Good Idea!

WALKING around Princeton, New Jersey, the other day I came across this inspired use of an old tree-stump as a planter for a beautiful little white OGR. Not a great photo (taken w/ my phone), but I think it gets the point across. The rose was very healthy, and the soil it was in looked great. I'm quite sure this could be done equally effectively with many other plants.

Dahlia 'Barbara Z' for the First Day of Fall

AS we are now about an hour into Autumn 2008, I thought I'd offer this beautiful local dahlia to mark the transition.

I purchased this at the Kerrytown Market back in May or thereabouts, from a representative of a local-area dahlia breeders and growers group. I don't have his or the group's name handy right now -- will get back to you on that -- but the dahlia is called 'Barbara Z', after the grower's wife. This is an excellent plant and has been putting out these attractive, bright, lion's-mane flowers since August. They look gorgeous alongside the sunflowers, gladiolus, and brugmansias of late summer, and the marigolds, asters and chrysanthemums that are coming out now, and of course the fall crop of roses.

Dahlias are also great because they are bothered by few insects. Unlike a lot of perennials at this time of year, they don't get dried out or scrubby-looking or have their leaves chewed by grasshoppers and whatnot. They must be staked to stand upright and show off their beautiful colors and clean foliage, but other than that, they are totally trouble-free.

Dahlias are a mainstay of the fall garden, and essential if you are, like me, looking to extend bloom and color as far into fall as possible. In Michigan, of course, we have to cut them down and dig them out for winter storage by early- to mid-November. But until then, dahlias give far more than their share of graceful greenery and colorful flowers. To top it all off, dahlias are among the long-lasting cut flowers, and will enliven your home for days. No downside whatsoever to this wonderful plant.

Southern Plants for a HOT Day

WHIlLE it is still SO HOT here, I'd like to take the opportunity to post two photos from the trip South that we took in July/August. There is so much to say about the South plant-wise that I hardly know where to begin. I thought we would go to the JCRaulston arboretum in Raleigh, NC, but someone suggested the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, so we went there insetad. (I thought it might be more fun for my husband, who is not quite as hardcore a plant person as me.) (SO I'll have to go back to the Raulston myself!)

The Sarah P. Duke Gardens are *incredible* -- real Old South (like I would know). Flawlessly maintained, and the plants are just extraordinary and grown to perfection, as you can see from the photo. I've never seen that Ipomoea look as fantasatic as it does in this border! Usually you see them in yards or at nurseries in the north, they're kinda fungus-y and leggy and pathetic-looking, but this one was an absolute stunner. So this is what's possible in the heat! And it was HOT there that day, oh my god.

The other photo is this glorious Magnolia grandiflora that is growing in my husband's aunt's backyard, just outside of Morgantown, Kentucky. This tree was so exquisite in the sunlight, which caught and intensified the coppery-colored fuzz on the bottom of the leaves. I wished its seeds had been ripe -- I would definitely have taken some and tried to start one of these trees.

MUCH more to come about the South! But right now, the pool is calling...