My Sister's Neighborhood in Fall

Last week I visited Chicago and had time to walk around my sister's neighborhood on the
N.W. side.  Chicago was once famous for its majestic elms, but they are all gone now.
But in spring, these streets are now lined with white and pink flowering trees, and in
autumn, they show off maples, oaks, beeches, and other brilliantly colored trees.
These sugar maples are across the street from the Lutheran church.

Many houses in the neighborhood display chrysanthemums, either in planters like this
or in beds in the yard.  This is a beautiful urn with Copper Garden Mums.

One of my sister's neighbors specializes in dahlias, and has more than a dozen special varieties
planted in the back yard and along the fence.  "Siren's Song" is more than a foot in diameter,
high on a tall stalk, and is magnificent.

"Patty's Petticoat" is a beautiful pink and white dahlia.

"Hot Spots" Cactus Dahlia was striking.

"Lucy's Dream" was in pale lavender.

"Mariachi" flowers were about 10 inches in diameter, on tall stalks.

A cluster of "Mariachi" dahlias.

"Icy Frills" was a beautiful white thistle mum.

"Mint Julep" was a two-toned pink dahlia.

"Sassafras" is a bold yellow dahlia.

"Peach Melba" is another giant mum, more than a foot in diameter and on a tall stalk.

"Peppermint Patty" is a red and white dahlia.

"Lillian's Love" is a pale peach thistle mum.

"Firebushes" were in many of the yards and brilliant red.  I was fortunate to see them
before wind and rain knocked all the leaves off.

This area of Chicago is famous for decorating its yards and houses extensively for
Halloween, even more than for Christmas.

Maple trees were in full leaf and ran the gamut from green to yellow to peach to orange
to red.  They were on every block and splendid.

A pot of yellow anemone mums.

Pale orange anemone mums in a pot.

White garden mums.

Pale purple garden mums.

Copper colored garden mums.

Pale pink mums in front of the Lutheran church.

Pale Blue Milka Asters

"Coral Reef" Anemone Mums

Pale Pink Anemone Mums
Some houses have all one color in their flower beds, and others try to show off
as many colors as possible.  These came from a multi-colored bed of flowers.

Red Maples made a beautiful contrast to the sugar maples.

Lawn decorations were colorful.

Pale Orange Sugar Maple

"Antoinette" rose mallow, about 8 inches in diameter.

Pink Geranium

Red Geranium

Autumn "Queen Alexandra" roses.

Autumn "Princess Margaret" roses.

The front stairs of one of my sister's neighbors.  They are very creative.
In spring, they have all different flowers and colors.

Pink and yellow lantana

"White Queen" hydrangeas

One rather large house had only marigolds of many kinds and sizes all along the front.

"Double Ruffled" Yellow Marigold

The street where my mother used to live now has these beautiful maples.

I hope you have enjoyed a virtual stroll through a Chicago neighborhood in autumn.


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Longwood Summer 3

One summer, Pierre Dupont visited a villa outside Florence, Italy, which had a water garden.

He was fascinated, and when he came home, he told his gardener to build one for him.

This is it, the Italian Water Garden, with hundreds of jets of water shooting different

heights in different patterns.  It is very beautiful.

The fountains from ground level.  There are also beautiful fountains along each side

between the trees.

You can sit on a bench beneath the trees and enjoy the play of sunlight and splash of water.

Longwood has one of the largest waterlily collections in the world and displays

hundreds of them in eight large ponds.

Most waterlilies bloom for only three days, for three hours each day, from 11:30-2:30.

But some waterlilies bloom only at night.

Most waterlilies must be taken indoors during the winter, but some are hardy and

can survive underneath a frozen pond until the next spring.

Some waterlilies are uncertain of their sexuality and begin as females and

then end up as males.  This is a Lotus.

These are Hardy Waterlilies.  They tend to be smaller and more prolific

than the more delicate waterlilies.

Nile Blue Waterlily

White Waterlily

Midnight Blue Waterlily

The Idea Garden has perhaps two dozen large beds, 6x10 feet, in which they plant

various new varieties of flowers so they can see how they grow and bloom and

also so visitors can see new varieties of flowers they might like to have.

There are usually just four different types of flowers in each bed.

These are pink phlox.

White Phlox

Autumn Minaret Daylilies, a beautiful new shade of yellow/orange/gold.

Crimson Red Salvia and Redhead Coleus, Alocasia Elephant Ears
and Red Cannas in the center

Pink Petticoats Cannas

Pink Blush Cannas

For decades, botanists have been trying to develop a white zinnia.  They have every other

color.  This is the latest attempt and is quite good.  Double White Zinnias.

One of my favorite zinnias this year is Variegated Zahara Double Cherry Zinnia.

They are gorgeous and show infinite variety.

Zahara Double Cherry Zinnias

Chinese Anemones photographed against the sun.

Tangerine Zing Marigolds

Yellow Brugmansias - they hang down; the Datura stand up straight,
but same family, highly halucinogenic.

White Cone Flowers

Pink Frost Brugmansia - highly halucinogenic

Cabaret Deep Yellow Calibrachoa  /  Million Bells  /  Mini-Petunias
The Gardens had beds of these in many colors; they are very popular with gardeners/

Double Amethyst Calibrachoa  /  Million Bells  /  Mini-Petunias

Lemon Slice Calibrachoa  /  Million Bells  /  Mini-Petunias

Lavender Coneflowers

Pink Coneflowers

Blue Giant Lobelia and Yellow Rudbeckia / Yellow Coneflowers

Yellow Marguerite Daisies

Magenta Rose Mallows, cousins of hibiscus

Pink Cream Rose Mallow - very large, 12 inches across

Cranberry Crush Rose Mallow - very large

Luna Pink Swirl Rose Mallows

Alice Yellow Tuberous Begonias

Mango Nectar Tuberous Begonia

Pink Petticoat Tuberous Begonia

The Outdoor Theater has a stage of fountains, and jets of water play amidst colored
lights and many different movements.  They play for five minutes on every hour,
and then at night they play continuously from 9:00 - 11:00, as music plays.

The entrance to Longwood Gardens has a number of raised beds with special flowers.
This is a banana tree, variegated Tapioca, and Magellan Zinnias.

Another bed has a banana tree, red giant Hyssop, Sedona Sunset Coleus,
 sweet potato and Giant Red Leafed Crinum Lily..

Sedona Sunset Coleus

Close-up of Sedona Sunset Coleus, a wonderful new variety.

Several espaliers are being trained on the front wall.  On the right is a Blue Juniper tree
which is being trained, while on the left is a Trumpet Creeper Vine.

Trumpet Creeper Vine Flower

Some final dazzling dahlias from Longwood Gardens.

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I hope you have enjoyed this stroll through the gardens and gotten some ideas
for your own garden.


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