It is now September. Gone are the multitude of Purple Coneflowers, but in their place are now one of my favorite cottage annuals - Cosmos!
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| Cosmos bipinnatus 'Picotee' |
I read on a garden website somewhere that if you have trouble growing Cosmos, well, you might just want to take up golf! I, for one, am thankful for such easy to grow plants that put on such a great display with very little effort from me.
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| the front garden |
Cosmos bipinnatus are ridiculously easy to grow from seed. In the spring I went around the garden throwing seeds all over right before a good rain, and that was pretty much all the care I gave them.
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| a Cosmos bud about to open |
Cosmos bipinnatus are part of the Aster family and are sometimes called Mexican asters (since they are native to Mexico). They tolerate poor or dry soil. Just give them plenty of sun.
The bees love them, and soon the Cosmos will be bursting with seeds and attracting Goldfinches in droves (as well as a couple children that like collecting the seeds for their next year's garden).
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| center of Cosmos 'Versailles Red' |
If it is possible to stop gazing at the Cosmos (they are mesmerizingly beautiful), there are other things going on in the garden. The chilly weather we've suddenly been having turns a gardener's mind to Asters and Mums, both of which went into my whisky barrel planters.
The Nicotania is still going in the mailbox garden.
(That stuff is seriously like the Energizer bunny of the plant world!)
The Caryopteris 'Worcester Gold' is in bloom, to the delight of many different types of bees.
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| Carpenter bee on Caryopteris |
This time of the year is also when the Goldenrod blooms. I didn't personally plant any Goldenrod in my garden (in fact I weeded some out), but all the wild areas around the yard are full of the beautiful golden flowers.
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| Plasterer bee on Goldenrod |
It's hard to believe that the summer is pretty much over. There's a nip in the air, and newscasters are already talking of possible frost. I refuse to believe it!
I'm going back to gazing at my Cosmos and thinking summery thoughts!
I hope you all are enjoying the last few days of summer gardening!
To see what other garden bloggers around the world have blooming in their garden, visit Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens blog.
