The cob-like buds of tropical gingers are exciting in their own right.  And just soon enough (Hurry!  Frost will come in a week or two!) each cob will sprout several dozen fragrant orchid-like flowers.  Then it's time to bring the gingers into shelter for the Winter; they're only hardy in-ground from, say, North Carolina southward.  But then again, to have them thrive in New England is, by far, the bigger thrill.

The ornamental knotweeds (don't cringe!) are very helpful: tolerant of too-wet soil, long blooming in late Summer, and—at least in this variety, Golden Arrows—shockingly colorful. To shocking for anywhere but my Pink Borders.  Those flowers don't know the meaning of self-doubt.  Pink and Proud is their credo.

The October flowers of "turtle head", a fall-blooming perennial, are always welcome.  Especially in this unusual white version.  But the real shock will come in Spring: The new foliage is (briefly, alas) black.  Not purple, not dark burgundy.  Black. Black Ace is a perennial perfect for Art Deco movies of the 30's.

Down South, who gives crepe myrtle another thought?  Up North, though, it's a stop-and-marvel.  Here's one, in a huge pot right on the street in Manhattan, still blooming in early Fall.   Sure, some of the hardier crepes thrive even into CT and the Cape.  But growing in a container?  You need to be a Zone hardier than growing in the ground.  Will this crepe leaf out in Spring?  Stay tuned!

OK OK, my last infatuation with granite blocks!  But you have to admit, what an impressive and quick presto-chango for precious urban real estate:  Line up blocks and the pots, paint the asphalt a different color, and a roadway is now a park.

More pedestrian space created out of former traffic lanes.  Mega-blocks of granite, but pink and more irregular.  Partnered with mega-flora Summer pots too.  If it ever stops raining, this space will be popular indeed.

One of the more exciting—and simple—changes in Manhattan street life has been the taking-back of lanes of traffic for pedestrian use.  Parks?  Trees?  Lawns?  Nope:  Pots and paint, seating and umbrellas—and heavy heavy blocks.

Once upon a time, I thought that blue flowers were the natural partner to red flowers.  (Check out the 09/28/10 blog post.)  And Yunnan catmint was the blue-flowered catmint for me, because it's noticeably more tolerant of wet soil and poor Winter drainage. That was then.  Another color partner is calling for my blue flowers now: Yunnan is gonna move twenty or thirty feet West, into the Pink Borders.  Whew.

Creep under the canopy of an old weeping beech and you're in a green castle, a Peter Pan fantasy of limbs to climb, thick cascading foliage to hide behind, secret meetings to conduct, plots to hatch.  No matter what your religion, it's a sacred space.  And a thrilling one.

Here's a tree to trump the big metasequoia on the Bowery, in the August 30 & 31 videos: An even bigger (and therefore older) one very near Route 95 in Rhode Island. Metasequoias were known only in fossils until they were discovered growing in China during 1944; the first seedlings in North American date from 1948. A mature height of 200 feet (!) is possible.  How 'bout I video this tree once a decade?  Stay tuned.

Rosa 'Eddie's Jewel' is making great progress in covering its pergola.  After the new canes grow as long as they can this year—they'll only be stopped by frost—I won't lose any further growth by bending them town and tying them to the frame.   Another year of growth—or two?—and the pergola will be "canopied" for good as well as for gorgeous.

A lot of climbing roses love to be pruned in the Fall: After the first frost and the leaves have fallen, you can really see what you're doing.  And it's cool enough to wear a heavy shirt and gloves, so thorny rose canes are less likely to draw blood as you sort through them, choosing which to prune off and which to tie-in. Sander's White is a giant, getting twenty feet tall and wide if you can train it up and out that far.  So pruning it is a big project too.  Rest up and bring coffee:  You'll need both if you're going to get done in a day.