Your Home, Garden and Travel

Pink mums perk up the garden for the third year.

The cottage garden is hanging on with blooms of mums, zinnias and autumn sage. With no frost so far, the bloom season suddenly improved after the last rainfall.

The garden mums are now in the third year. I simply divide the mother plants when they get too large. I plant out the offspring and those are bloom in their first season.  The foliage remains evergreen here in zone 7b. I pinch back the plants until the July 4th to create a mounding shape, loaded with autumn blooms.

Zinnias are still fabulous. The butterflies and bees are grateful for the nectar!

The Monarch butterflies reared in my garden were grateful for these late zinnia blooms. Six Monarchs recently emerged in one day! It was delightful to see all six sipping from the zinnias. I am glad that I hadn't pulled out the tall, lanky annuals. There are still so many buds left to open.

I planted zinnia seeds from May through July to keep the blooms coming. These are also wonderful cut flowers. The more I cut, the more branching and blooms. A great investment for a few dollars in seeds.

Benary's Giant Zinnias continue with robust blooms.

Different shades of pink and purple dot all of my gardens as the salvia greggii varieties are putting on a spectacular show. However, they are difficult to photograph—even in all their glory!

The greggii varieties might not do well in the cold zones, but for zones 7-9, they are great xeric plants that bloom profusely in spring and again in autumn. The hummingbirds rely upon these early and late blooms as a food source. Good companions include sedum and stachys.

The forest leaves haven't yet turned. We're still having warm days, but the mornings are noticeably cooler. Until the first frosts, I'm happy to enjoy the pinks and purples.

Just one of many salvia colors. This is salvia greggii 'Diane'.

Salvia greggii 'Ultra Violet'.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Geranium 'Rozanne' blooms and foliage work well below roses and coneflowers June 16 2010

"In the third year it leaps" is an appropriate description for the growth habit of perennial geranium 'Rozanne'. The first two years of growth were not that impressive and I had to protect the plants from rabbits. It is now October, and 'Rozanne' continues to bloom, though not quite as heavy as in June. I'm now convinced that I want to keep this perennial going—and if I had more space, I wouldn't hesitate to grow it—rabbits be darned!

With a bit of supplemental water through our driest and hottest months, 'Rozanne' never looked unhappy for more than a day. I cut back the geranium whenever she gets too long and leggy. This keeps the mounding shape in check and encourages more flowers.

Cranesbill geranium 'Rozanne' can be grown in zones 5-8 in full sun or part sun. I have to provide a bit of afternoon shade here in the hot south by growing it below my roses and coneflowers. The mounding (if shaped) habit is 12-15 inches in height and width. Left unchecked, it can sprawl several feet in every direction. 'Rozanne' is an introduction from Blooms of Bressingham® Nursery.

Geranium 'Rozanne' with spires of salvia 'Victoria Blue' August 2010

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Helen, Freda and Carolyn Gail

Carolyn Choi from Sweet Home and Garden Chicago, Helen Yoest from Gardening with Confidence™ and I had a wonderful lunch together. We met at a local restaurant and took our time visiting and chatting.

It was wonderful to meet Carolyn as well as see Helen again.

Speaking of Helen, if you are going to the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, October 14-24, be sure to visit the garden exhibits. Take special note of the Raleigh Garden Club's exhibit where Helen, and other members of the garden club, have supposedly worked their magic with moss!

After lunch, Helen and her children had to head home, so I took Carolyn to Duke Gardens in Durham. A very pleasant day for our outing! She certainly impressed me with her knowledge of ornamental trees—and speaking Korean to a family that we encountered in the gardens!

So much fun!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.