The fall garden is no place for sissies! Like adolescent boys vying for the attention of a pretty girl, these tall, gangly flowers tower over one another, pushing and shoving and demanding to be looked at – and admired!
Perhaps the most startling and outstanding, to say nothing of being the tallest plant in my garden this fall is my okra “tree.” At well over six feet, this crimson beauty is as straight and sturdy as an oak. We placed a chair near by and now one of our favorite places to sit is in the “shade of the okra tree.” It sounds like the title of a country song, doesn’t it?
The lofty heights are crowded with other flowers and plants that have spent the last five months growing and producing leaves and flowers. I can’t say that they are at their most elegant but they are at their most robust.
My beautiful blue black salvia is over five feet tall but isn’t quite strong enough to support itself so I’ve shored it up with poles and stakes. The bees and hummingbirds don’t seem to mind, they are still pollinating like crazy, getting ready for the long winter ahead.
My milkweed grew quite tall but I was very disappointed at the sparse bloom. This time last year the plants were laden with blossoms and my garden was a sea of yellow orange. Not this year! My suspicion is that the over-abundant rainfall that we’ve had this year has caused it to grow more leaves and stem than blossoms. I should have fed it some organic fertilizer mid-July but I didn’t realize that it was going to be a problem.
I transplanted some ginger lilies from the back yard. They are very happy where they are now, basking in the sunshine. Their beautiful butterfly -like blooms are sweet and heavily scented. The plants stand almost 5 feet tall and their leaves look like those of corn which makes it a fun addition to my urban garden.
My lantana has spent the late summer growing out, not up, but has claimed a huge amount of horizontal space.
It’s a glorious way to wind up the fall gardening season. It makes me happy to look at the sheer exuberance of growth and bloom. But still, this loud, pushy gangly garden also make me look forward to the quiet, small flowers of spring, which just proves that every season has a unique glory.
Happy gardening – in every season!
Love the mental image of you and Jack sitting in “the shade of the okra tree.” And as always, I so enjoy your garden portraits and commentary.