Sunday, October 17

A Late and Tired October Bloom Day

It has been busy--very, very very busy--at work lately.  All work and no play leaves this gardener feeling as washed-out as my poor passionflower seems in the cool pre-dawn light:



She probably feels a little overworked, herself, because she's carrying that side of the driveway bed almost single-handedly in the bloom department for the month of October.  Further down, the chocolate eupatorium blooms against the yellowing 'Sioux Blue' sorghastrum nutens:




A few stray alpine strawberries and self-sown verbena bonariensis are blooming in that little strip, but the majority of the interest there is in leaf shape, texture and color... and most of that is as cool as the temperatures have been lately.  There are a few exceptions that warm up the garden, though.  Like this hot-blooded canna lily:



And the amaranth, which looks cool in the shadows, ignites with warm reds when touched by sunlight:


Pretty soon, the only shades of color in the garden will be grays and browns... which will make the indoor blooms seem even sweeter:


That's all of the photos for this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day (and Foliage Follow-up)... for more posts on these great topics, visit the links!
--------------------------
Also blooming in my October garden:  Random tomatoes, various basils, Russian sage, tall yellow snapdragons, calendula, my variegated tall sedum, two other cannas, native honeysuckle, two kinds of pink anemones, two kinds of agastache rupestris, caryopteris, pennisetum, 'Black & Blue' and 'Lady in Red' salvias, cimicifuga/actaea racemosa, brugmansia, 'Vista Purple' salvia, 'Rotstrahlbusch' panicum virgatum, my Meyer (improved) lemon, 'Bonfire' begonia, 'Dragonwing' begonia, and more than a few weeds...

12 comments:

Kylee Baumle said...

Every time I see your Amaranth, I swear I'm going to grow it "next year" and then I forget. It's beautiful, Kim!

I was late for GBBD, too. (But I usually am. LOL)

David said...

Howdy!
Very cool blooms. I'm late getting to see the GBBD posts due to work, work, work so I started at the end!
I love that Chocolate eupatorium.
Happy GBBD.
David/ Tropical Texana/ Houston

growingagardenindavis said...

Love the begonia Kim! I am becoming a begonia fan and have somehow ended up with 5 in the last couple months. My passionflower hasn't bloomed for weeks...wonder what it likes better about Ohio?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

The foliage in your garden is always intersting. It doesn't matter if you have many blooms or not. I forget but do you bring in your passion vine? Surely you do. ?? Happy GBBD.

scottweberpdx said...

Nice post...I'm with you on the feeling stretched-to-thin part...I can't remember ever being this busy in the fall before! That being said, I love the Amaranth, too. I just need to find a spot next year and plant some...I always forget in the spring :-)

Rose said...

The amaranth is lovely, but even more so combined with the other colors in your photo.

I had to laugh when I saw the photo on your sidebar of Coco--I also have a stick chewer and tomato thief:)

joey said...

Your follow up posts are great, Kim. You always find the art/beauty in everything. October joy :)

Kerri said...

The Passionflower foliage is lovely even without flowers, but those last hangers on are much appreciated, aren't they?
I love the Amaranth with the Canna leaves.
Yesterday we had one of those golden autumn afternoons when the light is absolutely perfect....and yes, igniting the reds beautifully.
You work hard and long hours, Kim. Hope things slow down and give you a little time for your garden soon.
Happy fall!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I could just say ditto to everything Kylee said (except being late for GBBD). I love that shade, kind of a wine/burgundy.

Benjamin Vogt said...

Always wanted to try that indian grass. I have the species, and in its first year they are all tall and nicely orange / yellow. Sorta floppy. Is yours floppy? What else in life is floppy?

Anonymous said...

Is October the normal blooming time for your passion flower? Mine is vining everywhere, but still not a flower to be seen despite blooming in August last year. Argh!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

I've been feeling the same way. But, hey, you've got Amaranth. So things can't be all work, no play. Just gazing at Amaranth puts me in a happy mood. (It won't grow in my sad soil.)

Post a Comment

One of my favorite things about blogging is the interaction--posts are often simply the beginning of an interesting conversation! So thanks for taking the time to join the discussion, and please know that I enjoy reading each and every comment left here. I try to answer as many as I can.