October Bloomers

October brings some new blooms to the garden, while other plants keep their own show going on and on and on.  This Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate'  is just in it's glory now.  Nearby, the Aralia cordata 'Sun King' is blooming greenily, and the Chives still send up an occasional blooming stem.

The annual Nicandra physalodes keeps on blooming and going to seed.  Some of the local birds have even been feeding on the seeds, I think.

Campsis radicans, sporting some large green pods, looks like it will stay in flower until frost.  There.  I typed that word.  Here's hoping the first hard frost will be weeks away!

The male Holly, above, is blooming a bit.  But another spectacular bloomer for a great long time has been this Gaura that came from a church plant sale, with a common name I don't remember now.  I really had no idea what it would be when I bought it last year.  Now I wish I had more.

The gardening season continues!

Hardy Amaryllis!

Last year I ordered and planted some so-called hardy Amaryllis (Hippeastrum johnsonii?).  I think I got the bulbs from Vesseys.  After I planted them, in the spring, a couple grew some little leaves, one bloomed and disappeared.  Then I was reading online what others have said about these plants.  "Not so hardy" seemed to be the common theme.  And my home is in zone 5b, I guess.

 Surprise, surprise, a couple plants came up this spring, and this one just finished blooming!  

I did plant them right in by the foundation of the house, beneath the Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans), behind some Holly (Ilex sp.).  I think this is a good trick to stretch one's zone and the hardiness of some touchy plants.   

I know, I know; it's a bit of the wild and weedy look.  Anyway, I've actually had an Angel's Trumpet return from its root here, after two winters in a row, thought this year it did not return.  

Good luck with your own hardiness experiments.  And happy Fourth of July to you American neighbours out there!  This red, white and green post is as good as it gets.