Kids are back in school and I'm back in the garden!

The gray headed coneflowers
are getting pretty floppy now

Summer vacation may be over but the temps are still pretty steamy around here.  Not really the kind of weather I like for working outside, so I've been cruising the various nurseries looking for bargains on perennials and woodies.  I picked up some nice-sized panicum "Prairie Sky" at Menard's for 50 cents each.  I don't always have luck planting grasses in the fall but figured I'd give 'em a shot since they were crazy cheap.

It blows my mind that more people don't do fall planting.  (About the only stuff I don't fall-plant are plants that are at the edge of hardiness in my zone.)  There are lots of deals out there right now so I've got quite the pile of plants that need to get in the ground as soon as possible.  In the mix are some Kerria shrubs I found at Piala's*.  I'm nervous about planting them now because they are hardy only to zone 5 but I spent all summer trying to find a place that carried them so I am going for it.  Wish me luck!

Despite all the hot and dry weather,
my Diane Claire pulmonaria are still looking great

I sure hope they survive.  The plant man told me that they were all the rage several years ago because Oprah had some. Obviously they didn't retain their popularity.  I'm guessing that people were putting them in full sun and so they didn't do well, or maybe it was their suckering habit.  (I've found some forum threads discussing how aggressive kerria can be.  Since I garden on a hillside and have the space, I don't think I'll mind the suckering.

I'm still pulling new garlic mustard seedlings.  It sucks 'cuz I found several that went to seed over the summer; not sure how I missed them while weeding.  They sure are hard to weed out now.  The stems get really dry and thin above ground once things get drought-y and they tend to break off easily.  Still, I feel like I've made real progress in the back yard. I now even have a planting plan and have a very specific shopping list.  Very happy about that!

My front shrub border a few weeks ago

Saw so many butterflies this summer.  Whites are still checking out my nepeta daily.  It seems to be their fav.  The goldenrods are blooming now; they are so pretty!  I don't know what kind they are because they just sort of showed up in my yard.  They look like fireworks.  Japanese beetles have been awful lately; I've been squishing them with my foot but there are just too many.

The kids went back to school today so I'm hoping for a couple of weeks of awesome gardening weather so I can get the rest of the back yard beds mulched and do some shuffling around with the plants in my front yard. I want to hit the ground running next spring.

Sammy Russell daylilies are almost
done now but they did well this year

*Piala's is just outside Waukesha and had a nice selection of trees and shrubs.  I thought they were a bit pricey but it was still fun looking around.  I was just there earlier in the week and they had peacocks and chickens running around.  The peacocks even had chicks with them.  Cute little fluffballs!