Sneaky September
Cool nights, big colours
September is sneaking up on us. Evidence is in the garden. The reason they call a popular sedum Autumn Joy, is because it starts to blush in September.
This sturdy sedum survives the worst conditions and continues to deepen in colour as the weather gets cooler. Other sedums come and go but Autumn Joy remains an anchor plant because it has flawless behaviour.
As August signs off we lament the symbolic but not true end of summer. But September has all the right moves. Clearer air, warm days, cooler nights. It brings on some true showoffs of the garden, like dahlias.
Most gardens have room for one dahlia, but search enough and you’ll find people who devote their whole yard to the statuesque flower. The teeny to grand sizes, the colour and shape, and their charm as a cut flower, make them strong September plants.
On a neighbourhood walk it was delightful to see so many roses still in bloom. A real charmer that brightened up a rainy day was a rose called About Face. The award-winning grandiflora has multicoloured blooms in copper, pink and salmon tones. It’s an upright shrub rose with a light scent and good hardiness and disease resistance.
Pink puts on a good show in September. I saw robust pink phlox, hydrangeas and Rose of Sharon. Purple’s having its day too.
In my garden, ironweed is blooming for the first time. Ironweed, or vernonia, is known for its tall stems, rigid posture and bright purple flowers. For a pollinator garden it is a desirable plant. Known for attracting butterflies, it is also the host plant for
the painted lady butterfly. In a moist location it will grow very tall but adapts to average soil. In our garden it is growing in dry, sandy soil and seems quite happy.
Butterfly bush is still in bloom. It hasn’t been swarming with butterflies, but I have learned to sit still long enough to wait for one. Same with hummingbirds: you think you don’t have any, and then if you study the garden long enough, one will zoom by looking for tubular shaped flowers.
Finally the Green Envy zinnias are blooming. They got a late start, and planted at the bottom of our hill, they don’t get much coddling, so flower production is sparse. But even just a view of their demure little flowers is worth the trek.
In other horticultural surprises, the late-blooming Polish Spirit clematis planted 20 years ago pushed out flowers this year. Most seasons it sulks in the shade, and resents being a raccoon pathway up and down the arbour, where it’s paired with a pink rose. The combination was inspired by an English gardening book where the plant pairings are often ones we can only dream about in this climate.
Last on the purple performers list in my garden is the successful ripening of some intriguing purple tomatoes.
A friend gave me a single Brad’s Atomic Grape Tomato plant. Since there is barely a bare spot in the garden, and only so many areas where full sun is available, the Atomic tomatoes were planted in a container.
They grew like gangbusters. After a few knock-downs in heavy wind, structural steel had to be brought in to keep them upright. The towering vine is covered in shiny purple tomatoes, ripening with red stripes. The seeds came from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Missouri, where they are a company favourite and a best in show winner for heirloom tomatoes. So far they have a sweet, delicate, nonacidic taste, and they just get sweeter the longer they stay on the vine.
Now that’s something to look forward to in September.