Propagating Mexican Bush Sage

I was planning to purchase more Mexican Bush Sage next spring but just discovered the plant is easy to propagate. Just break off some stalks, stick them in the ground and keep them wet. Not too complicated.

I like this plant because it blooms in mid-to-late September when most of my garden is burned out from too much sun and too little rain.

The sage blooming gloriously right now is the one I bought my first spring in North Carolina (2007). Three more planted in the front yard the following spring did not survive the winter, although I'm beginning to think I was impatient waiting for them to shoot up their second spring. I might have yanked three poky but healthy plants.

Hummingbirds and butterflies love Mexican Bush Sage, which is why I love it, too. And who can dismiss long, waving stems covered with soft, showy flowers? Best of all, the plant is drought tolerant! Amen.

Most beauteous beauty berry

When I purchased my American beauty berry four springs ago at the Wilmington Farmers' Market, it was misshapen but healthy. The first year it remained gangly but in succeeding years grew into a vibrant bush heavy with clustered, grape-hued berries. Easily the favorite shrub in my backyard garden.

A little research shows the beauty berry is not just another pretty face. Its berries are relished by a variety of wildlife, birds and deer among them. I don't have a deer problem, but if you do, you might plant a few beauty berries on the perimeter of your property to keep them snacking away from your more delicate plants.

Don't worry about hauling water out there to keep the berries beautiful. According to Dr. Mike Dirr, professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, "This shrub thrives with neglect." Can it get any better?

Besides being a natural insect repellent and a survival food for birds such as robins, catbirds, cardinals, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, finches and towhees, the plant's berries can be made into jelly and wine. Again, does this plant have a single fault?

Well, sometimes shoots volunteer around the plant, but I haven't found this to be a problem. My American beauty berry is not a pest! She is most welcome in my garden--a beauteous sight outside my kitchen window.

Big mums, clean-up time

Returned from cool Rochester, NY and spent a good seven hours hand watering my Wilmington, NC front and back yard gardens. We're still desperately low on rainfall; down 5 inches for September alone.

Yet somehow, two autumn mums have managed to grow to mammoth size. I didn't get out the tape but they easily measure three feet across. I'll post a photo when they bloom. Already they're separating into clumps.

I'm officially in the garden clean-up mode. Trimmed the blue hydrangeas back far enough to allow a bit of sunshine to hit the tiny red azaleas surrounding the pine tree. Raked pine needles and laid them for mulch.

Drank a large cup of coffee in the sunroom afterwards and realized with glee that all I'll need next spring are another black-eyed susan, another tall Mexican petunia, a few red pentas (they grow tallest and most lushly) and lots of zinnias.