From dogged commentor Misamericanthrope:
It’s mid-season here in my back lot garden here in Chicago and things are still surging. I decided to once again pursue a Zinnia extravaganza. Grew 3 different varieties from seed. A tall cactus-type, a dwarf variety (‘Pepito’), and a shrubbier version (‘Double Profusion Salmon’). All three have taken off. The dwarf variety was advertised as 9” tall, but they ended up being between 15″ -24” tall!
Top shot is of a section of the sunny bed with my Boston Ivy wall as a backdrop. This will probably be the last season for me to fill the full bed with Zinnias. Half of the opposite bed used to be full sun, but it is now mostly shady (due to the growth of a maple tree in the corner), and my Echinacea and Joe Pye Weed in that section need to be moved over to this bed. Thinking of adding a few other native perennials into the mix, too (Culver’s Root and Rattlesnake Master).
Next shot is a planter cluster adjacent to the porch stairs. In addition to the Zinnias, this grouping features an Astilbe, A ‘Campfire’ Coleus, A ‘Ville de Lyon’ Clematis, and a couple of Canina Coleus Hybrids. I think this cluster is one of my favorite sections of this year’s garden.
Next up is a cluster surrounding the building’s HVAC unit. More Zinnias (the Double Profusion Salmon is in the front center) and my ‘Laced Up’ Sambucus to the right. The Sambucus is in a concrete pot and survived being completely covered by a snowdrift in February! Also added a new ‘Jackmanii’ Clematis in the center to climb up the trellis on the porch support.
Tried a few new things in my shade corner under the porch this year. I have been growing a Norfolk Island Pine indoors and it has not been thriving. It’s not dying, just not growing much at all. I decided to bring it out for the season. it seems to appreciate the change in location. Also, I had over-wintered a Flax Lily indoors and it came out for the warm season. Much happier now. The showstopper in the box is definitely the Rex Begonia (middle of the shot). It has quadrupled in size and is producing huge glorious leaves with a beautiful texture. It will be a challenge to successfully transfer it indoors at the end of the season.
To conclude this part of my report, here are a few additional shots of the Zinnias in their full glory. I hope everyone else’s gardens are still going strong!!
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What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
J R in WV
Good morning, all, from the forested foothills of WV.
Thanks Annie Laurie, for all you have done in the past and going forward, your work has been so valuable as we learn how to deal with and avoid the pandemic!
Just a wee bit of insomnia this morning, going back to bed now, wish me luck. Wife is so asleep!
Van Buren
I am traveling this week and thus my garden will be on its own. My Macintosh tree had more apples this year than any other, they were days if not hours away from being ready to pick when we left Friday. I expect the squirrels to have grabbed everything by the time we return.
satby
Just gorgeous Misamericanthrope! I tried Mexican zinnias last year and got mediocre results, but you’re inspiring me to try again. Do you start them from seed inside in the spring?
Here in the steambath that South Bend has been for the past two weeks, another heat advisory will be in effect today; but a storm and finally cooler weather should arrive tonight or tomorrow. After doing some research on enriching extremely sandy soil, I ordered biochar and some compost to charge it up and will be spreading in on my more deficient planting areas this week. I was going to dig up and replant some of my smaller shrubs into the more enriched soil, but the same reading introduced me to no dig gardening and I’m trying that instead.
Misamericanthrope
@satby: Thank you! Yes, I start them from seed. I have learned to wait until early April to start them. If I do it earlier they get too tall and leggy before they can be moved outdoors.
JPL
@Misamericanthrope: Beautiful! Thank you and this is why Sundays on B.J. are so special.
Dorothy A. Winsor
What a lovely nook your garden is, Misamericanthrope!
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Completely agree. Not by any stretch a gardener myself, but I love seeing the photos and reading about everyone’s gardens each week. Thank you, Misamericanthrope, for your wild profusion of zinnias — simply glorious!
And not to go off topic (I expect there will be a dedicated thread sometime today), but I’m thinking about all the jackals who live in, or have family/friends in, Ida’s ravenous path. When the time is appropriate, please check in and let us know that you and yours are safe.
Lapassionara
@Misamericanthrope: Wonderful flowers. Thank you.
Misamericanthrope
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thanks for the compliment. Just trying to squeeze as much greenery as possible out of my lot that is primarily a parking space for two cars of the building’s co-residents. I have definitely fantasized about ejecting the cars and taking over the entire space!
