Fall Equinox 2026

Colchicum 'Waterlily'

 

The Fall Equinox came last week with over an inch of rain, and my Colchicum 'Waterlily' sprouted three lovely flowers. The previous year it didn't bloom at all--I dug it up and re-planted it just a foot or so from where it had been--it was being crowded out by other plants-- it seems a lot happier now.

 

 

As the summer flowers in other beds fade, the classic fall flowers begin their show, and berries decorate my bushes. Along my front yard the Salvias in pots are still hanging on, feeding the hummingbirds that are now migrating, while the leaves of the dogwood tree turn to autumn shades.

 

Along the front walk

 

The Viburnum 'Brandywine' on the east side of the house is displaying its berries in pinks and blues. My Pink Turtlehead in the woodland garden managed to produce one flowering spike; the deer ate all the other buds, despite having a deer repellent on a stake right next to it! I'll have to try to protect it more next year, in hopes it will become a respectable clump. The Anemone 'Honorine Jobert is still looking good.

 

Viburnum 'Branydwine'

Pink Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua)

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

 

In the back yard the swamp sunflowers have opened up, making a nice display. Last Friday I had agreed to lead a workshop drawing flowers for Art in the Park, an annual weekend event at Shenandoah National Park. I had to provide my own flowers, as one is not allowed to cut any plants from the park, so I went out that morning and cut a bunch of my sunflowers and little wild asters that I let grow all over my yard, along with a few of my Agastaches and ornamental grasses. 

 

Swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolium)

Wild asters growing next to my veggie pagoda

The workshop turned out very well, I had about 20 people, four adults had brought children with them, between the ages of 6 and 10--I was impressed by how well-behaved and attentive the kids were. It was wonderful to see them doing art, brought back memories of myself at that age.

Driving south on Skyline Drive on my way in, I almost ran into two wild turkey hens eating something in the middle of the road. I slowed down and carefully drove around them--they didn't even budge, they were so absorbed in whatever was there. Two other cars behind me did the same. I wish I'd had the time to stop and take a photo, it's seldom one sees a wild turkey these days, much less two! But I was running late...

Yesterday I found a neat surprise in my back yard--a circle of lawn mushrooms growing in front of the back bed--these are the edible Agaricus campestris, same variety that are sold at the grocery store as button mushrooms. Naturally, I went out this morning and collected enough for dinner tonight. These will have more flavor than the grocery-bought ones, which have had the flavor bred out of them.

 

Edible lawn mushrooms (Agaricus campestre)

 

Lawn mushroom harvest

In the backyard the Muhly grass is starting to open its airy plumes, and Herb's bed still has some Agastaches, Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and ornamental grasses. The yellow Chrisanthemums are holding their own, while the other mums are getting ready to open.

 

Muhly grass

  

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Yellow Chrysanthemum

 

Pink mum in bud

 

The two Beautyberries 'Early Amethyst' in the back yard have a nice crop of berries--the color is so lovely against the yellowing leaves.

 

Beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst')

Recently I've been working on a new piece on a material new to me--Aquabord. This mineral and clay surface is quite different from working on paper, it absorbs water and dries at a very different rate from paper. It's challenging whenever one tries something new, but the idea is to be able to seal it and mount it in a floater frame rather than put it under plexiglas and a mat. Below is the new work in progress.

 

Monarchs on Prairie Blazing Meadow Star, 16" x 20"

 

As the nights get colder, the leaves will soon begin to turn shades of red and gold. I wonder if we'll have a colorful fall this year? 

October 2025 Bloom Day

 

Yellow Chrysanthemum

It's October Bloom Day: the 15th of the month is when garden bloggers share what's blooming in our gardens, as hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog. Fall is gradually showing its signs--the leaves are turning, the seeds are setting, and the last flowers of the season are displaying their blooms. Let's take a look, shall we?

In the front yard, the neon-pink Petunia growing in a pot still has some blooms--the cooler temperatures don't seem to have had an effect on it yet. The Gaillardia 'Arizona Sunset' has slowed down but still has some blooms too. 

The newly-opened blooms for the month are the Chrysanthemums, and I have several--this deep red-purple one in the front, a beautifully-shaped yellow that a fried gave me for my birthday, and a pink that I've have for several years.

 

Pink Petunia

Gaillardia 'Arizona sunset'

Deep red mums.

The changing foliage seems to be the main feature in my garden at this time of the year. The 'Brandywine' viburnum is very appealing with its red foliage and the berries turning blue.

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine'

The east garden.

 The 'Autumn Blaze' maple on the west side of the house is brilliant with color.

 

'Autumn Blaze' maple from the front.

'Autumn Blaze' maple from the back deck.

