Just the odd photo from me today to celebrate the October blooms in my garden. This morning was peppered with shopping and drizzle and looking at the just photographed sky there could be more of the wet stuff on the horizon. Everything is looking decidedly bedraggled now although there are still flowers about amongst them astrantias, various hardy geraniums, penstemons, the deadly 'Yellow Peril', nicotiana 'Lime Green', Swan River daisies, cosmos bippanatus 'Purity', verbena bonariensis, dahlia 'Bishop's Children', scutellaria and a couple of pale yellow daisy type flowers whose names escape me at present. Nothing is at its peak but they are winding down slowly as autumn progresses but one or two are still in full flow ~
Above an old favourite - erigeron karvinskianus or Mexican fleabane which is dotted about the north facing courtyard in front of the house. The white flowers age to pink. This is the subject of contention ever year as himself sees it as a weed and I am convinced that he has tried to kill it off, luckily without success. It is one of the longest lasting flowers in the garden and will go on until the first really sharp frosts. There is some question about its tenderness but here in the north west of England it has survived for years, even coming through the harsh winter that we had a couple of years ago. Maybe it picks up on heat thrown out from the house or it self seeds each year - whatever I'm not complaining.
I don't know the name of this hardy fuschia which is the palest of pinks. I plucked a few cuttings years ago from a bush that was overhanging onto a pavement . Since then it has grown into a monster and is in line for some serious pruning.
Finally I'm going to cheat with one that I took earlier a couple of years earlier in fact - aster 'Little Carlow' which is bearing a myriad of little flowers at the allotment just now. It has come into flower later than usual but other than that it does not seem to be affected by the wet summer. It attracts both bees and butterflies and a couple of divisions headed to the bee keeping area earlier this year. Must see how they are doing next time I'm at the plot.
I will be putting the kettle on later for a cuppa before heading over to
May Dreams Gardens, where Carol kindly hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day each month. A most pleasant way to while away some time which invariably sees my wish list growing and growing.
May Dreams Gardens, where Carol kindly hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day each month. A most pleasant way to while away some time which invariably sees my wish list growing and growing.
Hello Anna, I just planted some of those Erigeron, which are known as "Spanish Daisies" here! I hope they do as well as yours and have time to seed themselves, as they probably won't survive our winter. I love that pale pink fuchsia - so pretty!
ReplyDeleteOh fingers crossed that the daisies do the business Cathy and spring up next year.
DeleteI think your fuchsia is the same as mine, which I think is Fuchsia magellanica alba. Not really alba, more pale pink outside and pale lilac inside and yes it does grow huge, mine has a severe cut back each spring to keep it under control! We have to be grateful for the last few flowers in the garden as everything is winding down, asters are wonderful at the moment.
ReplyDeletePauline, thanks for confirming my suspicions re the identity of my fuchsia. The asters are wonderful at this time of year. Yesterday's sunshine bought the odd visiting butterfly to 'Little Carlow' at the allotment :)
DeleteWhatever that fuchsia is it's very beautiful, and a welcome change from all the oranges and yellows at the moment too I should imagine!
ReplyDeleteI have that erigeron too and it is totally hardy down here. I love it, but there's one house around the corner where a little old lady lives, where it has totally taken over and is now growing out of the brickwork too! At least it's a pretty thug!
Pastel colours do seem thin on the ground at the moment Su so it is a welcome change indeed. I can imagine the erigeron growing out of the brickwork - not quite got to that stage here ........... yet :)
DeleteNice blooms Anna! The pale fuchsia particularly caught my eye, and I wish we could establish an Erigeron here.
ReplyDeleteThanks:) Hope that you can get an erigeron on the go one of these days - not a fussy customer at all so sure you can do it!
DeleteI think your fuchsia may be Hawkshead. I love the understated varieties such as this. It's nice to have plants which do so well in the garden and carry on blooming so late in the year.
ReplyDeleteI did consider it might be 'Hawkshead' Jo but having seen the latter in the flesh know that it is isn't. 'Hawkshead' is white and there is a tinge of green in the petals. The latecomers are certainly absolute stars.
DeleteErigeron is one of my favourites. It is still looking good at the moment tumbling out of my raised beds. The colour of that sky looks quite ominous. Rain here last night but the days have been dry since Thursday. So I really must make the most of this afternoon and get out and finish off my jobs. I don't normally like fuchsias but I do like the white ones, much more delicate and refined I think.
ReplyDeleteHi, Anna! It's good to visit with you again! Your fleabane is really quite pretty; I have a similar wildflower that is some type of aster, whose name I've now forgotten. It grows wild along the outbuildings here, and my husband would like to cut it all down, but I like it, especially this time of year when little else is blooming. Your fuschia is really unusual.
ReplyDeleteWe're having some wet days, too, and I shouldn't complain after the summer's drought, but I'm finding it hard to get all the fall chores done. It seems every time I have a free day to work in the garden, it rains!
Good to hear from you Rose :) Now why is always raining when we have free time to spend in the garden? One of those questions to which there is no answer to.
DeleteThat's a nice shot of the brooding sky over the autumn trees. I was hoping for a little blue sky today, but I will be cutting back the rest of the pernnial foliage in between the snow flakes instead.
ReplyDeleteYour pale fuchsia would blend well with so many other plants. I always appreciate it when a plant is good looking to both me and the bees/butterflies, and it looks like Little Carlow is both.
Yes that sky was certainly brooding but surprisingly enough the rain held off. Snow already - brrrrrrrrrrrr !
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