October Bloom Day A Bit Late

Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue'

The first flower scape of Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue' was devoured by deer in early summer, and with it being so dry, it is only now that the plant has decided to re-bloom. Its deep blue flowers complement the red bush Salvia next to it. I kept thinking this Salvia was 'Windwalker Royal Red' and referred to it as such, but today I ran across the plant label (I save them so I can later identify the variety, but I sometimes lose track of them) and found out it is actually a red bush Salvia 'Maraschino.'

 

Red bush salvia

I was away the week before, attending the ASBA Annual Conference in Mobile, AL and missed posting at Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden's "Bloom Day" on the 15th. When I tried to post, I had trouble loading the images onto my blog. It took a while to figure out how to change the settings to fix the problem, so it's only now that I'm catching up with October Bloom Day. 

The pink Muhly grasses are sporting their feathery plumes as the leaves begin to turn--amazing what a transformation can take place in one week!

 

Herb's bed in October.

The Verbascum 'Southern Charm' my sister gave me is re-blooming, and the few Chrysanthemums that didn't get eaten by deer over the summer are also in bloom. The red variety is very pretty; I bought the orange one at Lowes' recently and am looking for a spot to plant it in the ground.

 

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'

Red Chrysanthemums

Orange Chrysanthemum.

The yellowwood tree ( Cladrastris kentukea) in the west side had turned gold when I got home last week, and this week the hickories in the woods behind our house are turning. The oaks are just starting show a bit of color.

West side bed with yellowwood tree turning gold.

The woods in back from the deck.

The back yard from the west side.

 

The aromatic asters are starting to bloom, but aren't fully open yet. My oldest clump seems to be hollowing out in the center, an indication that it will need to be broken up and re-planted next spring.  Two other clumps that were separated and planted in other beds aren't making much of a show yet.

 

Aromatic asters (Symphyotrichum oblongifolius)

 

I brought in most of my tender houseplants before leaving on my trip, just in case there might be a frost while I was gone. When I got back from my trip, the yellow hibiscus greeted me with lots of flowers--I rarely see this many at one time.

Yellow hibiscus.

I wonder if there will be any flowers in my garden for November Bloom Day? Surely the first frost will come before then.

November Dawn

My back yard at dawn.

 

The fall color this year has been outstanding: the oak trees in back have never been so red as they are at the moment. I took this photo just before sunrise from my studio window a few days ago. It's been unseasonably warm since the beginning of November, but earlier in October, the overnight lows were near or just below freezing, which brought out the colors.

 

Red 'Simplicity' rose

 

With this weather, it's a joy to work in my garden digging up spring-flowering bulbs that were overcrowded, and replanting them in newly expanded flower beds. And adding a few new bulbs too, of course. I bought two Imperial Fritillaries (Fritillaria imperialis)--a red and a yellow--and some pink-cupped daffodils. I'm looking forward to seeing my handiwork when it all begins to emerge next spring.

 

A vase of my roses

 

It's so rare to have this many roses still blooming in November, that I picked one of each of the varieties in my garden for this bouquet: Molineux (yellow), red Simplicity, pink Petal Pushers (in back), New Dawn (pale pink), and red Double Knockout.

 

The east yard

The Viburnum 'Brandywine' on the east side of the house is still sporting some leaves along with its now blue-black berries, and the Japanese maples had some leaves when I took this photo, but after yesterday's rain, I doubt many will persist.

Oak trees in back yard

Fothergilla with purple asters.

The woods in back have been really glorious all week. Many other unexpected and stunning color combinations crop up in my garden at this time of the year--the orange leaves of the Fothergilla against the lavender of the purple asters and the silvery stems of the Caryopteris, with the Diervilla... everything takes on particularly lovely hues in the late afternoon as the sun is setting.

 

Re-blooming iris 'Blatant'

 

The re-blooming iris 'Blatant' has produced several flowers, and there are more blooming spikes. If the weather keeps up, it should continue to bloom for another week or more. It's also time to fence off the most susceptible plants, like this double-flowering quince, one of the deer's favorite snacks--there really is no other way to keep hungry deer away from some plants. I've also enclosed the hybrid witch-hazel 'Diane' that I planted this spring, as well as the Azaleas, Rhododendron and Hellebores on the east bed. Thus I hope to minimize the deer damage, though every year some of my plants get nearly wiped out.

 

Re-blooming iris and mums.

I'd been wanting to have an autumn flowering crocus that deer wouldn't eat, so when this Colchicum 'Waterlily' went on sale at Wayside Gardens, I bought one bulb to try out. Colchicums are very poisonous to both humans and animals, and this one with lovely mauve flowers is a hybrid of two different species: C. autumnale 'Alboplenum' with C. speciosus 'Album'. It will be interesting to see how it fares.

Colchicum 'Waterlily'