The last of the season. Fall chill in the air...

The gorgeous red leaves of Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Alice really stand out. They don't market the fall characteristics of this variety but should. The leaves are quite large at 12 to 14 inches across.

A true favorite in the fall garden is Aconitum Napellus or Monkshood. All parts of this plant are very poisonous. The principal alkaloids are aconite and aconitine. Of these aconitine is thought to be the key toxin. Ingestion of even a small amount results in severe gastrointestinal upset but it is the effect on the heart, where it causes slowing of the heart rate, which is often the cause of death.

A yellow Knockout rose giving it one last flourish.

Rosa Oktoberfest with a few water droplets on the petal.

This is a shot of Polygonum cuspidatum 'Crimson Beauty' from underneath. It grows about 6 feet tall and arches over (similar to Solomon's Seal) giving it a flowing effect.

The final blooms as fall approaches ...

 The color contrast in our Oakleaf Hydrangea Alice bed is very nice. The leaves are quite large and turn bright red as the temps drop in the fall.

The always prolific, bold and colorful Peppermint Schnapps Hibiscus.

Hydrangea Little Lime has blooms that turn reddish-pink as fall approaches.

Lantana camara Confetti is an aggressive plant with very touch stems. It blooms consistently from early summer through fall.

A stand of Erigeron annuus or Eastern daisy fleabane was a hitch hiker plant from an Amish garden center. It grows every year somewhere in the garden.

A repeat bloom for this red Canna lily. We picked these up for a $1.50 at an Amish garden center and they have flourished. A great buy.

A Buddleia davidii White Profusion bloom. This is another species that blooms again in the fall. Excellent fragrance and grows quite tall.

A Sweet Potato Vine Margarita Ipomoea batatas in the sun. We tried one this year and it did very well. The bright green color and low growing habit make it a nice ground cover. We'll have more next season.

The Conoclinium coelestinum or Mist Flower is dainty but very hardy. I should have taken a picture last week because it was in full bloom. This is a small remnant.

A single Rosa grandiflora Oktoberfest.

A Stevia plant in full flower. Stevia rebaudiana is called ka’a he’e in the language of the Guarani people of Paraguay and Brazil. The leaves have been used for centuries by the Guarani as a sweetener for their native tea (yerba mate) and for various medicinal uses. The leaves of this herb can be up to 300 times as sweet as sugar. 

The 2012 Tin Roof Gardens Hydrangea Edition...

This is the second season of Penny Mac Hydrangeas named after Penny McHenry, founder of the American Hydrangea Society. They have a few unusual traits. They bloom on old and new wood, are a repeat bloomer in the same season and have both large and small mophead blooms on the same plant. They definitely benefit from afternoon shade and require regular soaking when they get too hot. Yes, a little needy but just look at the display. To get pink, the plant must not take up aluminum from the soil. If the soil naturally contains aluminum, add dolomitic lime powder to the soil a few times a year. For blue hydrangea, aluminum must be present in the soil. This bed's PH is obviously a mess but we like the variation.

You cant beat the vivid color of Cityline Venice Hydrangea.

A beautiful cascade of pink Nikko Blue.

This Merritt's Supreme is nice but gets a little too much sun. The flowers have been on the small side but it always blooms. A key characteristic of this variety is very sturdy stems. No flopping on this one. We'll move it to a shadier location next spring.

This is an unknown variety that has a enormous flower. We bought a tray of Sister Theresa and this one was mixed in. Beautiful color with large petals. The picture doesn't do it justice.

The classic Nikko Blue in all it blue glory.

Originally named Petite Soeur Therese De L'enfant Jesus and bred in 1947, Sister Theresa needs partial shade. We bought these to use as an under-story plant for Oakleaf Alice. We saw these in Berlin and thought the compact white flowers on dark green foliage was a striking combination.

The classic southern Annabelle Hydrangea. To help with the inevitable flopping, I tied it up in the spring. It seemed to help.

We bought this scratch and dent Lady in Red Lacecap Hydrangea at an Amish garden center two years ago and it really came alive this season. The blooms are quite delicate so try to keep it out of afternoon sun.

