This will change–remember that.

Sure–Maine may have the cool breezes and dinner plate dahlias NOW.  But in  5 or 6 weeks our gardens will be splendid, our windows open.    And they’ll be  thinking about  digging up those dahlia tubers before the ground freezes for months.

So take heart southern gardeners.  July and August may be brutal.    But fall is our second season.  The garden bounces back.  And some really special flowers come into bloom:

  • Japanese Anemones
  • Lycoris (spider flower)
  • Mexican sage (salvia leucantha )
  • Salvia Vanhoutti
  • Mums–I like a passalong single called “Clara Curtis”
  • Camellia sasanqua
  • Perennial Asters

And then there are the leaves.  Here’s my Oakleaf Hydrangea all decked out for fall (last year)

Want more good news–after fall comes winter.  After winter–spring.  All  great seasons to be a southern gardener. 

Just hold on.  Gardening will be fun again soon.   Meantime, here’s a little video of my garden from a few seasons ago.  Turn the up volume and click on the link.  Hopefully, it will cool you off a bit. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNbnD0h5VjA

There’s a wonderful  book on gardening in Autumn by Allen Lacy.  http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Autumn-Allen-Lacy/dp/0805040676 .  It’s out of print and cheap.  And there are lots of pictures of Hillsborough’s famous Montrose inside, making it very relevant to us.

About these ads