I used to have several huge mounds of Aromatic Asters blooming at this time, but in the last few years, deer in our area seem to have developed a taste for this plant which they never bothered before, so these are the only flower buds they left--a fraction of the original blooms!

  

Aromatic Aster.

Aromatic Asters with Fothergilla in back.

 

Grasses are another striking feature of my autumn garden; the Muhly grass 'Flamingo' in Herb's bed is among the showiest--the ordinary Muhly grass is shorter and more feathery. The Little Blue Stem grass is another grass that I enjoy--its tiny fluffy seeds look like little stars. I notice that it's being used a lot more in landscaping around our local buildings.

 

 

Muhly grass with pink mums.

 

Muhly grass 'Flamingo'

Little Blue Stem grass.

The Threadleaf Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) in the Little Indians bed is turning gold, and the woods in back are starting to show some color too. But thus far it's rather subdued. The oak foliage will probably not turn until later.  It's time to harvest some of the Jerusalem artichokes--their blooms have all gone to seed.

 

Amsonia hubruchtii

The back yard in early morning.

A few roses linger on, but the porch baskets are looking very past it. There's no sign of the Crocus speciosus that I planted in the back bed a few weeks ago--I wonder if they will still bloom or if their time has passed? 

 

 

Shrub rose 'Petal Pushers'

Front porch.

 

We're expecting our first frost tonight, and with it, the beginning of winter's repose in the garden. Happy Bloom Day, enjoy the last of the flowers--thanks for visiting!

A Warm Fall in my Garden

Colchicum 'Waterlily' bud.

 

Nothing says "fall" like the fall-blooming crocuses: two days ago I saw the first bud of the Colchicum 'Waterlily'  peeking out of the ground. Today, the flower is fully open! I hope there will be a few more flowers, the bulbs have been multiplying slowly. I must plant more fall-blooming crocuses! Maybe try some golden-flowered Sternbergia next year?

Colchicum 'Waterlily'

 

Some seasonal flowers are appearing, but the deer have been so voracious this year, there's not a whole lot left to blossom. I found a few flowering spikes on the smooth blue asters (Symphyotrichum laevis), but by the time I took this photo, the few yellow mums in front had been devoured. This year the local deer have eaten plants I've never known them to touch before: mums, Asian lilies and salvias?

 

Smooth blue asters.

 

I did come across an unusual find--a beautiful deep purple wild aster hiding among the tall weeds in a hard-to-reach area in back. I wonder where it came from? Last year I collected a couple of dead flowerheads from some wild purple asters I found in Warm Springs to broadcast in the back yard, could this be one of them? Or is it a natural hybrid of the wild asters with the smooth blue? I definitely want more of these beauties, and will try to transplant them to more visible locations in my garden.

Volunteer wild aster in a weedy area.

The blue prairie sage I planted this spring hadn't become very tall, but was starting to bloom when the deer devoured them--all that is left are a few bare stems. I hope the plants make it through the winter and have a chance to become established. I've been working on establishing my very own "Postage Stamp Prairie" in the area we call the badlands in back.

Blue sage (Salvia azurea)

Another lovely surprise was to see some buds on the Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' I planted last year. The deer had been eating this one so much I had to put a wire cloche over it or it wouldn't have lasted very long.

 

Buds of Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

 

I think this red salvia is 'Royal Windwalker Red' and not 'Texas Red' but I'm not sure--will have to look at my collection of saved labels to find out. This one was munched by deer too, but not badly, and is only now starting its display. The weather predictions say we should be having a warmer than usual autumn, with no frost until the end of the month, which will give these flowers a chance.

Salvia 'Royal Windwalker Red'

Only a few flower buds of the tall swamp sunflowers that usually bloom so profusely in my fall garden escaped the depredations of the deer. Ditto for the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and the Beautyberries.

 

Swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolius)

Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' (Callicarpa dichotoma)

Not very noticeable, but I finally found one or two red berries on my 'Berry Poppins' hollies in front--it seems the 'Mr. Poppins' I acquired last year turned out to be a male plant for real. The previous specimen I'd bought had turned out to be female, so let's hope Mr Poppins grows bigger next year for a nice crop of berries..

A berry on "Berry Poppins' holly.

The foliage on the Viburnum 'Brandywine' is turning beautiful shades of red while the berries turn from pink to blue. The white lilac which didn't bloom at all this past spring has put out a few buds now, after the 2.5 inches of rain that tropical storm Ophelia left us. That's the second fall this shrub has bloomed, isn't that odd?

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine'

Pink and blue berries of viburnum 'Brandywine'

White lilac blooming in fall.

Next week I'll be away at the ASBA Conference so I won't be around for the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day on the 15th, but this is what is blooming in my garden now. It's not the masses of flowers I'd hoped for,or even the modest displays of the past, it's been a bad year for gardens here in the northwest corner of Virginia.

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'