The coloring of the crocus is so beautiful, especially for this time of year. An orange-blooming annual nearby would really bring out the color of the stamens. Thanks for posting them.

Gorgeous flowers and lovely pictures of them. I would love to have some bulbs blooming now.

Gorgeous pics. What a treat to see them.

Thanks, guys! (or gals, as the case may be).

Transplant, you're right- orange would bring them out but i have little that blooms that color right now. They are planted among chinese paddle sedum, tectractinum, which has nice bronzey casts to it, though.

I love the color! Do you harvest saffron?

I've never tried the fall blooming, but my little spring crocus keep coming back in spite of my losing track of them all the time. I have creeping thyme growing over my crocus to help me remember!

Cameron

That's funny- Cameron, because i have caraway thyme growing close to mine. It used to be on top, but has migrated a little the other way and the sedum took over instead.

I don't have the actual saffron crocus anymore. They look a bit different- the part you gather is very red, and longer, than this type and the flowers are more purple than these. I believe this is a different species altogether. I bought them, i think like 3 or 5 each, at the same time more than 10 years ago. For many years they multiplied at about the same rate, if anything the saffron a bit more. But 3 falls ago after a wet summer, the saffron kind must have rotted or gotten some fungus or something because there was only 1 or so left of what had multiplied to be many by that point. I haven't seen any sign of the saffron this year, so i think they must have all died. Can't recall if the one was back last fall. Since it's been gone, though, this one has filled in the spots it left. If i pick up more saffron, i'll have to put it somewhere similar, but give it its own spot. I may pick and even higher spot than this was to prevent the dying out that happened this time. Mind you, they went through the summer of fran in '96 just fine and that was one wet summer. Not sure if it was the 2 years of drought then one wet that did it in or what. We did harvest it when we had it, but it makes so little that it doesn't add much except a pretty color to dishes. It may be that mine wasn't in enough sun to develop a good strong flavor, too. I'll have to go back and see if i can find some pix of the 2 together so you can see the difference. i know i have some.

Took some pictures today

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Here is a link that might be useful: Oct., 08

Beautiful Adele! Love that last picture of Salvia madrensis. I think I need to order salvias in the fall for spring delivery,lol. What is the blue flower in the middle picture?

Love your shots, adele. The cat pic is so funny juxtaposed with the sign below it! Which salvias are the two deep pink/purple and pink ones 2/3 of the way though? The one looked like rosebud sage, the other i wasn't sure. And, was that a gentian i saw a couple pix later? What's that tufty grass stuff in the same area?

Shari, the blue is an asclepias relative called tweedia or oxypetalum. Who knows, maybe it has another latin name by now? It's a cool plant. Is yours hardy Adele? I haven't had it for a few years but want to get it again for that wild blue. If anything, it's more blue green than the pic.

Yes Shari the blue flower is oxypetalum. I have a pink one too though the blue seems to bloom more than the pink.
They have been hardy for me but winters have been pretty mild since I have been here.

Tammy I am not sure what salvias you specifically are asking about but the first kind of red looking one is actually Leycesteria formosa 'Golden Lanterns' its the bracks that you are seeing the flowers have all been spent I think. The picture after that is the rosebud sage, the next purple one is Salvia mexicana, I am not sure of the cultivar and the one after that which is red is Salvia elegans 'Golden Delicious'. I'm not sure of which grass you mean. I have a couple of them on there one is of course the muhly. The picture where you can see the house in the back is definately a panicum. I think it is 'Heavy Metal' but I am not positive. I think the gentian looking thing you are referring to is my Baleria cristata, Phillipine Violet. It takes a break in the summar and then blooms into the fall when the leaves start turning colors. This picture was taken last Thanksgiving. Adele

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Oooh- pretty! Lovely color. Good to know about the oxypetalum. I didn't know there was a pink form, but i like the blue more anyhow. I'd love to have a whole collection of various asclepias & relatives. Someday.

