Autumn has come with a bit of relief. It's not the calendar that says it is autumn, but the change in the weather. After months of temperatures in the upper 90's, the daytime highs are finally coming down to below 90, and the nights in the mid to low 60's. I feel like there's a bit more spring to my step. I've historically dreaded autumn, that winding down season that means the end of the growing season, and even though there is a little of that, the relief that is a break in the heat has overridden that autumnal depression. In the garden what also comes as a bit of a relief is that the garden chores wind down also. I have to admit that in the heat I have been less than attentive to garden maintenance, and now that autumn is here, I have an excuse to let things go, literally, to seed. The roses shouldn't be deadheaded now, to encourage them to slow down their growing in preparation for cold weather. If they were to put out a lot of new growth just when the weather gets cold, it will all freeze and the plant will be damaged. Some of my roses did just that last year, putting out new growth that didn't mature before the freezing weather came. This new growth froze way back. It didn't kill the roses. They were fine. But it is a sad thing to see.
Autumn is also a good time to take stock of the garden. This has been a particularly tough year in the garden. I lost a lot of plants this year, and some of them were quite surprising. One of the big surprises was the death of one of the junipers that I had planted last year. I had taken out the Colorado Blue Spruces last year, as well as Vlad the Impaler (English Hawthorn), both of which were not particularly attractive, and were outgrowing their spaces. I replaced them with 5 plants of the columnar juniper 'Spartan', which to be brief, is easily obtainable, fit the space, and to my eye retains some of the character of the New Mexico landscape. It is a similar color to Juniperus monosperma, the native one-seed juniper, and although 'Spartan' is a columnar juniper, it seems not to be as columnar in this climate as the photos. Another reason for choosing juniper is that I am trying to morph my garden into plants that are easy to grow in this climate. So it was a surprise that one of the junipers died this summer. It was a slow and painful decline. Perhaps I caught it too late, once I noticed that the plant was turning an off-color, I tried giving it more water and care, but it was too late. I replaced it this weekend.
Also surprising was the death of many lavenders and penstemons this summer. Many seemed to be doing well and then suddenly wilted and died. This is likely a soil fungus although strangely these deaths occurred at various times through the summer, and during dry spells. One of the Acantholimon halophyllum died also after years of stalwart performance. This was quite a surprise and a disappointment, as it is one of those plants that Agua Fria Nursery doesn't carry anymore.
My beloved Penstemon linarioides (above, left) has been dying back in patches, and the Acantholimon halophyllum (above right) that has given me years of joy is now brown. I had two of the Acantholimon so I have one left, but it doesn't have a friend. The Penstemon linarioides self-seeded like crazy this spring, so I have many baby plants to replace them, but the garden is definitely looking more messy as there are self-seeded plants in places I did not plan, as well as the half-dead or dead plants and empty spaces where the dead plants were removed.
There are some highlights in the garden, however.
'Bishop's Castle' is proving its worth.
I aways wonder if I should keep Aster 'Purple Dome' because the color is on the redder side of purple and I like the more violet colors better. Of course those asters like Professor Kippenburg keep dying from fungus, but 'Purple Dome' has no problems.
Although Aster x frikartii 'Monch' is looking a bit messy, I'm okay with it since it has been blooming for more than two months, as opposed to the two weeks that 'Purple Dome' will bloom for.
Autumn is also a good time to take stock of the garden. This has been a particularly tough year in the garden. I lost a lot of plants this year, and some of them were quite surprising. One of the big surprises was the death of one of the junipers that I had planted last year. I had taken out the Colorado Blue Spruces last year, as well as Vlad the Impaler (English Hawthorn), both of which were not particularly attractive, and were outgrowing their spaces. I replaced them with 5 plants of the columnar juniper 'Spartan', which to be brief, is easily obtainable, fit the space, and to my eye retains some of the character of the New Mexico landscape. It is a similar color to Juniperus monosperma, the native one-seed juniper, and although 'Spartan' is a columnar juniper, it seems not to be as columnar in this climate as the photos. Another reason for choosing juniper is that I am trying to morph my garden into plants that are easy to grow in this climate. So it was a surprise that one of the junipers died this summer. It was a slow and painful decline. Perhaps I caught it too late, once I noticed that the plant was turning an off-color, I tried giving it more water and care, but it was too late. I replaced it this weekend.
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| the new 'Spartan' Juniper |
Also surprising was the death of many lavenders and penstemons this summer. Many seemed to be doing well and then suddenly wilted and died. This is likely a soil fungus although strangely these deaths occurred at various times through the summer, and during dry spells. One of the Acantholimon halophyllum died also after years of stalwart performance. This was quite a surprise and a disappointment, as it is one of those plants that Agua Fria Nursery doesn't carry anymore.
There are some highlights in the garden, however.
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