This is what Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' looks like when established in the garden - Honey Bees swarm the flowers on a warm day!

I'll see you and raise you one Lapageria rosea. It has never bloomed this late in the season before. It loves cool temperatures but it may go down to freezing tomorrow morn so it is going up against the house in a protected spot before it comes in for the winter.

This is one of my absolute favorite plants - the petals are thick like lemon peels

Rouge, I had a reply for you about the Ajania almost three weeks ago, when Houzz just disappearified it. That, and the snail pace typing on my phone (the site seems unable to keep up with the keystrokes) got me so mad, that I gave up. I have cooled down a bit now, just like the weather, so here we try again. I will reply in a few posts, so as not to lose a whole message again. I already lost the beginning of this post today, this is a second try.

I am glad that your Ajania is doing well. Mine is also in bud now. I actually prefer the gleaming golden buds to the open flowers. I keep mine outside over the winter, but under a foot or so of pine needles.

I just took a (last?) picture of my beloved Honorine Jobert. There is a bit of frost in the forecast, and she could be a mass of brown misery tomorrow. I removed a big Persicaria polymorpha from her corner, and she made enthusiastic use of the extra room this year.

My pride and glory are my Cyclamen hederifolium and coum. I lose one regularly, but there always seem to be a few survivors.

My aconitum is also doing well after this wet summer.

On October 9 Begonia grandis looked like this:

Today:

Hydrangea quercifolia ’Snowflake’. The foliage colour is never very impressive, but it may be my alkaline soil is to be blamed.

Maybe to say sorry, it produced one last fresh panicle of blooms, with a ladybug!.

Gorgeous stand of Monkshood @gdinieontarioz5!

(And I'm thinking yours might be the only post with pictures of Begonia grandis.)

I just took a (last?) picture of my beloved Honorine Jobert.

I love HJ and did have a nice one for a few years but slowly but surely it faded away. (HJ is clearly not as vigorous as many anemone can be.)

I love my potted Ajania...as always thank again "gdinie" for your generosity. (Yours is further along than mine as I cannot quite yet see any hint of yellow in the flowers buds.)

This year I created a new garden to try growing dahlias from seed (from Floret). I don't think I've ever had so much fun in the garden. Practically every day there was a new surprise colour and shape.

Behind the dahlia seedling patch, I planted a row of Ricinus. First time I've grown them. They are mesmerizing as they dance in the wind.

I've gone from never posting to oversharing. So, here's my last photo of fun discoveries in the dahlia seedling garden.

The last flowers of the season and the first flowers at the beginning of the year are always the most appreciated.

This is Crocus speciousus this morning, they are looking good on Oct 24

Crocus speciosus alba has pointed pure white petals

Grace enjoying the fall color

This rose is over 3' tall blooming in the garden this morning, this started as a 4" potted "miniature rose". It is super tough and never has black spot disease. The frost didn't ruin the flowers. It was 31 degrees for a couple of hours and zapped some things in the garden this past week.

The only two roses I have are this one, and a rose that was originally from my grandparents.

Most roses don't make it through the winter here because of the cold nonstop winter wind.

It has been an amazing October! The bright multi colors of the Sugar Maples this fall have been gorgeous. The color is extra vivid right now in north east Ohio and the sun has been shining making it super pretty - it is probably the peak fall color for the trees here. The extended forecast is for possible snow by the end of the month. This week it will be in the 70s. Tree frogs are so cool.

There is quite a bit of color still out there for October. I see we have this last week and weekend of warm temps and then we are looking at lows in the low 30s overnight next week. So I’m taking photos up to the last of the blooms.

Everyone has shared some great photos of color in October.

That blue Aconitum is electric!

The ‘Snowflake’ Oakleaf Hydrangea - I enjoy that shrub until late summer when all the flowers turn an ugly brown. But it’s so gorgeous the rest of the season. And I already deadheaded the dead blooms and now the foliage is turning a pretty deep burgundy.

Grace the cat - fits right in with a Fall garden…lol.

That looks like a Castor Bean plant? Very dramatic!

Lowville - glad you enjoyed your new bed this year. New beds are the best!

Some of the same plants... before they are gone.

We had some rain and they are all flopped over onto the ground but still beautiful!

Red Mum bought locally this year - hoping it comes back. Here with dark leaved Ajuga

Another NOID white fluffy looking Mum...

In past years I have touted Persicaria Golden Arrows.

Here it is on August 5th...starting to show its stuff.

And here it is in October, over 2 months later:

(It really shows itself well in the cooler temps of September and October (pre-frost of course).)

Before October ends, let me squeeze in a couple more mum photos...