The grass pic may have been wild or something- i believe it has a driveway or road behind it. Don't recall noticing a house and i don't have time right now to go back through the album. The "sage" was the one with the bracts- so it must be the leycesteria. Very pretty! I'll have to look for it in bloom later. I was pretty sure the second one was rosebud sage. Maybe since you get such great & unusual stuff from BB, you could label your pix with what they are in your album. You'd be an education fo all of us, and probably get more business for bb, too! LOL.

Oh Tammy the picture with the grass and the road behind it is one of our native grasses. I don't know the botanical name. It grows here and there around my property and along the roadsides. I call it diamond grass cause it sparkles when lit by the sun. Adele

I've been taking lots of pictures while I still have color out there. Only a few signs of a light frost so far but I hear we may see our first killing frost next week:(

I traded for this mum and don't know the name. Tammy- do you know? It came from Carla.

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Here is a link that might be useful: latest album

Shari, your pictures are unbelievably beautiful. I have a ton of questions. I loved the dew on the euphorbia. What is that rudbeckia that is still blooming? Your grasses are GORGEOUS. Loved the hairy little creature, I wanted to plant a kiss right between the eyes. I have to collect my thoughts and look again at the pictures. Very inspiring. Adele

Shari, those pix were gorgeous! I agree with Adele- the warm fuzzy was adorable! I love the euphorb shot, and i really like the grass shot in #54, i believe it was. What kind of grass was that? I never used to like grasses much, but they're growing on me- no pun intended. I like how the peach mum and purple aster play off each other. So many pretty shots of the 2! You'd think after the fair i'd be sick of that combo but i love it. Was that a crinum still blooming towards the end?

I wish i knew what that mum was, but i don't. I know she got it the same time i got my 'country girl' from Betty, but hers has always been peach and mine pink, so they must have been different ones. I can ask Betty if i remember next time i talk to her. Likely it's an old passalong variety. Actually, i'd love to get the peach in exchange for my pink sometime if you'd be interested.

I'd love to get seed from the rudbeckia triloba, too. Mine is still going, just a bit, but it doesn't have those sweet little white tips that yours does. The patch where i first gathered my seed had light yellow tips but i guess it bred out after a while. I love how my flowers get smaller as the season plods on and it gets cooler- they're perfect for the mini arrangements i do for the fair. I find them to be short lived, but they seed around so much it's no problem. Adele, i can bring some to the next swap or next time i'm down at bb's for you.

Oh cool Tammy. I actually had one in my front beds that didn't come back from last year. Its my favorite rudbeckia. I love the small flowers and the multiple blooms on one stem. Adele

Tammy, I'd like to trade mums with you. We need to remeber that for the spring swap. The R. triloba is actually from a start I got from you and I'll try to remember to collect some seed but I could just as easily bring you a seedling. Is the grass the one with just the seed head in the pic? That's Lindheimer's Muhly on Mon morn when we had that(very) light frost. This fall has been such a treat after last year's drought.

Adele, thank you! I really enjoy the whole process of taking the pics and choosing what to put in the albums. I'm glad that enjoy you them too:^)

Shari, it's odd that yours have the white tip and mine don't, but i'll happily swap back. Maybe it's determined on certain conditions. Adele, that's one of my faves, too- and they bloom for so long they are a real workhorse. I like the foliage better than regular ruds, too. I'm surprised it didn't do in your sandy garden- mine likes my sandier areas. Go figure. I'll be sure to dig one of those so you have one preconditioned. I actually start a swap email draft that i use to keep track of stuff 'off season' as well as during the swaps, so i'll write those trades down so i don't forget them. Otherwise i would forget for sure. Thanks so much, both of you!

Shari, the grass looked like it was being blown by wind, and was pinkish, but it wasn't super fluffy/dispersed like muhly-more definite heads like miscanthus, but straighter. I don't recall frost or dew on that one- just gorgeous backlighting, and wind. When i have time i'll go back through and verify the number. I thought it was funny you chose the same bgd as i did for my album.

