Gardeners have been observing the odd timing of plants appearing and blooming in our gardens since early spring. Sometimes plants appear earlier than expected and sometimes later. We’ve seen bloom of familiar trees and perennials delayed by weeks in some cases.

Here in Williamsburg, we had a cold, late spring followed by a sustained period of dry weather. The gardening year got off to a meager start of very limited growth, largely due to dry conditions, when perennials usually thrive. We went from cold to heat, while the weather remained dry for much of the time. Even with supplemental irrigation it has been a challenge to support newly acquired plants while they establish.

Unusually hot and dry weather led to more grazing in our garden this summer from deer, rabbits, and even turtles. With water scarce, they ate plants they normally ignore, like Echinacea. All in all, things have appeared a bit ‘off’ since the daffodils bloomed. All through July and early August we waited and watched for our usual crowd of butterflies on the Hibiscus and Lantana. These deep rooted, established plants have fared better than most. Butterflies remain scarce, but we finally found the Lantana in the front yard enjoyed by four or five at a time on a few days last week.

We were thrilled to finally see the butterflies, and delighted to finally have a few days of deep, penetrating rain. With a hurricane to our south, we were blessed with some of its rain before it roared off the coast into the Atlantic as a tropical storm. We have also enjoyed much cooler temperatures in recent days. And flowers.

Established fall blooming perennials in our upper garden responded to the rain with their first real flush of bloom of the season in the past few days. We have primarily: black-eyed Susans, Rudbeckia hirta, badly grazed this year but still alive and blooming; the garlic chives, Allium tuberosum; pink obedient plant, Physotegia virginiana; and native blue mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum. Bright flowers finally fill this space that has seemed so empty since spring.

The hurricane lilies, Lycoris radiata, have also been blooming in recent weeks, creating clouds of spidery, red flowers in unexpected places. They simply appear in late summer after a rain, followed by their leaves that will grow and feed the bulbs through till early spring. Our lilies were planted years ago, and many are now in part shade and should be divided and moved this fall.

We still have 60-90+ days in our growing season before our first frost, here in coastal Virginia. We hope that the rain will come more regularly for the rest of the season, and that we can enjoy flowers and wildlife for another few months. This feels like almost a selfish wish when we think of those who have lost their homes and gardens to natural disasters this summer. It has been a very hard summer for so many across the planet, and all in all we have been very fortunate to have survived it as well as we have.

It was cool enough on Friday morning to venture out with the string trimmer to tidy things up a bit. I found a few flowers on Salvia plants that have struggled since April or May. Everything was soaking wet, a huge blessing, and the sun broke through the clouds. The hummingbirds and butterflies, so aware and appreciative of a safe space to feed and rest, give us hope for better days ahead.

Labor Day weekend in America signals the transition from summer to autumn. With the equinox still three weeks away, we call it ‘meteorological fall.’ School is back in session and we’re searching for pumpkin lattes and pumpkin muffins, even if it is still 90F outdoors. As summers grow more extreme, I enjoy autumn just as much as spring. It is a joy to watch the days grow shorter, the nights cooler, and to see flowers blooming in that last joyful explosion of color before winter finds us once again.

With appreciation to Jim Stephens of Garden Ruminations, who hosts Six on Saturday each week.

You might enjoy my series of posts, Plants I Love That Deer Ignore.

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