The Gloaming Of Summer

Lycoris chinensis
Sweet Girls....Evil Raccoons....Sad Day
Lobelia syphlictica alba
Late Summer Waterlily
Lycoris radiata pumilla
Lycoris sprengerii Blushed With Electric True Blue
One Contented Tree Frog
Wildflowers Going To Seed
Almost Weightless, What a Treasure

(click any of these images to enlarge)
A Mist Shrouded Orb Web
The days are getting shorter and shorter,Cool nights have spurred the late flowers into bloom. A cacophony of insects add an almost tropical sound tract to the garden. Spiders abound here at Hiddenfield Farm, all types of orb weavers patiently await their next flying meal. My resident Hummingbirds are battling it out with the first migraters from their Northers nesting grounds. Every morning, I wake to their tiny battle cries. The porch door, so ofter open, lured a beautiful female inside, I heard her flying up and down the window, trying to find a way out, so I scooped her up, and brought her outside to freedom. She made a plaintiff chirp, and then layed there, almost weightless, until I blew a Puff of air to give her a heads up that she was free once more.

In the wildflower area, the Gold Finches are relishing all the maturing seed heads, it has been a pleasure to watch so much life live in this colorful area. Butterfly's are EVERYWHERE, bees too, I'm going to harvest my first honey this fall, only about fifty pounds this season, but the hives seem really good...keep your fingers crossed! I walked by the wildflowers, and on a not so wild Zinnia, my eye caught the apple green of one of the resident tree frogs that I love so much!

In bloom this season are Turtleheads, (Chelonia), Toad lilies(Tricyrtis),Hardy Begonias(Begonia grandis)...(the only zone 5 Begonia, I believe), and the spectacular Lycoris from Asia.We have had so much moisture, that I think it caused some of these wonderful bulbs to skip a season, but I could still be "surprised"!

The Water Lilies are still putting on a show, and the rare white native Lobelia syphlictica is setting gobs of seed-curiously, few self sow, but the periwinkle/blue forms, grace the woods and marshy low areas.

On a sad note, my chicken coop was taken siege by Raccoons, leaving only one terrified hen, I can only imagine the terror felt by my good hens...rest in peace! I'm going to electrify the blank out of the chicken yard, Raccoons are like evil monkeys, truly.

Matt Mattus put out his first prototype magazine for late Summer, so well done, stop by his Growing With Plants blog, and take a look. Each copy is published per order, and has a creative graphic quality I love, great job Matt! (Plant Society magazine)

I hope everyone a wonderful Labor Day, I won't be at work...but I need to catch up on so many garden chores, but that's not work to me!

Brian David Morley

Fragrant Summer Clouds

A Beautiful Pinwheel Variety
Soft, Fragrant Blooms
Mount Fuji in it's Snowy Whitness

An Old Garden Variety...Any Guesses??
Phlox "Blue Paradise"
A Recent Seedling, I'll Take Cuttings...
Phlox "Lava" from the hardware store...
Lovely and Tagless, maybe if I dug around a bit...( click any image to enlarge)


When I was little, we had a large border of Phlox ,(Phlox paniculata) that was composed mostly of hybrid plants long gone to seed. This sounds like a minor garden tragedy, but the muddy lavenders and pinks had their own special aura. We had what I would now describe as a strolling garden, a garden meant to be walked through and "take the scents and views". We did have named hybrid Phlox, Mount Fuji was always at attention in the border, looking like thunder heads forming before your eyes.

I've always cut flowers for the house, even when very young. Phlox seemed to be the prime summer blossom to cut, and there were so many...it never took away from the display! I have many memories of walking in that garden at night, a bright sky illuminating the still scene. You could find the phlox just from the drifts of powdery sweetness floating in the air. I've always had Phlox in my gardens, not just for memories sake, but for the quintessential feeling of Summer that a garden with Phlox is. So many of our beloved garden stalwarts are from Asia, thank you Asia!, but Phlox paniculata is child of our land's loins and we should cherish them, even if they are considered common by some.

Phlox are easy garden plants. They will take some afternoon shade, but the healthiest clumps are grown in full Sunlight. A moisture retentive soil with a good amount of organic matter is all they need, an established plant can take some drought, but the wear and tear will show a bit. The biggest complaint that I hear about garden Phlox is their propensity to harbor mildew. This can easily happen here in the Midwest if the plants are crowded or need dividing. I always take pieces of the mother plant in the Spring when the growth is a few inches high on the clump. They lift easily at that time , and they will hardly skip a beat.A fresh location and an open situation will usually reduce any mildew that might occur. Some people thin out the weaker emerging stalks, I would rather just remove a outer section and fill the excavated area with compost and soil. Water this division, and use a compostable mulch to keep the ground evenly moist while the offset is setting roots. Once the big initial floral show is over, remove the seed heads, and you will be rewarded by a second flush of bloom....I usually have a few in re bloom going into Fall. At Hiddefield farm, secondary Phlox blooms are probably one of the last plants that the migratory Hummingbirds get to feed on as they make their was South.

Wild about Wildflowers

Native Jewel Weed, an Impatient
One of Many Zinnias
Black EYed Susan
Oh So Delicate Cosmos, The Color Puple...
So Much Life Going On Here!

This Spring, I posted about getting ready to seed several areas with wild flowers. Two of the areas are a disappointment, at least this year,... hope springs eternally in the garden for the next year! But the third area, the "hummingbird garden" has been a real joy! I also added many collected seeds to a purchased mix, coming from Wild Seed Farms. The area has a diagonal path that leads to the Bee yard at the back of the garden, so I would be "forced" to meander through a glorious swath of annual blooms, life is tough some times, No? This season is all about Cosmos, Zinnias, Black Eyed Susans, Queen Ann's lace, Silenes...many annuals. I'm not an annual nut, but you sure get a great deal of color in a hurry!

I have also added trumpet Lilies, wild Bergamot, Verbena....this is a garden in the making, but you do indeed hear the hummingbirds buzz through, and the resident Bumblebees are in Bee heaven! The native perennials will make their appearance next year, and the year after that...LOTS of milkweeds (Asclepias), more kinds of Asters, the list is quite extensive! I even spotted some Jack in the Pulpits that had survived the dense prairie grass prior to the clearing of the site.