Summertime at Olbrich

Red Admiral and other pollinators on 'Summer Beauty' Alliums surrounded by Echinacea spp.

Recently, I posted about the "Roses of Olbrich Botanical Gardens." And while roses are definitely a summer highlight of the Madison, Wis., gardens, the roses are just the beginning.

Decorative bench inviting visitors to sit awhile and enjoy the view.

Whether resting on a bench or walking through the pathways, Olbrich in the summertime is a feast for all the senses. Pollinators, plants, and creative combinations are around every corner.

Here are just a few of the highlights visitors might see in mid- to late summer:

Monarch resting/nectaring on Zinnia elegans.

Another Monarch posing on  chartreuse Celosia plumosa. This looks like 'Sylphid.'

Honeybee hives tucked along the back border of the park.

Bumblebee enjoying ornamental onion (Allium cernuum?).

More pollinators on 'Summer Beauty' Alliums (A. tanguticum).

Ripe raspberries: yum!

Curving view of the Olbrich's iconic "donors arbor," filled with Wisteria blooms in springtime.

Also climbing along the arbor posts: Clematis verticella 'Betty Corning.'

Earthy pots filled with mixed annuals and Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum).

Small ornamental pond purposely coated with algae and planted with ornamental grasses.

Ornamental pepper 'Black Pearl' planted with 'Candy Stripe' Petunias and Sweet Alyssum.

Mixed planting: Red Grass Palm (Cordyline australis) in back and Rugosa Roses in the foreground.

Mixed planting: Brazilian Fireworks 'Maracas' (Porphyrocoma pholiana), Coleus 'Under the Sea Yellow Fin Tuna' (Solenostemon scutellarioides), Persian Shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus), and Scarlet Sage (Salvia splendens).

Oblique sun angle back-lighting mixed Echinaceas, Monardas, and Calaminthas.

Lesser Calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta).

Honeybee nectaring on Lesser Calamint.

Pink Pentas (Pentas lanceolata).

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) 'Amber Jubilee.'

Swales of Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) along a shaded walkway.

Panicle Hydrangea (H. paniculata 'Dharuma').

Gaura (G. lindheimeri).

Panicled Goldenraintree (Koelreuteria paniculata).

Honeybee on Coneflower hybrid (Echinacea spp.).

Drifts of Bluestar Amsonia (A. hubrichtii).

More 'Summer Beauty' Alliums and Lesser Calamint along the walkway.

'Summer Beauty' Alliums are a signature plant of the gardens, and after my recent visit, I decided to order some for my own garden.

Late afternoon is a great time to visit the gravel garden, as the oblique light casts a surreal glow to the Coneflowers, Sedges, Alliums, and many other pollinator favorites:

Gravel garden backlit with oblique light and chock full of pollinators.

I hope you enjoyed your virtual visit!

Color Swatches and Late Summer Blooms

It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, and the vibrant, summer colors rule in my USDA zone 5 garden. Even the white Cosmos with their touches of pink and their yellow centers brighten their spaces, attracting pollinators with accessible nectar and pollen.



Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), is the star of the "part shade" back garden, attracting butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.



Hyacinth Bean vine (Lablab purpureus), is filling its obelisk.



Its blooms are strong and colorful at the top--where the hummingbirds like to hang out.



Hummers also flutter around the two hanging baskets of Fuchsia 'Marinka' lined up next to a feeder.

Moving on to the tiny sun garden ...



Embarrassingly, I can't recall the cultivar of this Sunflower (Helianthus spp.), but it's a nice size and very pretty. It started from seed planted directly in the soil in May; it's now about four feet tall.



Definitely a popular hangout for pollinator shenanigans (shown here: Goldenrod Soldier Beetles).



The Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) attract them, too.



The jury's still out for me with Pentas (P. lanceolata 'Graffiti Red Lace'). I think it might be the color--just a little too red, so it clashes with other flowers in this garden (I love red flowers, but not in this location). I'll probably opt for purple or pink next summer.



I love the Marigold/Angelonia combination. And both keep blooming all season long, even as the Alyssum is dormant during the heat of the summer.



