Carol J. Michel - Author and Gardener

Award winner author of gardening humor books

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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – September 15, 2022

Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for September 2022.

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, I am pleasantly surprised by the blooms in my garden a week or so before the autumnal equinox which this year arrives on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 9:04 P.M. EDT in the Northern Hemisphere.

Now with that tidbit of info, let’s look at some blooms!

First up is a tall sedum, variety unknown. This one is a little floppier than some because it gets shade most of the afternoon.

Please note the subliminal messages in my garden art. Laugh. It’s good for you. Believe. It’s good too to believe that it will all work out in the end.

Onward. Walk quickly now. I’m not the only one with a bloom day post. Scroll to the bottom in a few days and check out other gardens via the links.

This ‘Limelight’ panicle hydrangea has been an outstanding plant this year. Look at those blooms, which are just now starting to turn a little pink. I wrote an article for Family Handyman in which I reveal my secret for getting this hydrangea to look like this.
The only goldenrod in my garden right now is ‘Solar Cascade’. I cut this one back in late May to encourage it to produce more flowers and so it is not as tall as it could be. I love how it cascades like that.
Colchicums! I’ve planted several bulb over the years sent to me by Kathy at Cold Climate Gardening. They are starting to really spread, almost to the point where in the spring I could probably dig some up to share or spread around my garden. Thanks, Kathy!
I have just a couple of roses which grow with little care given by me. The only thing I do to them is cut back dead branches in the spring. This particular rose, variety unknown, blooms nicely in the fall and will be one of the last flowers standing as we near winter.
Here’s another passalong plant in bloom. Barnardia japonica, also known as Japanese jacinth, is a passalong from none other than the Elizabeth Lawrence garden. After several (6? 7?) years it is starting to bulk up enough to share a few bulbs of this hard to find flower. I shared a bulb of it with a member of my garden club the other day.
And I also have hardy begonias in bloom. These are the last little plants to come up in the spring and one of the last to bloom in late summer.
Shout out to these snapdragons, still blooming strong at the ends of the raised vegetable garden beds after being planted out in late March. I’m not good about deadheading them as I should. (Ignore the weeds, please and thank you.)
Nearby nicotiana is still growing and flowering with abandon. Does it not sense that we are near the end of the growing season? Or does it sense the end of the growing season is near so knows it must bloom and bloom and bloom before frost knocks it down? There will be seedlings of this everywhere next spring!
I do think marigolds are underrated. I sowed seeds for these in late May and look what I got. So many flowers. Again, not much is involved in growing them. Sow seeds, water them in, wait, wait a little while longer, and there they are!
Zinnias do the same for me as marigolds. I direct sow seeds in the spring…
I didn’t expect to see this big hardy hibiscus reblooming, but there you go. Big hardy hibiscus reblooming. (By the way, auto-correct wants to change reblooming to rebooking. Sure. These hibiscus enjoyed this garden so much in July when they first bloomed that they thought they’d rebook for September.)
What are figs but inverted flowers? I found two ripe figs this morning, one on ‘Chicago Hardy’ one on ‘Brown Turkey’. Now I don’t know which was the first to ripen. However the ants got into the ‘Brown Turkey’ fig, so I suspect it was first, again. The ‘Chicago Hardy’ fig was delicious.
Out in front, the leadwort, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, is in full bloom. It’s a nice ground cover plant for me. See how the foliage turns to red?
Also in front, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is also putting on a lot of new blooms. I know some gardeners can’t seem to get this geranium to grow well, but it’s doing just fine here. I do pull off dead foliage after the first flush of bloom.
And… pansies are here! I have three flats of pansies ready to plant in a few containers in front. I best stop this post here and get on with that.

After finishing this post, I realize I left out mums and some hosta that are still blooming. And asters! They aren’t quite in full bloom yet. And phlox! There’s still some tall phlox hanging around. What else did I miss?

Now, what’s blooming in your garden as we reach the middle of September? Join us for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and show us. So easy and everyone is welcome. Post on your blog on or around the 15th of the month about what’s blooming in your garden, then leave a link below and a comment to tell us what you’ve got.

And remember, as Elizabeth Lawrence once wrote, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.”

And with so many great fall flowers, there’s no reason not to have blooms in your garden now!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening says

    Happy almost autumn Carol! Your garden is looking lovely and I especially love the ‘Limelight’ Hydrangea, one of my all-time favorites! Your roses, ‘Rozanne’ Geranium and leadwort are also gorgeous, and yes…marigolds are underrated, but a great plant. Here in zone 7a, the roses are still going, with lots of Sedum (different varieties), hydrangea, lilies, and more. Come for a visit!

    Reply

  2. Alana says

    Happy September! I may have the same sedum as you. I was able to grow marigolds in Kansas and Arkansas but haven’t had the best luck with them in my years in New York State, so I enjoyed yours instead. Zinnias are one of my favorite flowers and I just purchased a couple of pansies, too. Isn’t it great when we have so many flowers that we can ignore some of them?

    Reply

  3. Kris P says

    You’ve got a good showing for September! While succulents in general do well in my climate, Sedums are the exception – I think they like a bit of winter chill that I just don’t have to give them. Sadly, I’ve just given on on Hydrangeas due to their water needs.

    Reply

  5. Jerry says

    Nice! Interesting to see that your Begonia, leadwort, nicotiana, and colchicums are ahead of mine, as I don’t have any of those in bloom. I haven’t heard that Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is difficult. Both of mine have been doing well for several years now.

    Reply

  7. danger garden says

    Lots of blooms you’ve got there! That hydrangea is magnificent. I wish I had a spot for that hardy begonia, but coming up late as it does I would put a shovel through it for sure—forgetting it was there and thinking I had a space available in which to plant.

    Reply

  8. John says

    Hi Carol, nice to see all that fruit of your efforts, both metaphorically and in terms of figs. Now we have another month before the weather starts to interfere…

    Reply

  10. Jean at Jean's Garden says

    I’m interested to know that others have also had difficulty with ‘Rozanne.’ I tried it when it was first on the market, but it never survived the winter here. I’ve just planted it again for the first time in many years (on the grounds that our winters are warmer now); I’ll be interested to see how it does.
    Thanks, again, for hosting this monthly flower fest, Carol!

    Reply

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