Gaillardia and that OTHER JOB

Here's the blanketflower you've seen for the past several years. It's still going strong. This one is Gaillardia aristata, 'Arizona Sun.' It's so happy in the rock garden, in fact, that I decided last year that I wanted another one, but a different variety.

The blanketflowers start blooming in June and they just keep going the whole rest of the summer.

The one I selected to add was 'SpinTop Red,' for having nearly solid red flowers. It was in an online shopping cart. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to cruise the garden center at Meijer, not expecting they would have anything I haven't seen there already. And, wow, this exact plant was there at half the online price. I've been waiting to share it with you until it had several flowers open at the right angle to show up well.

The OTHER JOB:

Are we the only people that seem to need a toilet repair incredibly often?

This time, I needed to pull the entire downstairs toilet and replace the wax ring.

At least the PVC flange wasn't damaged. Had to cut one of the bolts to remove it, but at least I have the tool for that. Got it all cleaned up and the new bolts await the ring and the toilet. (First trip to the store)

But, I'm sorry to tell you, I'm no longer strong enough to lift the whole toilet and set it onto the bolts. Cathy came to the rescue, and the two of us easily did it. Got it back together today, and then the stupid bolts that hold the tank to the base were seeping (Second trip to the store).

Replaced the gaskets. I'm not sure it's fixed yet. The porcelain is weeping with condensation, and it's difficult to be certain if the extra moisture is that or if one gasket didn't seat well. However, if I have to take that apart again, it's not such a big deal or such a big mess.

I did all the usuals, too. The temperature was down a few degrees today, but I didn't have much time outside due to laundry, and some housecleaning. There will be real people here this weekend. I need the place to be a tiny bit better than my hermitage mess.

See No category

Last of the Rock Garden Color?

Some of these colors will last a while yet, but I think the last of the blooms to peak are happening now.

This is really a favorite purchase from this year, the 'Oriental Dancer' Sedum. I can't wait for it to have multiple stems next year.

It's always interesting how some plants just keep having an occasional blossom all season long even when they are past their peak time. This is the Dianthus 'Kohari.' When I bought it two years ago the patch was about a third this size. It's had one or two flowers open most of the season.

Back to a Sedum. This is the 'Rosenteller' one, and it's past prime, but I like how it's sharing the space with one out of season bloom of the Bloody Cranesbill. I only split this little patch off the big clump last fall, and it's doing great! I also like how it looks in front of that log. In the spring, it should have a little pasqueflower friend which you can barely see below it. I managed to find the one that had sprouted in the lawn and move it to the garden.

The blanketflower, Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' always looks great from July onwards, and especially so if I deadhead it. I'll be keeping my eyes open to buy one called 'Arizona Red' that doesn't have the yellow on it.

Also, the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' seems to be about at peak. This is one of the old rock garden plants that survived. It was eaten down to stubs two years in a row, but the fencing allowed it to recover this year. You can see that it also has a little Bloody Cranesbill friend.

I don't think there is anything yet to bloom this fall unless I get some sort of a surprise. There are a couple of fun things to show you from other locations, but I have to wait a few days for one of them yet.

Got a fair amount of work done today and did my road walk.

Miles hiked in 2025: 375

See Mid-September Garden Color

Orange We Happy?

These plants were looking healthy this year, so I was hopeful they would bloom. It's Blackberry Lily, Belamcanda chinensis. I don't think they've bloomed since 2011. They haven't been a huge success although they do survive. In fact, they have spread a bit. However, they never really fill in to make much of a splash of color. But they are pretty interesting. I may share again when the seeds pods open.

Here's something I never noticed before, and I love it! The buds are spiraled like a soft-serve ice cream. They close at night and open later in the day.

I haven't showed you the blanketflower this year (except the seed heads). The variety is 'Arizona Sun.' I think next year I'll look for one other variety. They tolerate the heat of the rock garden quite well and bloom for a long time.

You will hear more about the marigolds later. A few are blooming.

And I gave in to temptation and bought one of the popular Heuchera. This is 'Caramel,' sort of orange. Not marked down. It's not my favorite, but it is a bit different from the others I have.

I was doing well until about mid-afternoon. Not sure if it's the horrible air quality, the humidity, age, or just whatever. But I did work some on most of my projects and the gardens. Walked 3 miles this morning and braved the store. Meijer was a zoo. Maybe I'll blame my fading energy on the stress of shopping.

Miles hiked in 2025- 324.6

See Back to the Blackberry Lily

Closer In

Just a few fun pictures of closeups. This is the seed head for Gaillardia, the blanketflower.

And this is Sedum elecombeanum that I like so much, but I missed all the bright yellow blooms this year. However, again, the seed heads aren't shabby if you look closely. See all the little stars and polka dots? This plant looks good all season with thick mats of yellow-green leaves that don't get sprawly.

This one isn't blooming yet. I sort of showed this before but it wasn't as good a picture. This is Sedum 'Thundercloud.' The leaves and the way they grow are so interesting!

I'll end with one of my favorite weeds. It has several huge plants in the driveway garden this year. Since there isn't much else, I'm happy to have it. This one got so big it sprawled all over. Next year, I have a ring I can put around it before it starts to grow all the stalks. But the point of this post is the closeups. Here are a few flowers on the long stalk.

There are a few milkweed leaves behind it. The field beside us is full of milkweed, so I don't feel the need to grow it in a garden. But I let a few live this year to fill in spaces.

The temperature was wonderful today, and I had good energy. I spent extra time on computer tasks, and worked outside quite a bit. I'm trimming where I can't get close enough to things with the mower. That makes everything look better. And I spent another 15 minutes on the autumn olive.

