| Welcome! |
Welcome to my zone 7b Long Island garden! With fall approaching rapidly, the summer seems to have dwindled away so quickly. While the seasons are changing with cooler temperatures mostly in the 70's and much needed rain, the garden continues to produce interesting foliage and blooms. Join me for a tour and discover what there is to see!
| Back Island Bed |
Starting in the back island bed, the later blooming Hydrangea 'Limelight Prime' is still showing off its blooms, which turn in color from greenish-white to white and then to the pinkish tint, which you see here as we approach the fall season.
| Patio Garden |
Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' along the patio border is starting to produce its trumpet shaped white blooms in mid-September, which will continue into October. Since I introduced this relatively new addition to the garden, I have been enjoying the late summer interest and the foliage as well, as it remains mostly evergreen throughout the different seasons.
| Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' |
Here are the blooms up close!
| Blue Globe Spruce and Echinacea (Coneflower) |
Along the patio border, Blue Globe Spruce is in the distance with Echinacea Pow Wow 'Wild Berry' in the foreground. The American Goldfinches have really enjoyed the seed heads of the Echinacea this year!
| Echinacea Late Summer |
There are a couple of somewhat remaining blooms...
| Echinacea Seed Head |
and I am enjoying the interesting spiral structure of the seed heads.
| Liriope 'Big Blue' |
In the back shade border, Liriope 'Big Blue' (Lilyturf) is showing off its wonderful bright purple blooms...
| Jacob's Ladder |
while variegated Jacob's Ladder is displaying its wonderful foliage! The plant itself stays a compact 12 to 18 inches tall and produces bluish-purple blooms in late spring.
| Northern Fenceline |
| Back Shade Border 'Secret Garden' |
| Endless Summer Hydrangea Almost Fall |
There are still the remains of some blooms on Endless Summer Hydrangea, and on the other side of the yard, Crape Myrtle 'Sioux' continues to bloom as we approach the back perimeter garden.
| Back Perimeter View |
Here is a view of a section of the back gardens along the perimeter on the southern side of the property with the patio garden in the foreground. Crape Myrtle 'Sioux' starts its bloom at the end of July and continues into fall.
| Hydrangea 'Firelight Tidbit' |
| Sedum 'Pure Joy' |
Speaking of pink, Sedum 'Pure Joy' is still blooming away since August...
| Knock Out Rose 'Radrazz' |
and blooming all summer long with its bright red blooms is Knock Out Rose 'Radrazz'.
| Back Patio Garden |
For a little foliage, here is Rhode Island Red Japanese Maple with variegated Osmanthus 'Goshiki' Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar, Dwarf Mugo Pine 'Slowmound' (left) and Dwarf Red Pine 'Low Glow' (right).
| Front Island Bed with Moss Rock Boulder Wall |
Follow me as we go around to the southeastern lawn where we see the newly added Nepeta 'Chartreuse' (Catmint) along the front of the new boulder wall. Since the large tree came down from the corner, the area is now receiving full sun and the Nepeta is doing well.
| Front Eastern Border |
Along the front foundation and facing directly east is golden Hinoki Cypress 'Verdoni', Juniperus 'Blue Star' and Japanese Variegated Sedge. With a slight cleaning out this past spring, the variegated sedge is exceptionally vibrant this season.
| Hydrangea 'Tardiva' Front Northern Side |
Hydrangea 'Tardiva' is one of the latest blooming hydrangea varieties and is blooming away for late summer through fall. I look forward to its large white panicle shaped flowers every year as the summer nears its end.
| Hydrangea 'Tardiva' Blooms Up Close! |
Here are the delicate blooms up close.
| Starting to Look Like Fall! |
As we near the end of the tour, you can see the changing foliage of Weeping Japanese Maple on the front lawn with Blue Atlas Cedar in the backdrop...
| Tea Time! |
and perhaps it is now time to enjoy a nice hot cup of tea!
| Thanks for Visiting! |
I hope you enjoyed your visit to my September garden. I so appreciate you being here, look forward to your comments and enjoy seeing what you have growing in your garden. Special thanks go out to our hostess Carol at May Dreams Gardens, who makes it possible to see blooms on the 15th of every month with her meme Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Also, special thanks to Pam Penick at Digging who had hosted Foliage Follow-Up, a meme I will continue to honor. I am also linking with some other wonderful hosts and hostesses at Floral Friday Fotos, Nature Notes at Rambling Woods, and Garden Affair at Jaipur Garden.
