Here it is, mid-September and in the Pacific Northwest, and the weather has been warm with little or no rain. This is the time to visit gardens and observe what is performing well at this time of year. Take notes so you will remember next spring what will eventually make for great late-summer annual foliage color.
At a recent garden I visited, there was a bank of sweet potato vines (both chartreuse and black) and they had completely covered the soil. The sweet potato vines in the photo were planted with several different coleus with leaf colors of chartreuse and dark burgundy. What a stunning combination this made. Soil on a slope like this in a sunny location can dry out quickly with hot weather and winds. An excellent soil amendment to add at planting time is Black Gold Just Coir. This is actually coconut coir pith and has very good water hold retention to keep plants from drying out on hot sunny and windy days. It is both a natural and organic soil amendment.
