The growing season is fairly long here in western North Carolina, and even more things are blooming now. It is the last of summer, with some bloomers hanging on, and new ones coming out. On the veranda, about half the pots still have something blooming. These yellow bidens just keep coming.
My pink geranium gave me this beautiful flower, and looks like it will do a few more before it is done.
I planted these dwarf asters last fall, and totally forgot that they only bloom in the late summer. They came from the bargain shelf at the big box store. I almost pulled them up, then saw some tiny buds forming. A few days later, they burst into beautiful mounds of purple flowers.
This lovely hydrangea bloom came early in the month. Stunning color!! This is my favorite, the lovely lavendar that is a perfect balance of blue and pink, meaning the soil is practically neutral, not too acid or too alkaline.
Now all my hydrangeas look like this one.
My coneflower produced five blooms this year, one had faded by the time I got a picture. This was a gift to me two years ago from a friend.
The Gerbera Shasta Daisy is covered in buds this year, and burst into bloom on Friday morning.
It was time to do some clean out of the flower bed where the squash and tomatoes were planted. Disappointing results this year, not one single squash and only a few scrawny tomatoes.
The last tomato was plucked and the plant pulled up. This was a yellow tomato I grew from seed. It gave me exactly one tomato.
The squirrels apparently planted a tree for me. Well, that had to come out!!
While DH and I worked on getting the weeds out, this little guy popped out from under the house to find out what was going on in his yard.
All cleaned up!
I planted a couple of deep red mums to give the garden a fall look. The doves were placed in with them. They were covered in buds, and fully opened up this week.
I was really surprised to see one of the white irises put up a late bud. I thought these were done for the year last month.
It was stunning, and bloomed the day before the entrance day for the garden competition at the fair. So, I thought, why not enter it? I cut it with its buds and took it with me in a tall glass container to the fair.
We went to the fair last Saturday, and I was astounded to see that it had won a second place ribbon.
And so did my hydrangea bloom, that popped open the same morning! I took it as a whim as well, and was just blown away when it got a second place ribbon, considering the competition!! I think it was its color that did it, as most of the others were greenish with the dark pink that is typical for hydrangeas at the end of the blooming season.
Finally, I entered the giant cup with the Gilded Grape Torenia, and it won a third place. How fun is this?!!
Anyway, back to reality, the veranda needed to be refreshed as much as the flowerbeds. I pulled out the plants that were looking too sad to keep and put those pots away. Then rearranging what was left made a fresh display for the corner.
The cleome was happy, and gave me a bit more color.
This begonia is still going strong, I just turned it around so the flowers can be seen from inside the house.
All the hanging torenias continue to attract the hummingbirds and big bees during the day. There are still a few spent flowers on this one that I need to get to.
Then just Friday morning, the yellow gladiola made an appearance. A bit of wind damage got the lower bloom.
I took down the spring/summer wreath and put up one that is transitional. It is made with pine cones and artificial fruit. It looks like fall is on the way without being too autumn leafy. See how I made it – Harvest Wreath.
The rockers are beckoning! The impatiens in the table pots are still doing well too.
The storm weakened a great deal before reaching us overnight last night. We had rain beginning yesterday afternoon that continued through the night, but so far so good. It looks like it won’t be as bad as predicted, but the worst of it should go through later today and tomorrow. The prediction now is for 3-6 inches of rain, but a lot less flooding than originally forecast. I think we will be fine. Thank you to everyone who has asked about us!!
So, lots of clean up accomplished. Soon it will be time to plant more bulbs. What’s blooming in your area now?
Sharing
Gardens Galore
From My Carolina Home 
Just a point of information: the tiny tree you removed was actually a tulip poplar.
Congratulations on a successful fair season!
Congrats on all the ribbons! The weeds continue to bloom in my garden! Also the sedum have flowered and the liriope has it’s little purple stalks…..but you have to hunt far to see them hidden in the overgrowth. I just can’t get in the garden mood at all. I need less humidity, fewer bugs, and lower temps to clean the whole mess out. (Or for my daughter to come visit for a week!)
Once again your garden flowers and tubs always put on a great show. I’ve been thinking about you the past few days with the oncoming weather forecasts, so was happy to read your comments at the end of your post 🙂
Envious of your yard clean up. I am itching to get my hands in the dirt. Down by the Jersey Shore we have been having either rain, drizzle or just gloomy overcast weather which hold the water on everything. Today, it will be sunny but I already have other plans. One note tomatoes are going strong but so far only a few have turned that luscious red.
Doreen
I enjoyed making a tour round your garden with you as you prepare to put it to bed for the year. Flowers and shrubs add so much colour to our lives. It is a relief I am sure to know that storm will not wreak the havoc it might have. It is frightening to see what people must deal with in those situations.