I'm so pleased that the Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) plants are finally producing seeds.



And a second round of buds and blooms.



No longer just a bloom, this 'Better Boy' tomato is now harvested and soon will be consumed.



Some Salvia blooms are fading, though after deadheading, new fresh buds are forming.



The Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), too, still offer new buds and blooms.



Lantanas ('Blaze' and "Bandana Red') are taller and more productive than they've ever been in my garden before.



'Cut and Come Again' Zinnias are true to their name.



The bumbles agree with me that 'Versailles Mix' Cosmos are irresistible.



The colors this season have been pleasing to my eye. I recently played around with some color swatches to try to capture the rainbow before it fades.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Plant of the Month: Daisy Fleabane

Have you noticed a recent trend toward using native biocontrols to combat non-native, invasive species?

For example, many plant experts now recommend planting prolific native plants and seeds to replace invasive, non-native plants as you remove them.



During recent state park hikes, I've noticed that Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) appears to compete effectively with non-native, invasive Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata), when few other plants seem able to fight it. And in the open woods at our cottage in Central Wisconsin, Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus) is another Garlic Mustard-competitor.



Fleabane is one of the more prominent understory plants on the property. As we pull the Garlic Mustard, the Fleabane fills in.



Another benefit of Daisy Fleabane is that it's juglone-tolerant, meaning it resists the toxicity of Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) trees--one of the prominent tree species at the cottage.



Daisy Fleabane also is a lovely companion to Dotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata). I don't garden much at the cottage, but I do observe what grows well in the dry, sandy soils under the Walnut trees. These two are prolific.



Plus, Fleabanes have cheery little flowers. They're easy to underappreciate--even though they bloom for most of the summer. A few facts about Daisy Fleabane, from Wildflowers of the United States:

Height: 2 to 3 feet
Blooms: June through September
Range: Native in all but seven states and in most Canadian provinces

There are 191 species in the Erigeron genus, with E. annuus being one of the most widespread. This one has hairy stems and a longer bloom time than some of the others. The name Fleabane, according to many sources, comes from the traditional belief (unproven) that collections of the plants placed in the home would repel fleas.

A few personal observations: Cut Daisy Fleabane has a decent vase life, lasting a few days with minimal wilting. The petals are white, with a hint of pink that becomes more evident with indirect and oblique lighting. The petals curl up as the sun fades.

If you have an area you want to naturalize while combatting invasive, non-native species, this is one option.

I like it. It's a modest, little photogenic bloomer.

In a Basket on Monday

Have you checked out the meme "In a Vase on Monday" over at Rambling in the Garden? If not, it's well worth the visit. People share wonderfully creative ideas for arranging the plants and blooms in their gardens.

For this Monday, I'm cheating a bit and sharing a basket arrangement.

Salvia 'May Night' in spring.

A thought came to me earlier in the summer for using the spent blooms of my Salvias. While they're a flower garden highlight in late spring, they need attention by early summer.

Salvia 'May Night' by the end of June.

Many of you have noted that Salvias tend to get floppy. I agree. To deal with this issue, mine are planted in the corners of my cut flower/vegetable garden. As they get tall and start to take over, I stake them with metal supports. I deadhead the spent flowers several times during the summer for repeat blooms.

This year, I had an additional idea.



Instead of throwing the spent blooms in the compost pile, I decided to try saving them, drying them, and using them for potpourri.



I have two clumps of Salvias, so I created two bouquets of spent blooms. These were clipped in late June, and they still have a pleasant scent as they've dried during the past month. I placed one above my microwave--so the warm, moist air of cooking can release their scent.



Another recent "In a Vase" creation was very simple: I placed two 'Stargazer' Oriental Lilies and two white ones in a flat vase, with a complementary large Snapdragon in the center. The scent was wonderful, although the fishman said it was almost too overpowering.



Oreo was interested, too. But I had to be careful and place these out of her reach after photographing them. Lilies of many types can be toxic and even deadly to cats!

Head on over to Rambling in the Garden for more plant arranging ideas.