtime but it is still providing elegant, arching, lime-green fronds in the borders.
I must include my little rose in this week’s pick. I think I’ve mentioned it before, it’s really special to me as I didn’t plant it but it appeared on my Mum’s first Anniversary and has only bloomed around that date in July every year. Imagine my surprise this week when I saw this little, perfect bloom when I was doing a spot of weeding this week.
Verbena bonariensis is such a delicate flower to have at this time year, adding height and pretty pops of colour. I just wish it was more wind-proof as it is getting pretty battered around by the high winds in my garden and parts of it are growing with a bend!
The Hollyhock has just started to come into bloom and every year it is such a surprise to me as it’s the only one which survived the original lot I planted a few years ago. None of the rest survived but this one pops up every year in late summer and blooms it’s pink head off!
Hydrangeas really come into their own in the late summer border and none as fancy and gorgeous as Hydrangea Limelight with their showy, white, frothy blooms. A white Hydrangea paniculata makes a real statement in the garden with blooms which last through to Autumn so we’ll be seeing these stunners for a while yet!
Do feel free to me leave a comment on these six and let me know what you’ve been up to this week as we slide into September!
You can enjoy reading other #SixonSaturday blogs for information and inspiration. #SixonSaturday is hosted by The Propagator, a gardening blog you should most certainly check out. You’ll find lots of links on Twitter on the #SixonSaturday hashtag and you can find The Pink Wheelbarrow on Twitter at @PinkWheelbarrow.
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