By Jill Williams
“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”–Oscar Wilde
This rainy summer continues to give us a parade of very healthy looking plants and flowers.
After last summer’s drought it’s a relief to have all the common garden flowers back again.
A large patch of golden glow (perennial sunflower)really lives up to its name this year. In dry years it struggles and looks scruffy but this year it does really does seem to glow in the early evening light. It looks beautiful against the green foliage of the trees behind it.
The purple phlox in the wild garden is the best I have seen it in many years. It survives dry summers but like the golden glow it doesn’t look happy when it’s dry. This particular phlox came from an old farm on the 6th Line and it has never had a trace of the mold that plagues newer varieties.
I continue to be astounded by the very thick and prolific sweet peas. Now I know how much rain they need to be really successful. All the watering I could possibly do never gives the same results as a whole summer of rain. Sweet peas will take some frost so I hope to be cutting them well into the fall.
I’m happy to see the return of the big and showy glads this year. I save mine from year to year and unlike dahlias they’re easy to store in the winter. The glads did little more than survive last year. I bought some new ones this year and they have done very well. They’re one of my favourite go big or go home cut flowers in the late summer garden.
This summer I have seen some of the biggest wild plants (or weeds depending on where they pop up) ever. Along the road the more than fifteen feet high mulleins and wild lettuce are towering spires.
I appreciate that the lawn has not turned brown and crispy this year. There must be a lot of moisture in it north of the house since it has become mushroom habitat. The mushrooms to me are mysterious; they have been appearing and disappearing all summer. Some of them are small and delicate and others large and slightly sinister looking.
A few plants like irises don’t appreciate all the rain. I have seen some irises rot with too much moisture. But I can’t honestly say that a few rotting irises bother me very much all things considered. Anyone who has irises usually has too many of them.
Mosquitoes have stuck around for most of the summer this year. I don’t think I have seen so many mosquitoes so late in the season ever. But just like the irises, these are a minor irritation compared to all the benefits of so much rain. I will take the mosquitoes and the rain over drought any day.
The first sign of fall that I usually notice is the swallows lining up on the wires. Then the maples start to turn and we are well on our way to the best season of the year.
I didn’t do any bulb planting last year but I hope to make up for that this year. I have been thinking for years about planting crocuses in the lawn under the old apple trees. This year I’m actually going to do it. I’ll add some daffodils to the daffodils already on the hillside. More daffodils is always a good idea.
I’m looking forward to all those warm fall days full of possibility. Fall, as we all know, is the real new year.