See Short Rock Garden Report

October Rock Garden Report - 2024

 This will be the final rock garden report for 2024. I see that last years was posted about two weeks later, but I finished the third weed-through for the season, and wanted to take pictures while it's all cleaned up. You can compare the year's change in the link below.

This is the top section as seen from the deck. There's still a fair amount of contrasting textures and shades of color. And it's a lot fuller with plants than an year ago.

And the bottom section. Out at the far bottom edge it's still quite bare. But I created that whole section this summer. There is still a little bit to do near the bottom using more rocks and the rest of the logs Miki brought me. That soil is clay there, so I hope to add some compost.

Here are a few spaces that are still looking really nice. The blanket flower is still going gangbusters. This plant was eaten to the ground at the end of the year last year. Hooray for my fencing even if it is a total pain to deal with when I weed. The variety is 'Arizona Sun.'

This is one of the spaces I'm particularly happy with that I haven't shown you this year. It's also one of the two plants I'll have to bring inside for the winter. The light green one behind can stay, but the front plant, the pinkish-green one, is Sedum linare, 'Sea Urchin.' I really, really like the way it has filled in the space. Hopefully, I can split it and put it in two spaces next year.

Although the garden looks much fuller, a bunch of that is the result of my leaving various plants that are OK, but not what I ultimately want. This stayed light colored all season, varying from yellow-white to this pinkish phase, so I'll happily pull out some of the "filler" stuff and put more of this in.

I have showed you this a couple of times, but it's one of my favorite purchases from this year. It's a sedum called 'Coral Jade.' Obviously the flowers are gone, but the seed heads are interesting enough that I like it, and the leaves sort of change from purple to olive/khaki green as the season progresses.

And here is the reason I'm keeping a fair amount of the 'Bloody Cranesbill' geranium. This is the color of the leaves in the fall. OK, a lot of them are darker red. It looks nice with the variegated vinca. I never should have bought that stuff because it wanders everywhere. But I've learned to trim it back severely and keep it in certain spaces.

And here's a long shot from the other angle, out in the yard. Looks pretty good!

Other than the gardening, I spent the day working on databases. Things are clicking in my brain.

See Rock Garden Report October 2023

Starting to Weed

 The quote of the day comes from Marie. I called her to chat. She said, "Enjoy your lack of panic while it lasts." I have an unbelievable amount of work to do in the next 8 days, but so far, I am oddly calm about it all. Maybe I've reached a point where major projects just don't induce panic? Maybe I'm fooling myself and I need to kick things up a notch?

At any rate, I did manage to work at things all day long today. Spent one hour weeding the rock garden. Of course, it's a big mess after being neglected for a month, but that's nothing like neglecting it for years. We had 1.2 inches of rain last night, and the weeds are coming out easily. Here's the section I got done today. About 16 out of 80+ numbered spaces.

Now for some goodies. This space is weeded. This is Sedum 'Atlantis.' It remains one of my favorite purchases from last year, and it's spreading really well.

Here's a surprise. This is the Sedum 'Ezawe' which was so blue earlier in the year. It got shaded by an out-of-control larger plant, and it has gotten leggy and much lighter blue.

These next spaces aren't weeded yet, but they were blooming when I got home, and I don't want to wait to share. I don't know how long the flowers will last.

This is one of the SunSparkler Sedum, 'Firecracker.' This is one of my favorite purchases of this year.

And this is another of the SunSparklers, 'Lime Zinger.' I'm a little surprised at how bright the flowers are. This was new this year, and even so, it has filled in the space really well.

This last one makes me really happy. This blanketflower got seriously chewed by whatever grazed over the top of the rock garden last year. It looks great now! This one is the variety 'Arizona Sun.'

I got the mesh fencing up before I left for a month, and I am happy to tell you that apparently it worked to keep out the critters who like to eat things. The blue racer did not come back and get caught. I was a little concerned about that.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be another solid work day. I may try to mow a little more this evening. The weeds (yard) have dried pretty well now.

Back to my pleasant non-panicked mode.

See SunSparkler Sedums

Jean's Garden

  Another vendor event in the books!

I stayed overnight at Jean's house, which is always fun. But, once again, I did not take pictures of Jean's chickens, ducks (she still has Jack whom we all watched grow from a day-old duckling on Facebook), and the goose. Maybe next year! But I did get more pics of what's blooming in her flower garden. Well, yes, I did, but it was at 6:30 in the morning, and apparently I was a little shaky on some of them. This is one of the blanket flowers. Really a nice color.

Here's a longer shot of the garden. Since it's on a moderate hillside, it displays very nicely. We only had time for a fast tour because we had to get back to town for the second day of the Arts Festival.

This is one of the day liles. I like the colors, but the flower form is somewhat flattened, and I'm not sure I'm crazy about that.

These looked really nice, but I guess I was fuzzy. It's one of the garden mallows. I used to have some of these long ago, but they bit the dust.

Finally, this is my canopy mate for the event. Dr. Carol Monson whose book is entitled Ageing Optimally. I had some good opportunities to visit with other other authors, which included getting to know one of them much better than I had previously. An author/promoter, Diana Penn, visited to get updated on all her old and new favorite authors, there was much sharing and commiserating and congratulating on authorly topics. A good weekend.

I leave for NY on Tuesday morning, and I have about two days worth of things to do tomorrw to get ready. But I think I have to pretty much let myself rest this evening. I'll leap into action in the morning.

See Jean's Garden in 2021