I thought this was an interesting image of Heuchera Citronelle with a Lady in Red flower poking through.

This is a full image of Lady in Red in bloom. Look close and you can see the red stems. This image also has a pink Nikko Blue (back) and Variegated Maculata Lacecap (on the right).

Maculata Lacecap is a unique lacecap with variegated foliage. It can be blue or pink. I think it looks better when blue.

An unknown lacecap variety. A beautiful bloom. Wish I knew its name.

Another unknown lacecap ...

and yet another unknown lacecap....

and the final unknown lacecap. Someday I might find someone who can help identify these plants.

Our Oakleaf Alice produced huge flowers this year. After three years in the ground they are really starting to fill out. This is a large species so make sure you have plenty of room. The leaves are much larger than any Oakleaf I've seen. 

A classic American native Quercifolia Oakleaf. This one was mislabeled at the garden center. We thought it was an Oakleaf Alice but now we love it. We also discovered that they are mildly fragrant. They don't market them as fragrant but I will attest to the fact the our plant produced enough perfume that we could smell them from the patio chairs 4 to 5 feet away.

A closeup of the Oakleaf flower spike. They are quite fuzzy behind the white petals.

This is a dwarf Oakleaf PeeWee. The flowers are not as long as the standard but its a nice accent Oakleaf if you don't have room for the larger variety.

This was labeled as a Pinky Winky but its obviously not true. It is definitely a paniculata but maybe its a "PeeWee", "White Moth" or "Unique."

Here is a closeup of the plant above. It has a Japanese Zen quality to it.

Sometimes the immature flowers have a beauty all their own. This is a young Merritt's Supreme.

This is a young pink Nikko Blue.

This s a young blue Nikko Blue.

A young Oakleaf bloom before it starts to curve.

This is a climbing Hydrangea Anomala subspecia Petiolaris. It's really growing well this year. They say it takes a few years to get acclimated but when happy it takes off.

June 29th and its 104 degrees!

A beautiful pink Filipendula rubra finally came back to life and bloomed this year. Its in front of white Annabelle hydrangea. A nice combo.

A big fat Cleome full of pollen. You should try to find the wild species and collect the seeds in the fall.  The hybrids are not as large, sturdy and don't bloom as prolifically.

This is group of smaller Cleome on the edge of the veggie garden.

Our bed of of Gooseneck Loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides) is always bountiful.

Acanthus hungaricus produced a series of symmetrical blooms this year. It looks like a plant catalog photo. This variety has small spines so you have to be careful when weeding around this one.

We moved the Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata) and it finally grew strong and bloomed. I've been waiting to see this flower since 2009! It has a nice sweet fragrance and the pollinators appear to like it.

This year we decided to help the Jacob Cline Bee Balm (Monarda) by weaving a series of stakes and wire over the bed so it would grow through it. This provided much needed support. It grew about 6 feet and as you can see its very happy indeed. The little white flowers peeking out are White Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana).

This is Petite Delight Bee Balm (Monarda). It only grows about a foot and has a nice purple flower. Great for borders. Surprisingly, these are doing quite well in a rather shady area.

Golden Stargazer Lilies living up to the hype. The fragrance is quite bold and wafts all over the garden. We have them in many places throughout the garden so you always catch a whiff.

We decided to try the new double lilies but they haven't lived up to the hype. This is the second season, the fragrance is weak, the blooms are short lived and always a little deformed. I guess the breeders need to work on it a little longer. This is called Double Oriental Lily Soft Music but doesn't look anything like the marketing photos.

This is the other double lily we tried called Double Oriental Lily Lodewijk. It looks much better this year but the fragrance is weak and the other flowers are small and deformed.

Tiger Lily (Lilium tigrinum) recovered from being munch on by voles last year.

The always abundant Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) after being ravaged by bees.

Our veggie garden is staring to take off. We planted purple hull peas, peppers, squash, celery, cabbage, broccoli, collards, tomato, sage, mint, basil, and thyme. Yum!