End of August

Red Day Lily

 I leave today for the east coast, but wanted to post some pics of the CB garden before I go.  I had a couple Day Lilies bloom the last couple days as a nice 'goodbye' from the garden.  I also have another foxglove than bloomed that is a subtle dusty rose color.  Once you get close to these, you see the detailed pollination biology that's going on to entrap passing insects. . .

Dusty Rose Foxglove beckoning 'come hither little bug'.

Himalayan Border Jewel-Persicaria affnis

Ornamental Grass, Rudbeckia, 'Rosy Glow' Stonecrop

2007

2012

 

2009?--boat parking

2012-abandoned car parking

 So, with an installation of 'before and after' pictures, I leave the valley in eager anticipation of next spring.  Hopefully the snows will come as it's become pretty apparent that we need a big snow pack for things to thrive up here (surprise, surprise. . . ).  Although our season is so short up here, like most things around these parts, it makes up for it in intensity and our blooms at 9,000ft seem brighter and more vibrant.  Maybe it's just from looking at a fairly monochrome landscape for most of the year. . . .

Mid August

Yellow Foxglove

Well, my time in my garden is coming to an early end this year as in about a week I'll be heading out to Maine for another year of school at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship.  Although blooms have been lacking a bit across the board this sumer (both in the garden and in the wild), it's still been another phenomenal summer in the Rockies.  Moving into the end of August here, I've got a nice Foxglove with pale yellow flowers that it rocking right now. I've got a pink Foxglove as well, but it's nursery stock from this year, so doesn't totally count. . .

Pink Foxglove

My Echinops is starting it's fireworks display.  Here I have a 'Silver Mound' Artemisia, Echinops, and a pink Yarrow clustered together:

Artemisia, Echinops, pink Yarrow, and Golden Hops

Echinops (Globe Thistle) is one of my top perennial picks.  It's not that easy to find up here, and it's spiky leaves can be a little intimidating, but there is something about their unusual spherical blue blooms that I love in the garden.  Once they start to shoot out their 'fireworks' (as I like to call them--not exactly a technical term), you'll be sold too. . .

Echinops Bloom

Another plant that has been hard to find up here the last couple of years, but has done very well for me is a Stachys Monieri 'Hummelo'.  It differs greatly from the wooly Stachys that one typically sees up here, and I've seen it classified as zone 4, but it has grown and bloomed consistently for me for the past 2-3 years.  I've also seen incredible displays of the 'Hummelo' in Aspen.

Stachys Monieri 'Hummelo'

Stachys Monieri 'Hummelo'

I still have some larger day lilies that have budded out and just waiting (for what, I wonder) to pop.  My Peonies never bloomed this year, my Delphinium were less than spectacular, but things are growing. . . Hopefully another month will pass before we start getting frost.  

Barney Ranch

Tracy checking on her veggies

My friend Tracy has a habit of picking up neglected and otherwise unwanted plants or animals and nurturing them to healthy, happy beings.  Whether it be dogs, donkeys, or shrubs, she can take the most dire cases and somehow helps them become fully realized beings.  In the plant world, she also has a habit of getting things to grow that really have no business living at 8,500ft.  In a windy spot at the head of the Gunnison Valley, she has an impressive spread of trees, shrubs, and an abundance of Nepeta (cat mint).  Of course, her favorite color is purple, so it makes sense. . .

On a purple note, after having posted earlier that I've never seen a climbing vine Clematis do well up here, I was stunned to see one on the east side of her garage:

Climbing Vine Clematis

It's completely protected from the wind and gets a pretty good dose of morning sun and mid day sun, but shielded from afternoon sun.  She claims she never waters it and it took about 3 years to get fully productive, but now, after 5 years, it must have over 100 blooms on it.

I like being surprised. . . it keeps me on my toes.  And I should have known that if any one can get a Clematis to grow up here, it's Tracy.
Another one of my favorites in her garden is a Mugo 'Tannenbaum', a cute little pine that stays relatively short:

Pinus Mugo 'Tannenbaum'

Tracy is a perfect example of someone who is dedicated and determined to have a garden up here, fearless in her experimentation, and constantly reading and researching helping her grow in a somewhat inhospitable environment.