Approaching Autumn: GBBD, August 2023

In this weirdly wet summer, it seems as though we hardly had any real summer weather, and, suddenly, I can feel the approach of autumn. In the woodland border, the foliage of our native columbine, Aquilegia canadensis, has turned to red and the Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum) is in bloom.

Nevertheless, summer is not over in the garden. In mid-August, there are still about twenty varieties of daylilies with flowers – but most of these have only a few buds left to open.

One exception is the aptly named ‘Autumn Minaret,’ with its delicate flowers that float high above the foliage on slender stems. I have two of these plants, one in the back garden and one in the front; both are loaded with buds and should continue blooming through August and into September.

Another tall flower that blooms from late summer until frost is Rudbeckia x ‘Herbstsonne’ (aka ‘Autumn Sun’). This plant is putting on an amazing show at the back of the blue and yellow border, with flowers that are eight feet tall!

I am happy to be enjoying summer phlox (Phlox paniculata) this summer. Last year, the phlox were all eaten by the resident woodchuck, but this year’s woodchuck was removed from the garden by a predator in June, giving the phlox plants time to recover. Right now, both ‘Blue Paradise’ and ‘David’ are blooming in the back garden, with other cultivars in other parts of the garden in bud.

Other plants that have had an opportunity to bloom this year in the absence of the woodchuck are Liatris and Echinacea purpurea.

In August, the front slope is dominated by beebalm, especially Monarda fistulosa and Monarda punctata. These plants are both enthusiastic self-seeders and can easily become too much of a good thing. I keep meaning to pull up excess quantities of Monarda punctata, but I hesitate to do so because this plant, with its pineapple-like tiers of pink bracts and spotted yellow flowers, is a magnet for pollinators. I particularly value the fact that it attracts the beautiful great black digger wasp, with its iridescent blue wings, to my garden.

Another plant that is blooming profusely is false sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides, which keeps popping up in places were I did not plant it, assisted I suspect by the goldfinches that like to perch on its stems and systematically strip the ray flowers from each blossom before eating the seeds.

One plant that has been extra-happy with this year’s wet weather is my Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky,’ which is planted in a depression that catches water from a downspout on the front corner of the house and has more blooms this year than I have ever seen on it before. Its flowers bloom white in late summer and then turn to pink and then to red. In mid-August, they are just beginning the transition to pink.

Even if the exuberant floral display of high summer is past, there is still plenty going on as my garden begins its turn from summer to autumn.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is a celebration of flowers hosted each month by Carol Michel at May Dreams Gardens. Visit her blog to see what other gardeners have blooming in August.