Friday flowers

Pink asters, species long forgotten


Sky blue aster, Aster oolentangiensis, except it's not looking very blue in this photo


Showy goldenrod, Solidago speciosa - totally flopped over like everything else in the wayback garden

Birthday juniors!

I bought a gaggle of juniors for my birthday this month. I had let the houseplant collection decline and it was in rather pathetic shape, needing pruning and repotting and outright replacing in many cases. Thanks to Logee's and Home Despot, the indoor garden is ready to rebound to its former glory...


Various babies, getting to know each other


Ficus pumila, which dries out if it goes without water for two days; Hoya carnosa variegata 'Stripes'; and a spider plant

September

Have been browsing other garden blogs lately - do you know that some people actually update more than twice in a year?! Crazy. Feel inspired and will try to do better.

The coneflowers and black-eyed Susans are on the decline now but the asters are ramping up. Prairie dock is fabulously in flower but the stems have mostly toppled. This is a chronic problem in the wayback garden; the downy sunflower also flops over, as do the asters and goldenrods. I can't imagine it's too wet or loamy back there; the garage wall makes it hot and oppressive, and the soil is rocky. I always vow to cut things back earlier in the summer and maybe next year I'll really do it, but the prairie dock can't be cut back and will just have to deal.

You don't care about that. Pictures!

Prairie dock


Turtlehead, planted just a few weeks ago


The rare and sleepy Foley flower