I’m joining Gillian at Country Garden UK in her weekly meme Looking Good. She asks us to showcase highlights in our garden each week and link back to her site. Pop on over to see what’s special in gardener’s plots around the globe.
As you see above, my maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is looking especially good against the backdrop of red maple (Acer rubrum). This specimen is probably twenty years old and is huge, approximately 15′ wide by 10′ tall. Its silvery fronds are magnificent, waving in the sunlight and even more so in the moonlight.
New England asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) are looking great, the bees happily attend them. I have light pink, dark pink and deep purple. In the first photo, in the background you can see white garden phlox (P. paniculata), which is still blooming.
In the small, hot, dry bed next to the front steps, late-blooming sedums are looking lovely. Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ in lime-green looks great next to the gray-green and pink of October Daphne (Sedum seboldii aka Hylotelephium sieboldii). A few hens and chicks (Sempervivum) with purple highlights are in the lower right foreground. In the background right is cranberry-colored Sedum ‘Autumn Joy.’ Berries of cotoneaster (C. dammeri) are in the upper lefthand corner.
A surprise in the front bed is this lettuce leaf poppy (Papaver somniferum) that self-sowed very late and is now budding up (they usually bloom in July). I’m crossing my fingers that it blooms before frost gets it. I love the mauve-colored blooms against the gray-green leaves. This bed is made within raised stonewalls, so perhaps it will retain enough heat to help elevate the temperature.
Nasturtiums and calendula provide lots of bright yellow and orange blooms while the under-rated red foliage of sundrops (Oenothera fruiticosa) adds more color to the perennial garden.
Fall is advancing, but I’m still enjoying so many things in the garden and hope for several more weeks of color before nature puts an end to the 2015 season.
Eliza Waters 
What an impressive garden you have, and an even more impressive knowledge. Lovely.
Thank you so much! Kind of like breathing, I often take it for granted. Thanks for the acknowledgement and different POV. 🙂
🙂
Lovely and the first photo is my favorite!
Many thanks, Cindy!
Yummy!
Thanks, Val! 🙂
Gorgeous! I love that maiden grass, but those asters are delightful too! 🙂
Thank you Julie!
Stunning photos & brilliant colors! And your knowledge about all the different kinds of flowers and how they bloom is amazing! I love those fuzzy little bumblebees! Their color looks good against the purple petals. One of the things I don’t like to say goodbye to when Autumn comes, is all the pretty little flowers and the insects too. I hope there will be a few more weeks of vibrantly colored floral beauty for you and hope you get to capture it all before you have to say goodbye til Spring! 🙂
Thank you very much, Kim! Hope you have a lovely weekend.
Your garden is beautiful Eliza, my favourite your sedum, I am going back into your post to make a note of its name, I would love to grow that here. Amazing to have your somniferum poppies send up new flowers this late, yours bees will be delighted too.
Thank you, Julie. Yes, that poppy is quite a surprise. That’s never happened before.You might see it in a future post!
The seasonal colour in your garden is truly lovely 🍁🍂🍁
Thanks so much, Frances!
Looking lovely – that pink aster is so delicate:)
Thank you!
So lovely. The gardens might be past their peak, but fall brings so many consolations that it doesn’t matter.
True! Thanks, Laurie. Have a great weekend.
Just wonderful. Lovely garden.
Thank you, Gigi. Have a great weekend.
I have to take my hat off to Calendula for its non stop blooms in my garden even into frost. Crossing my fingers for you for those poppies to pop! Love your fall garden.
Thanks, Kathy. Hope you have a great weekend!
Gorgeous! And I love that sedum – the one I had in my old garden grew well, but I was only somewhat fond of it (and mostly fond that it was interesting all summer long, unlike many flowers). This one looks much more my style!
Thank you, Sarah. This one is attractive all season, but really shines in the fall, plus it stays pretty small and doesn’t overpower its neighbors.
That is good to know. Mine got very large after a couple years. I was going to have to take the clippers to it (moving saved it that fate).
It’s so lovely in your garden Eliza, love that miscanthus.
Thank you so much, Karen. 🙂
Amazing garden Eliza. Now I see the difference between Miscanthus sinensis and the one I posted. Yours is more feathery, mine retains that “bottlebrush” look. You have beautiful Asteraceae, all kinds and colors. Beautiful post. You have so much variety there!
Thank you, Maria. Yes, our yard is about an acre. At one time I maintained 9 perennial beds (I was young with lots more energy). Now it’s half that, the ones close to the house get more attention. It is still a lot more than I can take care of and I let it get wilder the older I get! Nature will take it all over eventually. 🙂
That’s interesting too, you know how the “wildlife gardens” are also in style now. 😊
Yes, I’m a regular trendsetter! ;-D
[sigh] Gorgeous. I’d love to see that grass in person!
Thank you, Lisa. It amazes me every year. It’ll turn golden with the frost and the seeds will fly away, but it’ll be lovely still until the snow pushes it down. It is a bit of a monster, but I love it anyway. 🙂
You have so much color, Eliza! Your Asters, covered in bees, are so vivid. Everything certainly is “Looking Good” in your garden. Love your bed of Sedums, especially. It is fun to see how gently your garden has transitioned to autumn. Giant hugs, WG
Thanks so much. Definitely transitioning! They’ve warned of frost tonight so I’m off to cut bouquets of annuals just in case we get one.
Eliza,
I always enjoy the play between your sense of beauty and the science of all these plants. I learn so much.
Many thanks, Kim!
As usual your garden looks truly beautiful Eliza. Thanks very much for sharing it with all of us.
Thank you Gillian. Your meme is a good way for me to appreciate what I have as well!
Your miscanthus looks wonderful against the autumn colours on your trees and I love the pale pink aster. I wonder if I can find one here? Does it have a name?
Thank you. I wish I could tell you the name of the cultivar but I’ve had this for probably 20 years and can’t recall if it was one I bought or a garden share. I’d expect the UK must have several Symphyotrichum novae-angliae cultivars that would be close in color. Good luck!
Oh Eliza, your garden really is looking good! It must be wonderful to wander around in, looking at all of the lovely plants and beautiful colours of the flowers, especially now your summer heat has passed. How do you remember all of the names of the different plants? Some are familiar to me, but I’m always amazed by the detail you can give with each species.
Thanks, Joanne. I’ve always loved plants since I was a teenager, and studied them in college. My memory may be a bit slower than it used to be (not enough RAM!), but I generally can recall most things.They’ve changed a number of Latin names and that messes me up, but there is always google when I get stuck.;-)