Cecily - that is SO pretty! Tell me what you are growing in these two photos. Very pretty combinations and they look very natural.

The apricot mum is Sheffield. The red & yellow mums are seedlings of Sheffield (messy gardeners are sometimes rewarded with surprise seedlings).

’Bloomerang Purple’ Lilac still putting out the occasional re-bloom here and there: an unexpected treat for the senses on Halloween!

In my world Sheffield would be the pink chrysanthemum.

My Sheffields started out pink fifteen years ago... I purchased four which spread then the color changed. At a local nursery last fall I saw a mum labelled "Apricot Sheffield" which looked just like my mutants.

Rouge, has your ajanias ended up blooming yet? Mine finally fully opened up. It went through many nights in the upper 20s unscathed. Great to see bees are still around too

DAmn it @Heruga (7a NJ)! So very very pretty...especially this time of year. As teens might say "I'm tres jellie (or is it jelly?)

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6413360/looks-like-it-is-too-late-for-these-to-fully-flower#28805089

Oh I totally missed that thread. Sorry to hear it was too late. These plants sure like to wait until the last minute though. It’s the only perennial I know that grow in my zone that reliably blooms in the month of November if frost hasn’t damaged it yet, not even October!

My friend took these pics out the MET today (November 25th), in Manhattan. Not surprised by the Cyclamen but am by the Crotons!

Update: aster October Skies is still blooming... photo taken Dec 10th in northern Virginia.

Those aster flowers are amazing

Here’s an odd one: Snowdrops in bloom on 12/14 on a nearby college campus. We don’t normally see their foliage emerging until late February/early March, let alone flowers!

Those snowdrops are incredible. They must be one of the species that start blooming in fall or early winter. The foliage is different too from regular Galanthus nivalis.

Wow, I can't believe snowdrops are blooming in December! Here in Massachusetts we don't normally see them until March and sometimes not until April.

My eldest has some little Greek snowdrops, galanthus reginae-olgae which flower in late October/November. Very similar to g,nivalis but with brighter green foliage.

I've got a hellebore showing color. We may need a "December/January Flowers" post.

My ’Jacob’ hellebore is not too far from opening its buds. If it stays mild, it could happen in December yet.

‘Cinnamon Snow’ is not at that point yet, but far enough to get its buds blasted by the cold later.

A too optimistic Cyclamen coum today, and a corn flower. This is very unusual here. Anyone else have such early/late customers?

Here is an Anemone coronaria that has been blooming in my garden for the last month - they don't usually show any growth here until the springtime and normally bloom late April through May. Yesterday I saw the leaf tips of some of my daffodils showing above the ground which is a little unusual for north east Ohio.

That is very special, Jeb. Are those anemone even hardy in your zone? My mom used to have them when I grew up in the Netherlands, but I always thought they were not hardy here in what is/was the approximate equivalent of USA zone 5. They do sell the bulbs here, maybe I should try next year…

gdinieontarioz5 - Anemone coronaria are hardy in zone 5, they don't all live through a winter here but out of a dozen tubers planted many years ago about half of them have come back for me. My soil is a fertile sandy loam that drains very well and the Anemone are planted in a western exposure near the foundation of my barn which may help them return every year.

- I have tried several times to grow Anemone blanda and I don't think that they are winter hardy in zone 5, though most of the information on them claims they can be grown here successfully. Anemone blanda haven't lived through the first winter here after planting them so I have given up trying to grow those.

With the new zone map update it looks like I might be gardening in zone 6 these days, here we can have a traditional long cold snowy winter with temperatures that can be below zero Fahrenheit or one like this winter that has been relatively mild - so far!

Jeb, that is funny. I have basically amended clay soil, and Anemone blanda comes back faithfully for me, at least 15 years if not longer. My initial pink, white and blue mix has by now mostly reverted to blue, so maybe they slowly die off, but are replaced by seedlings. They do seem to move around a bit. I will now try some coronaria in the spots with the best drainage, who knows?!

