Goodbye Ceanothus, Hello October

Autumnal rains have not returned as of yet, at least not with any vigor. It is rather dry and crunchy out there, but mild, with a lovely extended summer vibe. Not quite wet and cool enough to move or install plants, but that's coming soon. Removing dead plants, though? That can happen any time. It's sad when an established shrub or tree has to go but that's what crept up on me. First though, a joyful look at the garden in early October.

In 2018 when our dear kitty Lucy departed this planet we bought a special tree to commemorate her spirit, a unique and lovely one. This is Franklinia alatamaha, the Franklin tree. It was discovered in Georgia in 1765, the only place it has ever been observed in the wild and seed was then collected. The original wild stand of trees have been extinct since 1803 - all trees in cultivation now come from those original seeds collected in the 18th century. It is special in that it's rare, yes, but also because it blooms in late summer into autumn and has lovely autumn color at the same time. I'm thrilled it is doing well in our garden.

Hesperantha coccinea (syn. Schizostylis coccinea) 'Oregon Sunset' picking up related colors of Itea 'Henry's Garnet' behind (a fantastic small deciduous shrub for autumn color) and a penstemon or two. I love that these bloom so late in the year, their cheerful faces make me smile.

I've been growing dahlias from seed (far more cost effective than tubers) just for fun. This is Dahlia 'Bishop's Children'. The flowers of this seed strain are variable, and so far mine have all been orange/peachy orange tones with dark stems. Some are doubles and some are singles.

This is one from a 'Stargazer' seed mix, equally vibrant. I've left these in the ground to experiment with hardiness and so far they seem to be fine. Dahlias are another colorful indulgence for late-season cheer.

Our native vine maple, Acer circinatum, beginning a colorful show. The more sun they receive, the better the color. Still, I love them in shade where they reach out for sun becoming an airy open vine-like sculpture, a perfect small understory tree.

Umbilicus oppositifolium 'Jim's Pride' (syn. Chiastophyllum oppositifolium 'Jim's Pride') is a small succulent-like plant for at least partial shade. A slow grower but pretty at the front of the border, even as a small specimen. The solid green form is also lovely.

Fuchsia 'Hawkshead' is the quintessential white flowered fuchsia. When I worked at Joy Creek Nursery where we grew literally 100 forms of fuchsias, this was consistently a favorite and we struggled to keep it in stock. A lovely plant, it has never really grown large nor densely. Its white flowers echo foliage variegation in the shade garden.

On the other end of fuchsia color, this is 'Golden Gate' with rather golden foliage (more golden in more sun, greener in shade). While I am not totally sold on this color combination, I do agree they add color to a partially shady site and I enjoy encountering them in the shade garden this time of the year.

Despite it being early October, the shade garden is still going pretty strong. Partially because we watered a little more this summer to keep it looking good for visiting tour groups. When the rain finally does arrive the mossy path will be super green and the ferns will breathe a sigh of relief.

Our native snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus in the shade garden. This is a quite aggressive native plant and I have to really keep it in check, despite my allowance for a huge swath of it. It runs and loves my woodland garden. While I don't mind some spread, it would literally take over and there would be scarcely anything else. Still, its a charming thing and a late-winter source of food for birds. I think it's kind of a last-resort food when all else has run out.

At the end of its bloom period, Salvia greggii 'Arctic Blaze Red' is new this year and has performed beautifully. I adore salvias for their long bloom period and their popularity with hummingbirds.

Tagetes 'Cinnibar' still going strong.

Foliage of Macleaya cordata in the afternoon sun.

Another new plant this year is Monardella villosa 'Russian River'. It has tripled in size since spring and continues to bloom heavily. A winner, for sure. This is a West Coast native sub-shrub and is well-visited by pollinators. I have other monardellas in the garden and this has outperformed all of them in a short time span.

Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam' has been abused, moved, shaded out and more yet it forgives me. Last autumn I moved it to this new location with a hot aspect and good air circulation and it told me it's quite happy here. It too has tripled in size in a very short period. Hot and dry for this one.

The annual stripping of the Silphium perfoliatum monster. The leaves begin to die off by September, so I clear them off to leave this vertical sculpture until it finally decides to flop over sometime in winter. Still, I leave the hollow square stems on the ground for insect habitat. Cheerful yellow flowers in late summer and the leaves that are joined at the stem forms a cup where drops of water collect, a perfect spot for a critter to have a drink. It likes wetter soils, so here in my dry garden it's kept in check otherwise I have a feeling it would spread.

Oscar holding court at the outer edges of the labyrinth garden.

Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' has doubled in size since its planting last year. A good drink of water in hot weather from time to time speeds growth. I learned this late in the game, asleep at the wheel I guess.

One of our native asters, Symphyotrichum subspicatum, Douglas' aster, is one of the earliest to bloom and a good source of sustenance for pollinators. It is a spreader (by seed and runners), so give it room.

Rosa mutabilis is still blooming and will likely continue its flower show until it freezes.

Berberis jamesiana fruit beginning to morph from yellow-green to a rich coral color. The added bonus of this plant is that its autumn foliage color is brilliant oranges and yellows - combined with the fruit it's quite a show.

Late season frothiness in the meadow garden where herbaceous grasses, bulbs and perennials combine in a knitted tapestry perfect for birds to hang out and hide in.

In the western woodland garden the several Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Purple Dome' (syn. Aster 'Purple Dome'). I planted last year are beginning to grow and spread. Their blooms are so richly colored, it's definitely a favorite.

On to other news. This lovely Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' was, unfortunately, poorly placed by me. The Arctostaphylos 'Saint Helena' I planted nearby took over and grew quite wide almost resting on the yucca. I decided to make a change:

Earlier this year I cut it off completely, you can see the original trunk to the right of the yucca. This area needed a bit more air circulation and negative space. Rather quickly, as expected, a new yucca sprouted from the roots, seen here, photographed this summer.

This is it today - quite a bit larger from even two months ago. A smaller yucca is fine here, but the large specimen was out of place. So I shall monitor this area and do it again should this one become too large.

So what about that ceanothus? Here's a wide shot of the area it was in, as seen today.

This is the base of the deck as seen several years ago when three Ceanothus 'Italian Skies' filled this bed. I knew it was a bit much for this area as they get huge. The one in the middle died after a bad winter, but the outer two were ok for a while.

They both had experienced total flopping on the ground with heavy snow on more than one occasion which surely weakened them. This past January really did them in and all foliage turned brown/black. Still, I had hope.

After a prune out of dead wood there was life.

They did rebound nicely (though this photograph is from spring, you can't really tell) until last week when in literally a couple of days the foliage went that tell-tale pale green color. It was done.

I gave it a chance, gave it a good prune but in the end it wasn't happy. They can be short-lived anyhow. Here's the same area photographed this week with the plant completely removed (save for the roots). I rather like being able to see the deck, though the original intent was to have it obscure the empty space beneath the deck. Other plants will fill in over time such as another Hebe 'Sutherlandii' (OK, Veronica 'Sutherlandii') which will actually be the perfect height for the middle of the area. I'm not sorry I planted the Ceanothus 'Italian Skies', even though if I had made a wiser choice I would have avoided this year-in, year-out heartache. I learned something.

The stump of the ceanothus where you can definitely see staining on the cut part, indicative of some sort of pathogen I imagine.

Also to help fill the void I planted this Osmanthus 'San Jose', an evergreen shrub that has a proven track record in my garden. I know it won't be a wide shrub but it will be a good size to help obscure the space behind it. It's also amenable to pruning so can be shaped as needed and will do well in part shade to sun. Perfect. I also planted several sword ferns, Polystichum munitum, behind it that will also help fill in the space over time.

Another shot of the area today; it's starting to look better after a few rough years.

Rounding this post out with a photograph of our boy Hobbes in front of Amsonia hubrichtii on a warm autumn afternoon. At 19 years young I'm thrilled when he wants to go outside with us on walks. We will drop everything to do so with him. Good boy, Hobbes. He sleeps a lot and has health challenges but when he has energy to enjoy the sunshine I think he's still got the spark in him, the fire in the belly as we say around here.

While I await the coming of the rains to get a little plant moving accomplished, I can say that the majority of our chores have been accomplished in this very busy summer and early autumn. We even made homemade ketchup from the bounty of tomatoes this year (after three batches of tomato sauce landed in the freezer...that's how many tomatoes we had) and we might make another batch of sauerkraut as well. We need to shell the dry beans for storage and plant garlic, but I think we're in good shape overall. I've been collecting seed and taking cuttings of a few favorites while looking forward to the autumn color that is just beginning. Surely there is a post to be written once that happens. I can breathe a sigh of relief.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we do love hearing from you! And a shout out to those of you who say hello at Cistus Nursery. Robin and your Facilities Manager, it was so lovely to have met you! And to Donna and crew from Over the Fence Landscape Tours who came to film the garden this week, it was such a pleasure meeting you all. Thank you for all your support! Cheers and happy gardening.