I remember that pale mum made it to the cover of a gardening magazine a few years ago - but I don't remember which one and I don't remember what it was called. I think it had the word Apricot in its name and I remember seeing it for sale at Niche Gardens.

What kinda creature is the fuzzy thing?? small dog? fox? I can't figure it out.

Adele - I have failed failed failed at growing leycesteria. I am so jealous you have or had it. It is supposed to be easy and roots well from cuttings and I know they have some at NCState so I will eventually get some. I bought the seed from a small seed shop online based in England where it is very popular. Other plants survived from that order but not Himalayan Honeysuckle (its other name).

Lol y'all! That's my baby. He's a black and tan(and silver now since he's 8 yrs old)Pomeranian.

Tammy, that is my Muhly you were referring to-it's very late to bloom and I don't even get to see the fluffy look some years. It may not be capillaris since I bought it unmarked from the JCC nursery- the one where I bought the noid purple penstemon. That is a crinum in the pic. It just opened partially today. It's been tentatively id'ed as Crinum xdigweedii(no joke- look it up,lol)

Shari, that must be the same mum I got at my first GW swap a few years ago. I love it but have no idea what the cultivar name is -- I got it in the general swapping so I'm really not even sure who it came from. I like that it ages to golden rather than to pink like Single Apricot does. I also really like the one Adele showed at the top of the thread (that's the Emperor of China, right?). My Emperor has started to seed a little, can't wait to see what his progeny look like.

Karen, you're right that first picture is Emperor of China. I try to have the old fashioned mums in each part of my gardens since fall is so beautiful here. Another plant that I like to have in all my gardens is Tagetes lemmonii. You don't really notice them too much until they bloom in November-December. They have buds but have not started to bloom yet. Tagetes lucida just started to bloom last week.

John, I bought the leycesteria at BB's. I didn't know they were difficult. Now you have me worried. I grew it in a pot its first season and planted it out that fall. It came back on old stock but the stems that came up fresh from the ground were much nicer looking and I ended up cutting out the old branches. It tickles me enormously that I am making YOU jealous, teehee.

Tammy thanks for the rudbeckia. You can decide what to trade it for. That muhly I think is called Pink Flamingo. We have it at BB's and it looks just like Shari's. Shari is the foliage on it flatter and more blue-green or gray than the regular pink muhly? Plant Delights lists it as muhlenbergia without a species name. I can't remember if we have a species name on our tag. I will have to check tommorrow. Adele

Pink Flamingo is an interspecies hybrid according to Plant Delights and would be taller than mine. I think what I have may be capillaris var filipes. It looks like the one in the picture I have the link to. I would love to have that Pink Flamingo though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gulf Muhly

Oh Shari that is very interesting. Yes pink flamingo is tall. Taller than the regular muhly by about a third. Your short one reminds me of the wild grass that would bloom on Cape Hatteras in Sept/Oct. It was short like yours and was dotted here and there throughout the yards and natural areas. I was so captivated by it I did a big no no and cut a couple of tuffs to add to a dry flower arrangement. I always thought that one must be some kind of muhly. Adele

Most of the pics I took yesterday were blurry but these 3 came out great.
Camellia sasanqua, white
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California Christmas Tree, close up: Cedrus deodara
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and my 3rd blooming, well almost blooming, of tall bearded Iris 'Immortality'
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Wonderful photos! We've really had a nice growing season this year.

Love that pic of Cedrus deodora. I really would like to have a dwarf version one day.

I've finished uploading the last album of pics before the killing frost. Really hated to see it come and then get warm again just like Ralph was warning:(

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Here is a link that might be useful: october 23-29

I included a link to the frost album on the frost thread but I'll leave it here too. That first morning of heavy frost was beautiful.

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Here is a link that might be useful: October 30

Shari- those shots are stunning! I especially liked the forsythia shot in the second album and some of the first peach mum shots in the first album. The angelonia shot was cool, too. Great job! I'm always so cold that i don't want to get outside while it's still frosty to shoot. Good for you for your gumption.

So many beautiful flowers/scenes.

Wonderful weather this weekend!