Fall arrived this week, officially on the calendar but also with the weather. This weekend, we are enjoying glorious days, with lows in the 50’s and highs in the 80’s.
Overall, it has been a good summer. It hit me the other day that I haven’t had to water my perennial plantings once this season. The rains have hit just right with well established beds.
Most years, the leaf necrosis I deal with has been has been due to drought stress, but this year I have more brown from the excess moisture and fungal diseases. Perhaps the drier summer does have a benefit?
Either way, my eye is keen for plants that look clean and fresh as we head into fall.
Helianthus argophyllus
One of the best in my garden right now is silver-leaf sunflower, a ruderal that flowers through much of autumn and is graced by an atmosphere of pewter foliage. The leaves have fine hairs, technically trichomes, that are soft to the touch.
The silver color holds well through the season. In the morning, the dew-covered leaves have more of a blue color as they reflect the sky above. Rain will green the color a bit, but the leaves dry out the next day and return to shimmer. While silver is a neutral color, the buttery yellow rays add a warmth to the plant.
Like all plants that have made a good first impression with me, I remember exactly where I was when we first met. I was standing in Central Park Conservatory Garden admiring this sunflower with argent leaves. I eagerly asked the gardeners about the source for seed, but alas, they didn’t know.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I discovered it looking through the catalog from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I sowed the seeds of other cut flower Helianthus annuus and the silver Helianthus argophyllus. They bloomed, but it didn’t.
At least not until days started to shorten in August. One year I even had a self-sown seedling grow well over 7 feet tall before it ever produced a flower. This season, I noted the first flower on August 5.
I’ve learned that plants either have a tendency to shoot up or to stay short and shrubby. I’m going to save seed off the smaller ones. The tall ones become an issue with our fall storms where they may fall over.
One of the shorter forms where the flowers are more condensed together.
I’m working on redesigning the front of the patch to feel more integrated with the rest of the garden. So, I went a bit thicker this year with the silver-leaf sunflowers there as a stopgap (header image). While I’ve still had some self sowers from that first batch, I made an effort to start more of them from fresh seed from the beautiful seed packets of Hudson Valley Seed Company.
While I never want to see a blasted armadillo under my plants, I love watching other creatures interact with this native annual.
Male bumble bees still resting on Helianthus argophyllus after a cool night.
A single Helianthus argophyllus at the front of the patch.
This sunflower is a favorite of American bumble bees. On cool mornings I have found the males sleeping outside on the flowers. Later in the day, I’ve watched larger workers collect pollen.
And, before first light, the plants are already bobbing from the foraging of Carolina Chickadees. The seedheads are unobtrusive, and I have no problem leaving them on the plant. The spry birds will hang on the unassuming ripe seedheads, pick a seed out, and then fly up to a favorite perch to enjoy their snack.
Find the Carolina Chickadee. If you look close, there’s a seed in it’s mouth.
I’m not worried about them stealing seed that I have to save for next year. There’s plenty to go around.
KEEP GROWING
