October in my zone 6a Southern Tier of New York garden has arrived, and it's time for the 15th of each month Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
Where did summer and early fall go?
Another growing season is getting ready to conclude, as winter closes in. We will most probably have our first frost Thursday morning. Outlying areas have already had theirs.
This week so far has been rainy and cold, and for that reason, I cheated a little and took some of these pictures Saturday.
First, the outdoor flowers. For the last time this year I have so many that I won't show all of them to you.
Japanese anemones are in full bloom.
Nothing says fall like mums. I got this inexpensive plant at our area Aldi a few weeks back with buds just starting to open and it is now blooming its little mum heart out.
My dahlia is finally blooming. It gave a disappointing performance this year.
Not so the lantana, which had a great year, perhaps the best ever in all the years I've grown them.
The last three years I've grown cuphea, a flower that hummingbirds love. The flowers (at least, what is sold here) are normally red and yellow, but last year I found a cultivar with white flowers. The hummingbirds didn't like it but, about three or four weeks ago, I found some growing in a crack between two pavers in my yard. These volunteers were a pleasant surprise.
My fall blooming heuchera. The leaves you see are not heuchera leaves. The flowers were all leaning at angles and I got neighboring plants.
Variegated geraniums, before I took some cuttings. These I will root in soil with rootone, a power rooting hormone. Mine dates from the pandemic (my local nursery didn't have it in stock) so I hope it still works.
This is the hard part of outdoor gardening, when it is time to say goodbye.
Before I go, some indoor flower pictures. Here are two African violets. I got these at my local nursery on a special sale. This one is loaded with blooms. I hope it doesn't meet the fate of my previous African violets, all of which died this summer. I suspect overwatering was the cause.
This African violet had sunburn on the leaves but I decided to buy it anyway. Its chances of seeing the sun this winter aren't that great.
And that's my October collection of outdoor and indoor flowers. Why not visit the link at the beginning of my post and find out what is blooming in other gardens from all over the world?
I tried to grow African violets once ….sigh.
ReplyDeleteYour mums look beautiful
I've noticed that Japanese anemones have been really productive this year. They're so reliable, coming up year after year. Some people complain that they're invasive, but I don't find them so.
ReplyDelete...anemones are fall favorite of mine.
ReplyDeleteYou have so many flowers for October! The white Cuphea is a real beauty, I hope it re-seeds itself in your garden. I'd love to see over-all shots of your garden, so I could get a better idea of the whole lay-out and exposure.
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese anemone is extra pretty!
ReplyDeleteMay the frost be kind to your outdoor plants.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely October display, Alana! Despite the wide differences in our climates, we actually share a few flowers this month, most notably the Japanese anemones, Lantana, and Pelargoniums.
ReplyDeleteLovely Alana! My Japanese Anemone are hanging on too this month, mostly Honorine Jobert but also Pamina. And my one African violet just started blooming as well. It is nice to be getting to cozy indoors season in some ways, eventhough I will miss summer too. Happy GBBD :)
ReplyDeleteJulie Witmer (https://juliewitmergardens.substack.com/)
Your Japanese anemones are beautiful with their abundance of white blooms and I like your mums too! Good Luck with the African Violet. With a little tender loving care it should bounce back!
ReplyDelete