Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’ (Jerusalem Sage) on 11-9-19, #647-11.

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you all well. This afternoon was very nice and the temp was in the 50’s. Seeing a few Six on Saturday posts this morning inspired me so I went outside to take a few photos. Well, I am a newbie because I don’t think I have ever made a Six on Saturday post. How do you do only six?

#1 is the Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’. I bought this plant from a seller on Ebay in 2013 for its interesting flowers. It is very borderline hardy here I think so every fall when we have an “F” in the forecast I cover it up with a big flower pot. I did that again when we had the first “F”. Then I oddly forgot about it after that. From 2013 until now I protected this plant to the point of insanity. When it would get cold, I covered it at night until I finally had to keep it covered. We have had several “F’s” and temps have been in the low 20’s. A few days ago I was coming out of the barn and looked toward the corner bed. I thought, “HOLY S—T! I FORGOT ABOUT THE PHLOMIS!” Here it is alive and well while most everything around it is dead.

This is the third location for this plant. It first in the middle of the south bed then I moved it to the southwest corner bed. Then, I planted the Baptisia there and it took up so much room it shaded the Phlomis. My first idea was to move the Baptisia to the southeast corner but it wouldn’t budge. So, I told the Phlomis I was sorry but I had to him again. I suppose it is a “he” since its name is Edward. I dug him up and he wasn’t too thrilled about the whole ordeal… Normally, he gets fairly tall and his leaves get very impressive. This summer, he didn’t grow as well and the leaves didn’t get as large. He did adapt and get over the move and now he is showing off! I now have a sticky note stuck to the computer that says “REMEMBER THE PHLOMIS.”

Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum (Elephant Garlic) on 11-9-19, #647-1.

#2-The Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum (Elephant Garlic) are all alive and growing well. They are pictured above in the southeast corner bed but they are scattered all through the south bed ad well. I usually dig a few of their bulbs to use in cooking. They produce a lot of bulbils which make single bulbs the following year then bigger bulbs with cloves the next year. They have amazing flower heads which I think are a good substitute for the more expensive Allium species an cultivars. At some point, I guess I should lose the “var. ampeloprasum” part of the name because it isn’t legit now. I never understood how a variety could be the same name as the species anyway…

Buddleja ‘White Profusion’ on 11-9-19, #647-2.

#3 is the Buddleja ‘White Profusion’. The Butterfly Bush thrived on neglect this past summer. Basically, the entire south bed went wild which is why I haven’t taken many photos of it. 🙂 I have no idea what that is growing to the left and only noticed it after I looked at the photo. GEEZ! I normally keep this bush deadheaded so it will look tidy and keep it flowering well but I think I only did it once this past summer. It will continue to have green leaves until it gets REALLY cold. One year it stayed green all winter and grew HUGE the following summer. When I bought this plant in 2013 it was only supposed to grow around 4′ tall. Labeling has changed since then because this bush gets MUCH taller than 4’… Hmmm… I bought it and put it here because it was supposed to be a smaller cultivar. Even so, I really like this cultivar and it attracts an abundance of butterflies, hummingbirds, and hummingbird moths.

Celosia argentea ver spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ on 11-9-19, #647-4.

#4–Celosia argentea var. spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’. Well, what can I say? They came up, they grew, they flowered, and now they are dead. Don’t let that fool you because each inflorescence is FILLED with seed than has fallen out, or will fall out, that will come up next spring. DOUBLE GEEZ! Still, they remain my favorite Celosia because of their maroon and green bi-colored leaves and they grow so tall. They make great plants to cover up the wall and are a good background for the plants in the front of the bed. That is until they branch out and try to cover them up, too. We manage, though…

Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo) on 11-9-19, #647-10.

#5–Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo). Every time I post about the Nandina I mention it is my favorite shrub and that I brought it with me from Mississippi. While it doesn’t grow as well here as in Mississippi, it is hanging in there which I am very thankful for. Some bird species like the berries, especially the Titmouse, as they migrate through here. I only see a few Titmouse here but they came by the hundreds in Mississippi. I always liked using the leaves of the Heavenly Bamboo in flower arrangements instead of fern and palm leaves. The Nandina is a great all-around shrub in my opinion. I know in some areas they can be a bit invasive, which is why there were so many at the mansion. A few more here would be a good thing…

Cannas on 11-9-19, #647-3.

#6–The Cannas… All I can say is they had a pretty good summer. Despite the Japanese Beetles shredding their leaves they still put on an impressive show and grew to their normal 8-12′. Now I have to cut them down and mulch the bed with leaves. Works very good since they aren’t supposed to be cold hardy here. I can’t imagine digging all the rhizomes, storing them for the winter in the basement and planting them again in the spring…

Cylindropuntia imbricata (Tree Cholla) on 11-9-19, #647-5.

#7–Cylindropuntia imbricata (Tree Cholla). When I took this photo it asked me where I had been? I had no good answer and I really didn’t want to make excuses. This planter, which came from an old coal furnace, is where the Tree Cholla, Sempervivum ‘Killer” and Sedum kamtschaticum var. variegata are all growing. The Semp did poorly this year after it went banananananas last year. It flowered then mostly died (which it is supposed to do). The offsets are doing only so so, which may or may not be normal. The Sedum kamtschaticum var. variegata looked better than ever this spring and flowered like never before then it just went to crap. I had to pull a little grass to take this photo and noticed the Sedum spurium ‘John Creech’ has infiltrated the planter. I think that is why the Tree Cholla was wondering where I had been because it knows that is not allowed. Oddly, I did manage to remove the grass without getting stuck. I think that was a first. As always, though, the Cylindropuntia imbricata is doing well and has grown a lot more this past summer. It agrees with me and is ready for spring already.

I took a walk to the back of the farm with one thing on my mind…

Diospyros virginiana (Persimmon) on 11-9-19, #647-6.

#8–Diospyros virginiana (Persimmon). In my opinion, the most important thing about Fall here is the Persimmons. I visit this tree as often as I can this time of the year because of the delicious fruit. Deer, turkeys, raccoons, and opossum also eat the fruit so it is usually not easy finding them on the ground.

This tree was LOADED with fruit but most have fallen off. Even the lower limbs are too high to reach so I have to throw a stick to see if I can get some of the fruit to fall off.

OOOPS! The stick got stuck…

I only managed to knock three down, but that is OK. Tomorrow is another day. Even if I don’t come back for more, eating only a few is worth the wait. While it is true a “F” does seem to speed up the ripening process, if we have a late “F” the fruit ripens anyway.

On the way back to the house I was wondering if I had taken enough photos for a Six on Saturday Post. As it turned out, I took photos of eight “plants” so I kind of screwed up. I suppose I could have left out a couple, but the plants behind me in the bedroom couldn’t decide which two to leave out… They reminded me there are six of them for next Saturday… It sounds like a plot to me. 🙂

Well, that’s all I have to say except I am still working on the Cactus and Succulent Update #3.

Until next time, stay well, be safe, stay positive, and always be thankful. Thanks for reading and thanks for your comments in advance.