Six on Saturday – 09/10/2021 – The End Is Nigh

Chris Mousseau

In just a few weeks we’ll have our first frost, and a few weeks after that we’ll likely have our first snowfall of the year. And although, given our current warm temperatures, that may be hard for us to believe, trees and shrubs have no doubts. The warm yellows of the woods bordering our backyard, above, and the orangey- red of Staghorn Sumac, below, are proof.

Every Saturday, The Propagator encourages gardeners around the world to share six things that are happening in their garden. Here’s what’s happening in my garden, as I start the process of emptying pots and cutting back tatty looking annuals.

An abundance of small Echeveria, thanks to a mother plant that just keeps on giving. I’m going to give away the two in re-purposed honey jars, and bring the other indoors for the winter.
An abundance of white berries – Snowberry (Symphoricarpos) on the left and Grey Dogwood (Cornus racemosa) on the right.
Big Blue Salvia – Salvia farinacea x S. longispicata – looking the best it’s been all season. I don’t know if they produce viable seeds, although I’ve seen bumble bees swarming them so I’m going to look closely.
The last of my Colchicums. This patch is in a nice, semi-shaded area, and the flowers emerged and started to bloom a bit later than others.

I’ve started to empty out pots of annuals ( I need to let the pots dry before storing them in an unheated shed for the winter), and one had a purple-leaved Sweep Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas) which, for the most part, seemed to do nothing except provide food for slugs all summer. So I cut it back to just a few leaves and gave it a big drink of water. A last supper, if you will. Two days later it pushed out a gorgeous flower! I watched this honey bee delve around in its depths for a bit before it emerged and paused long enough for me to take its portrait.

Have a great weekend everyone, and if you’re in Canada or the United States, have a great Thanksgiving long weekend.

18 Comments

  1. Beautiful colours and what a great shot of the bee! Love the sage and want to grow more in my garden too, so will look for the S. farinacea. Have a great weekend Chris.

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  3. Salvia farinacea is native here, and I’ve found ditches filled with it in the hill country, mixed with Gaillardia and sunflowers. Your version is more colorful, and beautiful!

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    1. Yes, it is. Usually no snow here until early November…usually frost by mid October, but night temperatures aren’t forecast to be lower than 10 (50 Fahrenheit) for the next two weeks…

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