Fall Mosaic 2016

In the Spotlight: Limelight Hydrangea (hydrangea paniculata limelight)

Hydrangea lovers want three basic things from their plant:  abundant flowers, colour and hardiness.  Limelight hydrangeas fulfill all three requirements spectacularly.  Limelight hydrangeas are extremely hardy for the zone 3 garden, will reward you with plentiful lime tinted panicle flowers that turn white in July and then, often turn pink in late summer.  

Plant your hydrangea in rich moist soil.  Mix in a bit of compost such as Sea Soil to enrich the planting site.  Limelight can handle full sun but morning sun until 1 pm is favourable for most hydrangeas.  A generous mulch of wood chips will help keep the roots cool and help maintain moisture.  

Limelight hydrangeas grow about a metre tall and wide.  They flower on new wood.  This hydrangea offers easy care and stunning displays of blooms beginning in the summer.  Hardy zones 3-8.

Autumn Leaves

It's the most colourful time of the year when the chlorophyll breaks down and the green recedes in the leaves.  The colours that remain dazzle the eye.  The air is cool and filled with the scent of fall.  Leaves crunch underfoot, the sunflower that sought the sun now feeds the birds, the mums and rudbeckia compliment the season.  

It's so pretty, isn't it?  Yet it's a tender goodbye to summer.

In the Spotlight: Little Lime Hydrangea (hydrangea paniculata Little Lime)

Little Lime sits on my front porch prior to planting

Little Lime Hydrangea is a compact hardy plant that grows approximately 3-4 feet tall and wide in the prairie region of Canada.  Limelight hydrangea is Little Lime's "sibling."  Little Lime looks like Limelight in a slightly more diminutive form.

The blooms open a lime green colour in short panicles on strong stems in the summer then turn a shade between beige and pink/burgundy for late summer and autumn.

Extremely hardy, Little Lime is hardy zones 3-8. This hydrangea grows best in part sun to sun and blooms on new wood.

A light trim to Little Lime in late winter to early spring is all the pruning necessary. Fertilize with a slow release balanced fertilizer once new growth is evident.  Supplemental feedings of a fertilizer with a higher middle number, phosphorus, is beneficial until the second week in August.  

Little Lime's flowers make terrific long-lasting cut flowers which can be dried indoors if desired.

In the Spotlight: Bobo Hydrangea (hydrangea paniculata Bobo)

Continuing my feature on hydrangeas that are hardy in zone 3 gardens and have proven themselves worthy of your garden.  Here's Bobo Hydrangea.

Bobo Hydrangea is a paniculata, meaning it has elongated clusters of flowers (a panicle).  It is dwarf and hardy with abundant flowers.

Height: 30 - 36 inches

Width: 36 - 48 inches

Spacing: 48 - 60 inches

Blooms: summer to autumn

Exposure:  part sun to sun

Flowers borne in elongated clusters, start white and turn pink in the autumn.  The bush is literally covered top to bottom in blooms.  Blooms on new wood.  Reliable bloomer.

Soil:  good loam, moderate moisture, well-drained.

Hardy zones 3 - 8

The flowers are upright on strong stems, with panicles continuing to lengthen through the growing season.  

Bobo Hydrangea is a show-stopper.  It was awarded the 2010 Gold FLORALL Medal for best novelty plant.

In the Spotlight: Bombshell Hydrangea (hydrangea paniculata Bombshell)

Bombshell Hydrangea (hydrangea paniculata Bombshell)  Discovered in May 2003 in the Netherlands.  

Paniculata hydrangea meaning it grows flowers in pyramid shaped clusters known as panicles.  Bombshell Hydrangea is aptly named because the numerous panicles of white blooms seem to explode from the bush.  It is said to have more flowers per plant than any other paniculata hydrangea.  (though Bobo gives it a challenge).  Each flower within the cluster is a star shape and is sterile.  The fertile flowers are not noticeable within the cluster.

Bombshell hydrangea is a dwarf shrub reaching heights of 2-3 feet and widths of 3-4 feet.  Well-branched.  It is a long-blooming shrub, flowering from July through September.  No drooping.  Flowers are white maturing slowly to a rosy pink before turning brown. Leaves are dark green, ovate and serrated, about 2 1/2 inches long.  Leaves are yellow with a purplish tinge in the fall.  Flowers persist somewhat through winter.

Hardy to zone 3, -40 C or -40 F.

Exposure:  part sun to full sun.

Soil:  moist, well-drained.  Add compost to the hole before planting.  Mulch planted hydrangea to retain moisture and keep weeds at bay.

Blooms on new wood.  It may take a couple years to come into its own but will then provide a nice showing of blooms.  No pruning necessary.

Brilliant Days of Summer Blooms

The colours of summer blooms are vibrant and pop in the garden, well most of them anyway.  There are a few muted tones in the campanula and some delphiniums and hollyhocks but then there are those that are sizzling hot, just like summer days.  Echinacea, for instance, consists of many cultivars that are brilliant shades of yellow, orange and pink.  As spring begets summer, summer soon begets fall and often the flowers of August continue to bloom right through September.  Some just linger on the stem, drying in place.  They liven the garden landscape wherever they are found.

 Echinacea Hot Papaya (coneflower)

 Echinacea Pow Wow Wild Berry (coneflower)

Delphinium 'Guinevere'

Echinacea 'Cantaloupe' (coneflower)

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer'

Osteospermum 'Blue Eyed Beauty' (annual African daisy)

Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's Root) cultivar unknown

Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles' (Dwarf spike speedwell)

 Alcea rosea (Hollyhock) - cultivar unknown

Larkspur (Delphinium) - cultivar unknown

Lychnis (Maltese Cross)

Rosa 'Campfire' (Campfire Rose)

Rudbeckia ' Cherokee Sunset' (gloriosa daisy)

Veronica spicata (possibly Red Fox)

Campanula 'Light Blue Clips' (bellflower)

Delphinium

Delphinium

 Alcea rosea (Hollyhock) cultivar unknown

Trollius 'Orange Globe' (globeflower) 

Digitalis 'Dalmation Purple' (foxglove)

Digitalis 'Dalmation Peach' (foxglove)

Alcea rosea 'Queeny Purple' (Hollyhock )

Phlox and Monarda (bee balm)

Hydrangea macrophylla (mop head) (possibly 'Endless Summer')  photo by SWM

#Augustblooms  #zone3summerflowers 

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Wednesday Without Words

My World Tuesday

It has been a rainy summer here in the Edmonton region and I am not complaining one bit.  It's so much nicer to work outside when it's cooler.  You simply dress for it.

Today's photo is that of raindrops upon the expired blossom of my passionflower vine (right) and the vine itself (left).  I admit to being totally enamoured with this vine, have been for years in fact.  I've had it a year now and it has had an incredible succession of blooms this summer.  Something tells me it is enjoying our rainy season too.

From my little corner of the world, cheers!

Linking up with:  http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.ca
#rainydayphotography  #passionflower  #yeggardens