It's time to plan your garden! Visit my Author Page 👈to learn about and purchase my books, each one focusing on different aspects of gardening, including landscape ideas, design principles, gardening by month for all-season interest, gardening tips and maintenance, shade gardening, gardening inspiration and more. And also be sure to check out my newest publication, The Houseplant Guide, to guide you on your houseplant journey! If you have read any of my books and have found them to be useful, reviews are very much appreciated!
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Until we Meet Again...Happy Gardening!
Author: Lee @A Guide to Northeastern Gardening, © Copyright 2010-2026. All rights reserved.

Hi Lee, I enjoyed walking around your garden and marveling how anyone can keep it so neat. It must be because your frog helpers are drinking tea while the same frog helpers at our house our drinking coffee...:)
ReplyDeleteSo happy you enjoyed the late summer tour. Yes...the frog helpers do keep things in check! Happy gardening!
DeleteYou do have beautiful fall color! Abelia Kaleidoscope is so pretty, I love the softness. Wow everything looks so perfect and tidy, I'm so impressed.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I love the contrast of colors and textures in your garden and the Berzelia is such an interesting plant and the Agave cerulata 'Goyo's Ghost' is a winner as well. You do have a special talent for combining succulents with hardscape and it is fun seeing what you are up to!
DeleteWe have blooms of Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' in common once again, Lee. I can only dream of having flowering Hydrangeas! 'Endless Summer' is a real beauty.
ReplyDeleteKris-you always have so much to look forward to in your garden and I love the collection of Dahlias and Zinnias. The Endless Summer Hydrangea are finishing up now for the season, but they did have a great year! Enjoy your Abelia Kaleidoscope blooms!
DeleteGorgeous September color, Lee! There are a lot of really old abelia in my neighborhood, on properties built in the late '30s, early '40s. They are all blooming. One neighbor did a rejuvenation orune on an entire hedge of them last year, and they look wonderful. We're having temps in the 90s this week and it's exhausting. My crepe myrtle did a really weird thing this year. It started blooming a bit earlier than most in my neighborhood, and then in early Aug I thought all blooming was spent. It is again in full bloom and looks fresh while orhers' are starting to dwindle. Your hydrangeas are beautiful. Most of mine are toast, even my tidbit, which on the east facing side. I've had to hire some help in starting my fall cleanup (broke my right wrist in early Aug). Looks like the rest of my gardening for 2026 will be with help, even planting my pansies. I ended up with surgery (plate and screws).I love Japanese maples. Thank you for your tour, and happy fall!
ReplyDeleteRita-So sorry to hear about your wrist, but glad that you are healing. I enjoyed following along with your travels and family. Keep enjoying all the precious moments in life, and keep enjoying your gardens too! It is OK to get a little help!
DeleteBeautiful as always! But the plant you identified as Hydrangea "Endless Summer (pink flowers with prominent stamens and yellowish leaves) sure doesn't look like a Hydrangea--are you sure that's 'Endless Summer'? I can't think of what it could be, but looks more like 'Baby Joe' Joe Pye weed leaves. How does one clean out a sedge plant? I have one in dire need of refurbishing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Elemaza! The single pink bloom and slightly fading leaves are from an Endless Summer Hydrangea in the back portion of the property. I was happy to get a photo of the last bloom hanging in there for the season! Sedge Tip: I cleaned out my sedge plants after the harsh winter we had by removing any browned or damaged foliage (especially along the bottom) and then they push out nice new growth in summer. Hope that helps!
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