It’s Already September

Can you believe it’s already September? Another crazy, New England summer is behind us. In June, the garden looked good – the hot weather jumpstarted the madman’s transplants and his irrigation plans (remember the resolutions?) were working well. Then Mother Nature decided to override the irrigation plans and give us the third wettest July on record. If that wasn’t enough, she then sent two tropical storms days apart in August. The first dropped 4 ¾ “ of rain in the space of a couple of hours. That was quickly followed by another 5” from the second storm. We had water EVERYWHERE.

Water

And, after a week of cleaning up storm damage, a third tropical storm hit us as September started. Luckily it was mostly rain, but it was so darned much that the brook waters went over the bridge – the first time that has ever happened. We are so lucky to still have a bridge. Oh, we are so looking forward to a break from these storms, something that should happen around the fall equinox on September 22. In the meantime, we will appreciate the last couple weeks of summer. We’ll split our time between home and the lake so we can enjoy the gardens at both places. Considering the storms, they are not looking too bad – I guess water trumps everything, unless you’re a cactus, of course.

We still have plenty of produce to keep us fed. And, with the madman’s second plantings, we should be good for a while. But, at this time of the year, we like to slow down and appreciate the flowers.

Morning Glorys

Our Morning Glorys are coming into their own now. I guess that’s why they are known as the back-to-school-flower. The purples have been blooming for a bit, but they’ve been joined by the small red flowers of our favorite Morning Glory, Ipomoea coccinea. Why is it our favorite? Because the hummingbirds go crazy over them, and we love watching the hummingbirds. Although some of these hummingbirds have already left for the flight south, there are plenty remaining for our amusement.

Jewelweed

The hummingbird’s favorite is actually a different flower – one that for the longest time was on our pull-out-when-seen list. Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is a native plant commonly found in large numbers in moist shady areas. I’m sure you’ve seen this flower before, everyone has. When we first moved here, the madman hated it – in fact he ranked it just below skunk cabbage on his list of despised plants. But, as with skunk cabbage, he has learned to appreciate it over the years. The turn-around started when friend and fellow master gardener, Jim Woodward, said he used to pull it out until he noticed how many hummingbirds the flower attracted.

A bit of research on the plant moved it from the bottom of the Hate list to near the top of the Really Like list. In Washington, one of the few states where it is not native, Jewelweed is considered a noxious weed. The hummingbirds don’t care – they love the plant, probably because its nectar contains a very high amount of sugar. It’s no coincidence that the Jewelweed peaks at the height of hummingbird migration. Interestingly, this is one of the few plants that can outcompete the invasive garlic mustard, so we leave it and the hummingbirds are happy.

Not Just The Hummers

But the hummingbirds aren’t the only ones looking for nectar. Honeybees and a variety of native insects are also looking for late season nectar. And, the madman feels it’s his job to provide it knowing full well that he is just supplementing.

Our annuals like the Zinnias and Cosmos have been flowering all summer, but it’s time to let them go to seed – partly for the birds and partly to self-sow. No worries, New England has plenty of colorful native perennials blooming now. The first that comes to mind is the stately Ironweed (Veronia fasciculata). No shrinking violet, this plant tops out above 6’ tall. The bright purple flowers offer native bees late summer-early fall nectar and the plant is a host plant for the American Painted Lady Butterfly. If that’s not enough reason for the madman to like it, his songbirds will gleefully eat its seeds.

Asters

Another purple bloom loved by the native pollinators is the aster, a plant shunned by deer. At first, the madman called all asters New England Asters – “after all, they are growing in New England,” he says. But, the aster genus is actually quite large. The New England aster’s flower is primarily purple with a yellow eye at the center, but can also be found in various shades of pink and very rarely white, all with the same yellow eye.

However, the madman thinks if you come across a white aster in the wild, chances are it’s one of the other species, and there are quite a few. Since it’s in flower at the end of September, it’s also known as the Michaelmas daisy, a reference to St. Michael’s Day on September 29. As this day falls near the autumnal equinox, St. Michael’s Day is associated with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days.

Goldenrod

As if Mother Nature planned fall blooms with a color wheel, the blues and purples of the Ironweed and Aster flowers are nicely complimented by the yellow of Goldenrod (Solidago sp.), a very distant relative. (All belong to the family Asterecea). A lot of people turn their noses up at Goldenrod, but they really shouldn’t – hay fever is not caused by this plant and our native pollinators really appreciate its late season bloom.

As days get shorter in September, look around – you’ll see lots of other blooms. But, as usual, we are only talking about the ones we like to grow and our native pollinators like to visit. So far all the plants we mentioned are day bloomers, attracting pollinators with their brightly colored flowers. But, when the sun goes down, the daytime pollinators clock out and the insects working the night shift punch in. These night flyers are attracted by scent and pale colored blooms that reflect the moon making them visible from a distance.

Moonflower

All summer they have enjoyed the moon garden with the sweetly scented blooms of flowers like Nicotiana, Sweet Pea and Datura. But, with longer nights, the garden seems to be coming into its own. The centerpiece of this garden has always been the Moonflowers (Ipomea alba) that twine around the remnants of two trees that once kept the area shaded. Like its cousin, the Morning Glory, it blooms in the fall. In contrast to the Morning Glory that opens at sunrise, the Moonflower prefers sunset, filling the garden with an intoxicating fragrance. All summer, the madman has filled his evening hours with stargazing and paddle boarding at Highland Lake. But, as the weather gets cooler, we tend to spend more time at home.

So, get ready night pollinators, there’s a new kid on the block. He’s armed with hot chocolate and plans to stay a while.