Back in 2013 I had a friend asked me to create a flower cutting garden garden for her.  She loves creating bouquets and I was excited to start on this project.  I had no digital design skills so I just used my Paint program to create a digital plan.  I used word to create a bloom chart table so that the plan had flowers of various colors blooming all through the summer.  The images below show my first sketch and then the final layout, which has numbered plant groups--I provided a separate table for each numbered plant group (not included here).  There is a photo of the beginning of the planting process and then a photo from my friend of the garden in late summer. She remains pleased with the garden and I am sure it was a springboard for her to continue editing the garden and experimenting with new flowers for her bouquets.

 

In the photo above you can see purple asters and pink sedums; behind them, barely visible, is Helenium 'Mardi Gras', behind the Helenium is a maroon leaved shrub--a dwarf Physocarpus 'Diabolo'.  Karl Foerster grass seed heads are just to the right of the Physocarpus, and the classic Rudbeckias are to the left of it.   In front of the sedums starting from the left is a young Perovskia (aka Russian sage), the silver leaved Artemisia 'Silver Queen, an immature Montauk Daisy, and to the right, a patch of spent Coreopsis 'Mercury Rising'.  Peonies, Echinacea and a host of other perennials can be found on the opposite side of the bed.

Unlike other trees in autumn, whose leaves fall over a span of a few weeks, most of the leaves of the Ginkgo tree fall all in one day--or less.  This process started last Sunday morning and was complete by the afternoon.  Its quite a site, all these bright gold leaves flittering, pitter pat, to the ground.  Interesting fact: the best time to harvest Ginkgo leaves for their therapeutic value is now, when the leaves are golden and fall to the ground.  Just maybe find a nice park, not a tree 20' from a main intersection in the city. This week, a full week later, I decided instead of removing the leaves I will mow them in. Give back to the soil which gave it up for the Ginkgo.  Not sure how it will effect the lawn, but honestly, I don't have an official lawn, because I much prefer a healthy ecology.