Wishing you a peaceful upcoming week
Lynn
Good morning Carole…..So happy to hear you haven’t suffered any damage in the mountains, but after reading the latest forecast, they are saying that you could have some flooding up in the mountains, as well. Hopefully not too much. We have pulled all our plants and most of the veggies as well, but still have a couple of tomatoes producing, along with some green peppers. Because of the extremely wet weather we had in the spring and beginning of summer, the tomato plants did very poorly this year, suffering from Wilt, and producing many smaller sized fruits than usual. Love the fact that you still have so many plants providing you with the beauty of summer blooms. Stay safe and dry!
I love seeing your flowers, there are so many different kinds! I have been wishing for an annual fall flower to plant, but haven’t done so yet, as we are going to take out our hedges this fall and plant something else, so will wait. Glad to hear the storm is not causing you problems!
Glad to hear you are getting mostly just rain, although I think they are warning about heavy rain causing landslides in the mountains. Right now the forecast shows the remnants going south of us through PA, but we’re still supposed to get some rain on Monday. My gardens are a mess as it was either too hot, too dry, or both to get much weeding done this summer. We hit 88° yesterday which is 15° above normal for this time of year. No veggies here because of the deer and my potted geraniums on the deck did not do well at all. Sad to think that in a month the leaves will be falling.
Congrats on the additional fair ribbons.
Pat
Such beautiful flowers! I’m so glad to hear you were spared the effects of that storm!
I am so thankful you are safe, and can stay where you live. Your autumn garden has such a lot of colour, and late flowers are so welcome. My Dutch Iris are4 budding, the tulips just starting to open, daffs are finished, and the lawn needs cutting a little more often now. I love your verandah pots, and the way they are arranged.
Good morning Carole,
You have got to have 15 green thumbs, your flowers are always beautiful. I know it takes a lot of work to keep a garden of flowers or food for our tables. Hope you aren’t having any real problems
With Florence coming into the area. I have relatives living in both Raleigh and Columbia, S.C. so I have been very concerned about them with the flooding problems. Having lived in Fla. as a child I remember all the hurricanes of the 40”s and through the 60”s till we moved here in 77 so I know the damage they do. I remember one flood in about 1947 or so, it was horrible!.
Take care and stay safe.
Phyllis Smith
Hello Carole, When you share your flower garden photos, information and your thoughts I always learn something and of course feel wonderful. Beautiful flowers of any type are just soothing and make me smile. Due to all of the horrible fires that surrounded us this year, not many people had luck with flowers or vegetable gardens. The smoke would be so thick for an entire month our town was considered polluted worse than places in China. I am thrilled for you and your ribbons in the competitions you entered. I have never had an Iris bloom this late in the season and yours is stunning. I believe you should have gotten first place! Each of the flowers that you entered were beautiful and I am glad that you won ribbons on all of them! Thank you for sharing your garden with us, I truly enjoyed it! No gardening for me until I have this quilt completely done. I am doing the borders today! Have a fantastic day!
So inspiring, Carole! Thank you. :o)
Compliments and congratulation for fair , here in Istria Croatia stil around 30 degress celzius, and and we need a rain, but the weather report say: Not so soon as we wish. How about the Florence in your region. Good luck.
I always enjoy your garden posts! Those dwarf asters are sure pretty! Did they live through the winter and come back again this year? I wonder if they would do that here.
Congratulations on all your ribbons. Your quilts, eats, & plants are certainly beautiful and I’m glad the judges are appreciative. Just one tiny correction may be in order: I believe your Gerbera daisies in bloom are actually Shasta daisies. I grow both of these daisies myself.
Glad you’ve been spared the storm so far. My niece attends UNC-Wilmington and it looks like the campus will be closed for a while longer. My brother lives in Archdale — do you know it?
Love your blog! Thanks!
Congratulations on your wins! Your flowers always have the best color. Thanks for sharing. Robin
Your garden clean-up is impressive. DH has just started clearing our garden for Autumn.
Congratulations on your show wins.
Hi Carole – I enjoyed seeing your beautiful gardens. I’m happy you won some ribbons at the fair. Hopefully your plants will appreciate the rain and you don’t have to much storm damage. Happy gardening!
Carole, congrats on all the ribbons. I always enjoy seeing your beautiful gardens. Thanks so much for your support and sharing all of your gorgeous posts with Gardens Galore!
Such beauty!How inspiring!
It is lovely to see how well your plants are growing. They last so well through the season. Our Summers are so hot and dry that we need to plant carefully then take a lot of care.
Well done with all your show entries.
And great to hear the rain is not causing problems.
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