Bloom Day October '14

So October Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is here already.  I got over to the Cottage for a day, and caught up on the colours of the season.  The short asters,  below, certainly are becoming drifts.  Time to split them up and share the wealth next year.

 

The last roses are slowly fading, and the taller asters keep popping up everywhere.  

The little chrysanthemums, above, were a gift in June.  They were blooming at the time.  Here they are at twice the size, blooming again.  The only other way they could surpass this would be if they survived the winter and bloomed next year.

You may see that I roughly propped up the fading foliage of the peonies to make way for 'fall crocus.'
Enjoy this happy Bloom Day.  Visit May Dreams Gardens for flowers from around the globe. 

Fall is the new Spring

Colchicum

Plants like 'Fall Crocus' keep the Cottage blooming.  In fact, it has been more colourful out there for the past few wet weeks than it was much of the dry summer.  No surprise there.  Some of the plants are those that finally show off, in this season...

Burning Bush, Euonymus alatus

White Snakeroot, Eupatorium rugosum 'chocolate'

Aster, Symphyotrichum ____

Some of the species are still blooming.  The Rudbeckia, for instance, got the old flowers cut off a few weeks ago, and perhaps this encouraged a whole new crop of flower buds.

Rudbeckia nitida

Actaea racemosa, Black Snakeroot

Some of the foliage is having spring now.  Not just the luxurious grass in the lawn I can't keep ahead of... the Italian Arum, invisible in August, is sending up its leaves now, which will withstand the cold Nova Scotia winter.  And a new Pieris is covered in flower buds, as if it is going to bloom soon.  I assume it waits for spring.

Arum italicum, Italian Arum

Pieris _______

Then there is the scattering of out-of-season blossoms that randomly appear.  Look for them and you will find them.

Dianthus, Pinks

Aurinia saxatilis, Basket of Gold

Kniphofia, Red Hot Poker

My hope is these will all thrive for a few more weeks.  Out at the Cottage we seem to get frost later than we do inland.  This morning (October 13) we have patchy frost at home.  I assume there is none at the cottage this morning. 

     May your frost come late to your garden this year!

September Rebound

Daylily 'Stella D'Oro'

This past week I finally made time to be out at the Cottage a bit, and the colours are rebounding.  Lots of rain has revived a few things, and come along just in time to prosper the usual seasonal sensations.

Aster blooms and Privet berries above the high tide

The Burning Bushes are starting to turn, wild apples are ripening, and Actaea, Black Snakeroot, is blooming.  I notice  the Snakeroot is shorter this year, along with a few other things; likely due to our dry summer.

I find that the 'Autumn Crocus' (Colchicum) bloom at a different time each year.  Right now they are coming out, but not all at once.  In other years, they all arrived at Thanksgiving (8 - 14th of October).  

Some of the perennial seedlings I put in the ground just last month have really taken off.  I can hardly wait to see how they prosper next year.

And even the little papaya seedling is flourishing.  Maybe I will have to rescue it and take it in for the winter.  I've not had much success with these in the past.  

May The start of autumn keep things growing for you too.