Misamericanthrope
@JPL: Thank you! ‘Twas a good gardening year!
Misamericanthrope
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you! I am a big fan of Zinnias (obviously!). Easy to grow and quite prolific.
satby
@Misamericanthrope: My poorish result with the zinnias was before I fully grasped how much of a dirty sand dune I live on, covered by an inch of soil! Entirely different than the clay I was used to. But I’m looking forward to retrying several failures now that I understand how many things were wrong ?
eclare
@SiubhanDuinne:
I am thinking of them too.
debbie
Beautiful! I have loved zinnias since I was a kid, helping my mother and grandmother cut them for bouquets. They’re such happy, sunny flowers!
MomSense
Such a beautiful garden. Thank you!
Anyway
Beautiful zinnias! Love the profusion of colors and varieties you have there. I am a sucker for summer flowers and these make me happy…
Misamericanthrope
@Anyway: Thank you! I am happy to report that my gardening efforts are appreciated by the building’s other tenants, too.
Misamericanthrope
@MomSense: Thank you! It helps to keep me sane during these trying times.
Misamericanthrope
@debbie: Thanks! I have been getting a steady supply of cuttings this summer. And they keep on coming!
JAM
I wish I could grow plants in containers, I can just never keep up with the watering well enough to keep them looking healthy.
SiubhanDuinne
@eclare:
Anne Laurie has put up a “Waiting” open thread.
debbie
@Misamericanthrope:
Zinnias really do brighten up any joint. There’s a nearby alley, really pretty ugly (clearly, people only care about the bits that face the street). A resident has filled a 6-inch by 20-foot space with zinnias. They’re so full, they pretty much hide the chain-link fence along their driveway. I love walking by them as often as possible.
Immanentize
Hi folks.
I just saw this atlas obscura about a garden with hundreds of tomato varieties —
Thought I’d drop it into this thread
MoCaAce
Thank you for the lovely pictures Misamericanthrope! The other tenants are lucky to have you tending to this beautiful oasis in their urban setting.
Madame Bupkis
Thanks for the beautiful photos! I, too, live where the trees have turned my smallish space from part shade/part sun, to mostly shade/a little sun. It’s nice to see what thrives without full sun
ETA: And zinnias! And more zinnias! I have plans for zinnias!
oldgold
Jealous of Misamericanthrope’s “Jackmanii” clematis.
The clematis growing in my experimental weed patch, West of Eden, suffers from acrophobia and vertigo. Oh well, It’s not bad ground cover.
waratah
I have always liked the colors of zinnia but every time I plant them I am defeated by some type of mildew that resists what I do. This year we did not have very many flowers. Our tomatoes are now producing more than we can eat fresh so I will now prepare them for winter cooking
Kristine
Lovely flowers–thanks for the photos. I had a rattlesnake master this year–the wasps and bees love those nondescript flowers. I’ll be watching to see if it seeds at all.
Rose of Sharon shrubs still putting out a few flowers. Mums are opening and the goldenrod are close. Annabelle and Limelight hydrangea are blooming–I need to water them tomorrow because hey, still in drought in NE Illinois. At least the heat breaks tomorrow. The last few days have been Florida Revisited.
dnfree
Awww, I love seeing a Chicago garden squeezed into the available space and the available climate! Yours is beautiful and creative.
We had a Chicago three-flat back in the 1970s, as a young couple. We were eager to start gardening, as our parents had, and that was our first chance. I remember our tiny back yard and small plot of dirt so fondly, and this brings back the memories. Thanks!
Cowgirl in the Sandi
I don’t post much, but always enjoy the garden threads. Inspiring pictures and ideas. Just wish is wasn’t expected to be 101 degrees here in the Easy Bay today. Ugh!
sab
We have hummingbirds everywhere this year. First time I can remember. My daughter moved from next door a couple of months ago. Maybe they miss the feeder. They were feeding at the beebalm.Now they are hanging around the Roses of Sharon that are devouring the yard.
Should I put up a feeder?
jnfr
Your zinnias are wonderful! They are some of my favorite flowers, and you’ve displayed them all so well.
Kristine
@sab:
I would. All the flowers will be gone soon and the hummers will need energy in prep for migration. The main problem will be keeping the wasps and hornets away. I have a disc-shaped feeder that lets me control the level. I underfill slightly so the hummers can reach the liquid but the stingers can’t.