Wordless, Late-Season, Garden Visitors

(I'm linking in with Wordless Wednesday and Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens. Thanks to both for hosting!)

Six on Saturday...With Pollinators

Cosmos bipinnatus 'Sensation Mix'

It's time for Six on Saturday, hosted by Garden Ruminations. To participate, we highlight six things of note in our gardens. I thought it would be fun to take a quick walk around the garden and capture plants with pollinators on them. My first find was 'Sensation Mix' Cosmos, with a happy little resting bumble bee.

Rosa x 'Boznatafra'

Next, a tiny fly on Flavorette Honey-Apricot Rose.

Asclepias incarnata

Toward the end of the summer, there are fewer monarch eggs and caterpillars on the Swamp Milkweed, but the flies are plentiful.

Heliopsis helianthoides

The False Sunflowers are favorites of the goldenrod soldier beetles.

Lycoris squamigera

This hoverfly was happily hanging out on the Surprise Lilies.

Tithonia rotundifolia 'Goldfinger'

And another favorite of the goldenrod soldier beetles: 'Goldfinger' Mexican Sunflowers.

There were many more blooms and many more pollinators, of course, but these caught my eye during a quick walk-around. Head on over to Garden Ruminations to see more Six on Saturday posts from around the world.

Wordless Garden Visitors

August Bloom Day: Pots, Perennials, and Pollinators

Like most gardeners at this time of year, I have many luscious blooms and plantings to celebrate. I'm linking in today to Carol's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens. In addition to the colorful potted flowers and foliage above, I'm enjoying many other garden goodies. Here are just a few.



The 'Summer Beauty' Alliums (A. angulosum) I planted around the mailbox last year are settling in this summer. I have them in other spots in the garden, too, but I think this sunny location will be perfect for them.



I've overwintered Fuchsia 'Marinka' for many years now. The plants always get set back a bit with seasonal change, but they readjust and thrive in the garden from May through early October, when I bring them in before the first frost.



Fuchsia 'Dark Eyes' is another favorite. I've never overwintered it, but maybe I'll try this year.



Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is still going strong, with new blooms, buds, and foliage, as host plant food for late-season monarch caterpillars.



This patch of Calamint (Calamintha nepeta) also blooms for most of the summer and into the fall, until the first hard freeze. It's always covered with honey bees and bumblebees.



Who doesn't love the variegated foliage of Coleus (C. scutellarioides)? But the flowers are worthy of praise, too. I always buy several cultivars for my potted arrangements. This one is 'Black Dragon.'



'Magnum Purple' New Guinea Impatiens (I. hawkeri) is rich with color and lush health.



Native Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) is another pollinator favorite. The tall branches blew over during a windy storm, but I have them staked a bit and they're still vital and available for the pollinators.

'American Gold Rush' Brown-Eyed Susan (Rudbecka fulgida), also at the base of the mailbox, took time to reappear and bloom this year. I'm happy to see it's back and happy.

And 'Alonia Big Blue' Angelonia (A. angustifolia) is definitely a dramatic bloomer. It's especially lovely splashed with dew and rainfall.

I'm very thankful for a great growing season this year in my USDA zone 5a garden. We've had just enough rain and plenty of warmth for the plants to thrive.

Happy Bloom Day! Head on over to May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in gardens around the world.

More Adventures at the Research Station

I've posted about the UW-Madison West Agricultural Research Station before, but I figured it would be a good time to head over there again to see what's growing. The display gardens and the research crops change from year to year.

Students and faculty at the university's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences have access to the gardens for research, agronomic and horticultural plant breeding and variety trials, community outreach, student training, and providing feed and manure management for the UW-Madison campus livestock.

Focus areas include field crops (corn, soybeans, small grains, alfalfa, and cover crops), plant breeding trials, vegetables, small fruit crops, composting, irrigation, and the horticultural display gardens (annuals and perennials). The latter include All-America Selections (AAS) winners.



I spent most of my time during this recent visit in the display gardens. There's a pretty little plant collection right out front, with annuals and perennials, welcoming people to the gardens.



Screen-protected areas display line-ups of various plant varieties; shown here, Coral Bells (Heuchera spp).

The masses of open areas are fascinating, too, and beautiful!







One could spend hours viewing all these options!



One main reason I enjoy visiting these gardens is to see and track butterflies, like this silver-spotted skipper, for Wisconsinbutterflies.org. With all the flowering plants, the butterflies are plentiful, too.



On this particular day last week, I saw more than 20 monarchs, along with several other species.



Their favorite area seemed to be the Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) display. And the favorite varieties on this particular day were 'Chrysalis Blue' and 'Chrysalis Cranberry.'



Some monarchs were still laying eggs on the plentiful native milkweeds in the gardens.



I was particularly tickled to see the popularity of the native Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum) blooms and other Silphium species, which were covered in various pollinators.



While I've seen Moneywort (Lysimachia alfredii) in gardens before, this variety, 'Night Light,' was quite attractive. Apparently, it prefers partial to full shade, the foliage turns burgundy in the shade, and it's rabbit-repellent (duly noted for my garden!).



The bumblebees were happy on Heliotrope 'Augusta Lavender' (Heliotropium hybrid). But who wouldn't be?



Now this plant had me curious, with its large fluffy, double blooms: 'Double Sunking' Sunflower (Helianthus annuus).



Its height, from various sources, is listed at six feet, but these plants were much taller!



I didn't make note of the species on this Canna Lily (Canna spp.), but I'm thinking it might be 'South Pacific Orange,' the 2018 AAS Flower Winner, and the one that I grew in 2019.

I could have spent much more time in the display gardens--so much to see, and so many things to learn. I'm looking forward to a return during the next growing season!