Picture post from early September, and some planned editing

So with the season drawing to a close, I am pleasantly surprised at how well the garden has weathered my neglect this year. Mostly I think I am reaping the benefits of previous years of planting - as a whole pile of things are getting mature enough to be pretty spectacular - and grunt work (i.e. I suspect things would look VERY DIFFERENT without the last three years' worth of mulch).

I find that things are in some places forming neatly contrasting clumps that are very pleasing to the eye, and in other places they are sort of blending into a big muddle that doesn't show anything to advantage. Next year will have to try to rein things in and prop things up so as to address this.

Really need to pull up those rocks at the front and get rid of all the weeds. Have filled in the east side of the yard with a pile of tall yellow "autumn minaret" daylilies, but they were mostly done by the time I took these pictures.

This sunflower is taller than me!

Lack of cohesion abounds. Siiiiigh. Too many airy plants, possibly? The sedum, weigela and rose campion make for nice blocks of colour, but otherwise, bleh. Should try rearranging this section next year, possibly with the addition of some more dwarf conifers (precioussss) as anchors...

Lespedeza. Eeeeeeeeexcellent. Will have to use a peony hoop or something to prop it up a bit next year.

And in the back, encouraging degrees of colour!

Dragon statue relocated to keep his namesake company. Am thinking the blank spot (with all the periwinkle in this picture) might be a good place for a tsuga canadensis (moon frost or gentsch white) - couldn't quite bring myself to fork out $80 for a big one, though. Will keep my eye out for an itty bitty one!

Not bad! Loving the phlox at the back in particular at the moment...

Tall purple phlox is AWESOME but needs support because it has flopped eeeeverywhere. Willow needs cutting back, and so do the grapevines, which are trying to climb onto it. Need to try pinching the purple sedum back next year in hope of reducing its sprawliness. New additions: yellow barberry, Pusch dwarf spruce, and stokesia (now blooming in an eye-watering purple; must remember to take pix!)

Other schemes involving this bed: way in the back corner, completely hidden from view, is my $20 japanese maple. These things are supposed to be relatively easy to transplant, so late this fall, once it drops its leaves, I am going to soldier back there, dig it up, and move it somewhere I will actually be able to see it. And if it up and dies on me as a result, well, it was $20, and has been invisible for years now, so I won't have sacrificed much.

Beat back the golden oregano and added a Hedgehog white spruce, a purple veronica, and an anemone (have not had much luck with these so far, but stunning specimens in the market suggest that they might need more sun - so we'll see what happens with this location!) Still looks kind of a mess, but we'll see if it might improve with establishment.

Bee balm, joe pye weed and chelone all sort of disappear into an undifferentiated mass of stems about halfway down the bed. Must fix; not sure how. Introduce contrast, maybe?

Since the delphiniums have vanished and the hydrangeas and bee balm threaten to take over, my evil scheme is to pull out said hydrangeas and bee balm and replace them with the previously mentioned $20 japanese maple, which will be a nice colour contrast in this bed and open up some room for understorey plants - such as the dwarf golden japanese yew I purchased today, which would be a nice bright (yet shade tolerant) contrast. Am thinking another clematis would be good on the fence too, since it is otherwise a long bland white expanse.

Detail of the sun bed, with newly purchased plants and thriving rue. Am pretty pleased with this combination.

Grass in the wall bed! Stragglier than it ought to be, really; we'll see if it fills in. Maybe not getting enough sun.