Re: Gardens 2026
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2026 9:55 am
Kittykatt, your beautiful garden is absolutely calming to see. Thank you for the tour! (I've tried to tell you this before, but the slowness of the site delayed me) I must tell you your begonias look great - love that container with 3 colors together. Good job coming up with a routine for your roses. I am also thinking about pansies. Do you pull out other plants to set out pansies or are you thinking of containers? It must be very mild indeed if you can have much growing/blooming in containers in winter - I cannot. If you are replacing, how do you finally decide to do that? 
It is one of the hardest decisions for me - pulling up plants that are still managing but I must admit are on their way out, so that I can give pansies a good start. Many around here also have mums. Something I haven't normally done.
We are still hot, but having some breaks. Finally having nights in the sixties and highs in the 80s.
As usual, my impatiens are the stars at this time of year. I wish they had bloomed more this year and assume it has been stress from heat. I looked at the buds being put on now, though, and I think they are getting their wind back a little. The regular ones - variety is Beacon - are happiest, with the New Guinea or "Sunpatien" ones really not keeping up, which is a surprise to me. Most folks really brag on the New Guinea but I haven't found them very robust, though grown in the same area. It occurs to me that I might enjoy trying a separate color of these at another area next year, for interest. I almost never grow the white - maybe that would be fun.
It is one of the hardest decisions for me - pulling up plants that are still managing but I must admit are on their way out, so that I can give pansies a good start. Many around here also have mums. Something I haven't normally done. We are still hot, but having some breaks. Finally having nights in the sixties and highs in the 80s.
As usual, my impatiens are the stars at this time of year. I wish they had bloomed more this year and assume it has been stress from heat. I looked at the buds being put on now, though, and I think they are getting their wind back a little. The regular ones - variety is Beacon - are happiest, with the New Guinea or "Sunpatien" ones really not keeping up, which is a surprise to me. Most folks really brag on the New Guinea but I haven't found them very robust, though grown in the same area. It occurs to me that I might enjoy trying a separate color of these at another area next year, for interest. I almost never grow the white - maybe that would be fun.
I grow them in pots, as it helps reduce the risk of disease and also I can easily move any that are struggling to a sheltered spot to give them a chance, and anything that dies can easily be whisked away. If I have "to many" ( not sure if that's actually possible? 
) The peony was very obviously too dry, so maybe it would be sensible to leave that area to the Periwinkle, as although a lot of that did die back in the drought, as soon as the rain came it quickly recovered. I've noticed that the rose that was getting choked by the rhododendron is also looking a lot happier now, so I'll see how that flowers next year before making any long-term decisions.