Here’s the best thing about opening your garden up to guests: after it’s over, the beautiful garden is all yours. Today members of the Connecticut Horticultural Society came to Poison Ivy Acres, and they seemed to enjoy what they saw.

I, of course, have been a whirling dervish lunatic for the past month. After a great deal of work and some help from friends and fellow professionals, however, it came together well enough for today’s visit. There are many things to be done before the next Grand Tour of PIA next week, however, so I’m not finished yet.

After the bus tour left today, the first thing I did was to sit down and ice my hip and knee. Iliotibial Band Syndrome, and yes, I have been overdoing it physically the past three or four weeks.

Next, I grabbed my camera and strolled around the gardens. See the photos below. Finally, I put Sweethearts of The Rodeo on the CD player and turned it up loud. Time to celebrate.

I’ve spoken to many people who have been asked to put their garden on a tour, but they’ve said “no.” Some say that they “don’t want the liability,” while others confess that “it’s too much work.” I think that it’s ultimately a gift to the gardener.

The true party starts once the visitors are gone.

The cutting garden is filled with Sweet William...

an the Fragrance Garden has Valeriana officianalis.

The entry garden is filled with blue, yellow, white, and coral flowers.

There were pitchers of lemon water for the guests...

and the most asked about plant was the Verbascum.

Even the garlic scapes earned notice.

OK, not for all gardens, of course. I’m in love with perennials, shrubs and trees, not to mention houseplants, mosses, lichens and…well, you get the idea. But there are times when annuals are indeed the solution.

I have an area at the end of the driveway, just before the grape arbor, where I’ve planted a Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’. I’m crazy about this plant. There was lawn here when we bought the house, but I used the newspaper and mulch technique to smother it. Now I have an area of mulch, and I’m not sure what else I want to plant here.

Clearly annuals are the answer. They will provide color all summer, and cover up the rather ugly wood chips, but I’m not wedded to anything that I might regret later on. In the winter the plow dumps snow on this area, so shrubs might be a mistake because they’d get squashed. A friend suggested groundcover such as Vinca minor, but I’m not convinced.

There are times in our lives when planting something that will grow for a season, but no longer, is a good idea. If you’ve moved to a new area, for example, doing some volunteer work for a few months, or working at a job you regard as “good while I’m getting to know the area” might be wise.

Similarly, many who are unemployed take temporary jobs outside of their field because working at something is better than no work at all. Just because you’ve decided that a temporary job is expedient doesn’t mean that you’ll always be there.

Too often we think of our decisions as being “forever and ever” when we might be better served by thinking about “what’s good for the season.” What was short-term might become permanent, or we may move onto something else. In either case, a temporary planting can serve us well.

Here's how the area looked right after we laid the newspapers and mulch. Serviceable, but boring, right?

The catkins on this plant are stunning. It's kind of nice that there's nothing to distract from these elegant blooms in the early spring.

If you’re a gardener, being in the present means focusing on the current moment, while keeping a foot in the past and an eye to the future. This sounds like a balancing act, but really it’s just a matter of taking care of seasonal business.

The Past: I finished clearing weeds and frosted annuals out of Annual Alley today. The frost-killed container plants were also emptied into the compost pile, and the pots put into the shed.

The Present: Every were I looked, colorful fall foliage stopped me in my tracks, so I spent some time taking photographs before returning to my fall clean up. I also took pictures of the recently emptied clay pots, now in the seed-starting part of the shed. These pots will absorb the sun’s heat during the day, releasing it at night and helping to keep this room warm. One of the pots I’d emptied contained some succulents worth saving, so I potted them up and took them downstairs.

The Future: I have a tower of power in the basement, where many of the Epiphyllums, and assorted cuttings are overwintered under lights. The small pots on the lower shelf contain succulents, Plectranthus and Coleus cuttings that are taking root. These are components of next year’s garden.

What we grew last summer dictates fall garden chores, and what’s done now will helpful for next summer’s gardening. I was fully present in today’s landscape, aware of the past and providing for the future.

Here is how Annual Alley looked this past summer.

The only color left in this area is on the small current bush at the end of Annual Alley. Today, I pulled all the dead annuals out.

You can't beat this Amsonia hubrichtii (yellow) and the 'Center Glow' Physocarpus (red/purple) for fall color.

And look at this Franklinia - Foliage color and flowers!

OK, I admit that we didn't plan for these pots to be a heat-sink in this seed-starting shed. But they function beautifully this way, and after mid-February the temps in this shed never go below freezing.

Here are some cuttings taken for next year's garden. See the lovely epiphyllums flowers?

This summer, fur balls came to my garden, and I’m not talking about the stuff coughed up by cats.

Two nights ago I spoke to a group of Master Gardeners in Rhode Island. As we finished the evening up, they asked what plants I was excited about this year. I told them about Fornari’s Favorites, posted on my website, and then went on to rave about Gomphocarpus physocarpus. This plant is also called Asclepias physocarpa, and neither name exactly trips off the tongue, which is probably why this plant is stuck with the common name of fur balls.

Plant this Gomphocarpus if you want something dramatic to use in flower arrangements in September and October. Plant this if you want to attract pollinators to the garden. Plant fur balls if you want something that will delight children, or if you need a tall annual for that certain spot in the garden.

I got seeds for this annual from Thompson & Morgan, and started them in late April, in the shed. The cold wet summer that we had this year probably delayed the flowers and the hairy green balls, but next spring I’ll plant the seeds earlier to give them a good head start.

If you have a passion for plants or other positive pursuits, there is always something new to learn. We are well served by making a commitment to growth, in our gardens and in our lives.

I know that the flowers aren't the showiest, but they are very sweet, and they attract an assortment of pollinators.

The seed pods, the "fur balls" are what this plant is all about.

I had a delightful group of Master Gardeners from Michigan stop by to see my gardens today. In advance of their visit I decided that some areas at Poison Ivy Acres really needed to be labeled. I thought they should know that the bed at the top of the property was a dry garden, and the areas just below that were cutting gardens and test plantings.

I wanted it clear that the entry garden was planted around a color theme: blue, coral, yellow and white flowers predominate here. And the strip above that? Annual Alley.

I think that knowing that one garden is devoted to a particular type of plant, and others to plants that tolerate drought, do well with wet feet, or are fragrant might expand a visitor’s appreciation of what they are seeing. I should never assume that someone who views what I’ve planted would automatically understand what I had in mind when I planned or planted these gardens.

My garden signs were constructed out of scrap lumber that happened to be painted pink, and letter tiles from a garage sale anagrams game. One glue gun and thirty minutes later I had ten signs for different parts of the garden.

It occurred to me as I stuck the markers into their respective places, that we’re well served by some clear signage out of the garden as well. How can we assume that others know what we intend? I’m not about to glue wooden letter tiles onto myself, of course, but perhaps I could be clearer about my intentions, thoughts, desires or expectations.

The entry garden is planted in one of my favorite color combinations.

I'll be looking for some great coral colored dahlias to add to this garden next year.

Lost? No, you're right here on Annual Alley.

The balsam impatiens were glorious early in the summer, but they've slowed down now that it's mid-September. The sweet potato vine and ageratum are going great guns, however.