"Approach each season like it is the only one"
— David Culp
Fall has arrived officially. At this time of year I am usually feeling tired and ready to throw in the towel, or put away the trowel, so to speak. This year, however, I had a new burst of energy after watching David Culp’s September webinar in which he made the above statement. David Culp is the creator of the gardens at Brandywine Cottage in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Read about his programs HERE. His monthly walks through the garden are truly inspirational, doubly so as they are illustrated with Robert Cardillo’s beautiful photographs. I am now much more appreciative of the autumn garden.
As a result, this month I spent time freshening my borders and containers with fall-blooming perennials and annuals. I left most of the fading perennials to go to seed for the birds to enjoy. I cut down the dead Shasta daisy revealing its lovely basal leaves and removed some other ugly, dead plants such as peonies. I revel in the continued blooming of zinnias, marigolds, hydrangeas, and salvias. I delight in the appearance of fall-bloomers like asters, chelone, helianthus, and sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.
Some plants that I added are pansies, viola, celosia, mums, and a coreopsis. I removed straggly petunias from window-boxes and added a few sun-patiens that were only $2 each because it is the end of the season. From a distance they don’t look too bad. Although my gardens are fading fast they are an improvement on previous years. Here are a few pictures. What do you think?
(I will label the photos tomorrow as I am falling asleep over my computer)
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