September Plans and an Alien in My Garden

I am loving September! Already there is a touch of autumn in the air. The peeling bark of a river birch adds a distinctive touch to the September garden.Days are pleasantly warm, while nights have a touch of coolness.The deep green of summer has acquired a few golden edges. Plants, wildlife, and humans heave a collective sigh of relief over the departure of intense heat and humidity. We all have renewed vigor and interest in the garden.

I have planted some fall vegetables: three varieties of lettuce, swiss chard, collard greens, broccoli. Peppers and butter beans continue to produce. I have never planted fall or winter veggies before; usually I haven't the energy after nursing tomatoes and other plants through the summer. But I think I may like gardening while the weather is more temperate. It is a small vegetable plot; but I have high hopes and may still add more goodies. 

I have a list of shrubs, perennials, and ground covers to transplant. That list will have to wait a few weeks. I am soon headed to the other side of the planet, all the way to Taiwan, to vacation with some friends. I will be back mid October, with lots of catch-up gardening and blogging waiting for me! 

Meanwhile, I enjoy taking photos around the garden.

I like to sit on the patio and watch the wildlife. I always keep my camera handy and sometimes I get lucky. Actually, it's not luck at all; it's perseverance! After about a hundred tries I managed to get the following photos of a cardinal and a couple of hummingbirds:

Near the patio I found this spider making a messy web over some cosmos. Unlike the birds, it posed for me and let me take all the shots I wanted. I think its hairy legs are creepy!

My tiny 'White Marseilles' fig tree is growing well in its pot on the patio and has even produced a few figs this year. I am impressed with the leaves! During the hottest part of summer the tree dropped a lot of its leaves, and I was worried. But it has quickly recovered and is sprouting new growth.

Here are some more interesting leaves. See the alien hiding behind the first one. I wonder what it is planning to do in my garden!Above left is foliage of a knockout rose. It is putting out lots of new buds. Above right is a Tropicana canna leaf. My son informed me I put these leaves on my blog too many times! But I love them.

Some random shots about the garden:
Top row: Caryopteris, or blue mist spirea, is a pretty shrub that attracts lots of bees. 2nd row: Purple oxalis; An indoor plant, Kalanchoa is spending the summer outside. I hope I can get it to bloom again by Christmas! 3rd row: I featured Hearts-a-bustin in my last post, but every day I am more impressed with the pretty seed pods.

And finally, no matter what I do, the garden is always preparing itself for the future!Top: White oak acorn. Bottom left: trident maple seed pods; Bottom right: Hickory nut pod.

I hope to get out one more post before I leave on my trip next week. If not, I promise to take lots of exotic photos. See you soon!

My Hearts-A-Bustin

Deep in deciduous woods from southern New York to Florida and as far west as Oklahoma and eastern Texas, there grows an unassuming native shrub with a certain pathos about its name. In Greek mythology Euonyme was the mother of the deities who caused suffering in everyday life, and Euonymus americanus grows most prolifically in Appalachian regions where tough topography and poverty traditionally make life difficult.

The shrub is also commonly called strawberry bush and hearts-a-bustin. It's easy to see why.
In early fall the seed pods turn from green to pink. Resembling wild strawberries, they are warty looking and about the size of acorns. As they open to reveal scarlet seedheads, the capsules split into heart shaped segments. The fruit are decorative, and I first fell in love with this plant when I came across a specimen covered with the interesting capsules. 

Early this year, I made the difficult decision to remove the agressive nandina domestica from my woodland garden, and I planted a variety of shrubs in its place. This was a great opportunity to try Hearts-a-bustin in my own garden. I like it because it is native to my region and because it is not aggressive, unlike its non-native cousin Euonymus alata, also called burning bush, which in some areas is very aggressive. Hearts-a-bustin will put out suckers and can form thickets, but it will not spread wildly through the forest or displace other plants. 

Euonymus americanus has thin green stems and an open, airy habit to about six feet tall. The deciduous shrub produces two to three inch lance shaped green leaves. Tiny yellow-green, star shaped flowers appear in the spring. They are beautiful, but you have to look at the flowers closely to appreciate them. Bees love the flowers, and deer will browse upon the leaves. I am fortunate that my woodland garden is in the middle of a small city, so I don't have to worry about the deer! Some birds will eat the seeds, but they can be poisonous to humans if eaten in large quantities, and they are also said to be poisonous to sheep. 

In September through October the understated shrub assumes the spotlight as its seed capsules dangle like bright ornaments.The leaves also are beautiful as fall advances, becoming translucent white, washed with shades of red and orange.

This shrub should be planted beside a path so one can easily appreciate its charms. It is a terrific low maintenance shrub - pest free and drought tolerant! It is comfortable in the woodland setting and grows best in sun dappled shade in humus rich, slightly acid soil.