October bloom, Vermont Z5: Masses of flowers from Chrysthanthemums (Sheffield--pink), Mei-Kyo (rose), Brandywine Sunrise (coral to straw yellow), 'Emperor of China' (rose to lavender prink to white); Grape Queen' (purple), 'Bolero' (tawny gold?); Aster 'Raydon's Favorite' a fountain of lavender/blue; Aster 'October Skies' more sky blue but more patchy flowers, Aster 'Woods Blue' Aster 'Purple Dome', Aster 'Bluebird'; Aconitum carmichaelii and Arendsii; Ceratostigma plumbaginoides; fall straw color of a Molinia caerulia cv. making a golden haze; Coreopsis 'Full Moon; Eupatorium coelestinum 'Cori'; Geranium 'Rozanne'; Anemones 'Honorine Jobert', 'Pamima', 'Prinz Henri' and others; Dahlias; Verbena bonariensis; Sedum 'Autumn Joy', 'Matrona' and others; Hakonechloa macra 'Albo Aurea' (ex Beth Chatto); Hemerocallis 'Autumn King', H. Wee Willie Winkee', 'H. 'Olallie Mack', H. 'Tahitian Sunrise', H. 'Sept Ember (by the end of October cold mornings are causing flowers to not open fully)', Nicotiana alata grandiflora; Hydrangea 'Bobo' (turning pink); last flowers on Acanthus hungaricus (should have cut stems down earlier); Linaria purpurea and its lavender seedlings; Leucanthemella serotina 'Herbstern' (last flowers); Calamintha nepitella ; Salvia farinacea cvs.; Agastache 'Black Adder' 'Blue Boa' and 'Poquito Dark Blue'; rebloom on hardy Salvias.

We have a south-facing hillside at 1700 feet (not a frost pocket, slope helps shed frosts), not far from the Massachusetts border. We have free-draining soil. Many of these flowers make it though frosts (not freezes) anyways. It does seem to be getting warmer over the past couple of years--less snow, earlier spring flowers, long fall bloom with great foliage plants extending color even later than before. In past (colder) years I have shaken early snowfalls off of Aster 'Raydon's Favorite', to reveal undamanged flowers--a fountain of blue (more so than 'October Skies), it is a superb garden plant. In general, if you plan for it you can have a lot of fall bloom and color (color extending with superb foliage plants such as grasses like Helictotrichon sempervirens, Heucheras, Artemisias, lamb's ears, hardy boxwoods etc. Will try to show photos in next post.

Help--would like to post photos mentioned in the above post, haven't been successful. How do I get them to appear here?

Click the Photo icon below the comments box. This will open your photo file on your device. Click the photo you wish to post. Click done. Pic will appear in the comments box. Wait until it is fully resolved (not grey). Click submit.

This one makes me crazy, both ways. I find I must have it every year. And I worry it'll die from frost before it blooms. I get maybe two weeks of blooms in October. The yellow leaves on the bottom left hand side? It's not lack of nutrients. It's "cold bit".

photos from a Vermont hillside, thanks for the tutorial on downloading photos!

Aster 'Purple Dome'

Aconitum carmichaelii (blue) with Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

Chrysanthemum 'Brandywine Sunset'

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield', aka 'Sheffield Pink' (October 27)

Geranium 'Rozanne with Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield'

Aster 'Raydon's Favorite' - a single mature plant

Chrysanthemum 'Grape Queen'

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' face-on

Chrysanthemum 'Homecoming'

Aster 'Wood's Blue' here very end of September

Hemerocallis 'Olallie Mack'

purp

Chrysanthemum 'Emperor of China'

lavender seedling of Linaria purpurea (crossed with 'Canon Went'?)

Hemerocallis 'Autumn King' after a cold morning--a bit less open

Chrysanthemum 'Mei-Kyo'

Coreopsis 'Full Moon' with Eupatorium coelestinum 'Cori' (lavender blue)

Dahlias

Dahlia 'American Dawn'

Nicotiana alata 'Lime Green' with white Nicotiana alata grandiflora (annuals, self-seeded)

un-named purple Aster from a friend,, with blue A. 'Little Carlow' below

Verbena bonariensis, annual, self-seeded

Anemone 'Serenade'

Early stage of garden development, with Aster 'Little Carlow' (light blue in background) and the friend's purple Aster, along with the low A. 'Purple Dome', dark bue Aconitum and white Anemone 'Honorine Jobert', shown with the feathery foliage of Amsonia hubrichtii turning yelow, are very colorful.

photos from a Vermont hillside, thanks for the tutorial on downloading photos!

Aster 'Purple Dome'

Aconitum carmichaelii (blue) with Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

Chrysanthemum 'Brandywine Sunset'

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield', aka 'Sheffield Pink' (October 27)

Geranium 'Rozanne with Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield'

Aster 'Raydon's Favorite' - a single mature plant

Chrysanthemum 'Grape Queen'

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' face-on

Chrysanthemum 'Homecoming'

Aster 'Wood's Blue' here very end of September

Hemerocallis 'Olallie Mack'

purp

Chrysanthemum 'Emperor of China'

lavender seedling of Linaria purpurea (crossed with 'Canon Went'?)

Hemerocallis 'Autumn King' after a cold morning--a bit less open

Chrysanthemum 'Mei-Kyo'

Coreopsis 'Full Moon' with Eupatorium coelestinum 'Cori' (lavender blue)

Dahlias

Dahlia 'American Dawn'

Nicotiana alata 'Lime Green' with white Nicotiana alata grandiflora (annuals, self-seeded)

un-named purple Aster from a friend,, with blue A. 'Little Carlow' below

Verbena bonariensis, annual, self-seeded

Anemone 'Serenade'

Early stage of garden development, with Aster 'Little Carlow' (light blue in background) and the friend's purple Aster, along with the low A. 'Purple Dome', dark bue Aconitum and white Anemone 'Honorine Jobert', shown with the feathery foliage of Amsonia hubrichtii turning yelow, are very colorful.

photos from a Vermont hillside, thanks for the tutorial on downloading photos!

Aster 'Purple Dome'

Aconitum carmichaelii (blue) with Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

Chrysanthemum 'Brandywine Sunset'

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield', aka 'Sheffield Pink' (October 27)

Geranium 'Rozanne with Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield'

Aster 'Raydon's Favorite' - a single mature plant

Chrysanthemum 'Grape Queen'

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' face-on

Chrysanthemum 'Homecoming'

Aster 'Wood's Blue' here very end of September

Hemerocallis 'Olallie Mack'

purp

Chrysanthemum 'Emperor of China'

lavender seedling of Linaria purpurea (crossed with 'Canon Went'?)

Hemerocallis 'Autumn King' after a cold morning--a bit less open

Chrysanthemum 'Mei-Kyo'

Coreopsis 'Full Moon' with Eupatorium coelestinum 'Cori' (lavender blue)

Dahlias

Dahlia 'American Dawn'

Nicotiana alata 'Lime Green' with white Nicotiana alata grandiflora (annuals, self-seeded)

un-named purple Aster from a friend,, with blue A. 'Little Carlow' below

Verbena bonariensis, annual, self-seeded

Anemone 'Serenade'

Early stage of garden development, with Aster 'Little Carlow' (light blue in background) and the friend's purple Aster, along with the low A. 'Purple Dome', dark bue Aconitum and white Anemone 'Honorine Jobert', shown with the feathery foliage of Amsonia hubrichtii turning yelow, are very colorful.

photos from a Vermont hillside, thanks for the tutorial on downloading photos!

Aster 'Purple Dome'

Aconitum carmichaelii (blue) with Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

Chrysanthemum 'Brandywine Sunset'

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield', aka 'Sheffield Pink' (October 27)

Geranium 'Rozanne with Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield'

Aster 'Raydon's Favorite' - a single mature plant

Chrysanthemum 'Grape Queen'

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' face-on

Chrysanthemum 'Homecoming'

Aster 'Wood's Blue' here very end of September

Hemerocallis 'Olallie Mack'

purp

Chrysanthemum 'Emperor of China'

lavender seedling of Linaria purpurea (crossed with 'Canon Went'?)

Hemerocallis 'Autumn King' after a cold morning--a bit less open

Chrysanthemum 'Mei-Kyo'

Coreopsis 'Full Moon' with Eupatorium coelestinum 'Cori' (lavender blue)

Dahlias

Dahlia 'American Dawn'

Nicotiana alata 'Lime Green' with white Nicotiana alata grandiflora (annuals, self-seeded)

un-named purple Aster from a friend,, with blue A. 'Little Carlow' below

Verbena bonariensis, annual, self-seeded

Anemone 'Serenade'

Early stage of garden development, with Aster 'Little Carlow' (light blue in background) and the friend's purple Aster, along with the low A. 'Purple Dome', dark bue Aconitum and white Anemone 'Honorine Jobert', shown with the feathery foliage of Amsonia hubrichtii turning yelow, are very colorful.

Well, you've certainly cracked the art of posting photos! 😂

Great pics, nice garden there you have, HU 77..

How did it post 4 times when I clicked "submit" only once? Possibly because I took too long to find the photos, and Houzx did automatic "submits" after certain intervals? Sorry!

I am quite happy to look at them four times, and more. Your pictures are quite lovely. Glad you posted them :)

I especially liked you last photo. Got any more landscape shots? Thanks!

Jeb, your Lapageria rosea is glorious! I tried it years ago, I think the indoor temperature was a bit too warm and humidity too low, it would grow a new leaf or two while others were dropping and never did end up doing anything. I think it's best for a cool greenhouse of sufficient humidity and outside for summer.

HU-777602991 ... yes, very nice photos, that last one is indeed especially wonderful!