Funny how things are different everywhere floral. I've been hoping for rain.

Beautiful mums PM2!

:)

Dee

Those are gorgeous @prairiemoon2 z6b MA. Those "pom pom" style mums always make me smile. And clearly you have had no issues overwintering it?

@diggerdee zone 6 CT, I love "triloba" but where I am it basically finished blooming maybe 2 weeks ago ie late September (but it also started flowering earlier than usual).

We have it in an area where I encourage it to run rampant.

Try to see if you can find this variation of triloba called "Prairie Glow".

https://whperron.com/en/product/coneflower-prairie-glow/

Rouge, that is Chrysanthemum 'Grandchild' from Bluestone Perennials. I bought it in 2009 with a few others. So it's definitely hardy.here in zone 6 and I would assume that I've had a few winters over that time where temps might have been more zone 5 than zone 6. And we've had a lot of winters over that tme with little snow cover, which would be harder on the plant.

I was almost ready to shovel prune it, because it was not performing as well as the others. It must have known I was thinking that because this year, all of a sudden it decided to change my mind....lol.

'Grandchild' @ Bluestone Perennials

(Waiting to see Heruga's ajania...).

No way PM2!! I grew Grandchild and it did NOT look like THAT! Wow guess I was doing something wrong lol.

Now THAT's a callicarpa, Heruga! Not like my sad little Pearl Glams. They have one more year to do something and then they're outta here!

rouge I've never seen those bi-colored triloba. I will have to look into them. Thanks!

:)

Dee

Monkshood happening these days:

(Waiting to see Heruga's ajania...).

Me too!

We have one long held specimen permanently in a container which will not be in bloom until November. I love this plant.

Dee, then it had to be you that I had a conversation wtih about 'Grandchild' and we were both saying it was not performing well. Mine has just limped along from one year to the next, I have no idea why it did so well this year. So it has a reprieve and will be on probation for next year. lol

Here’s a few things from me:
Agastache Morello & Lemon Drop Echinacea, feather reed grass(?), Lemon Lace Sambucus, Polycodon Grantifluros, Astra Blue—these would still be blooming strong but I got tired of the dead heading, lol

debra

Love all the pictures, especially that balloonflower! I've always wanted those but they don't seem happy here.

Here's from yesterday : (today I woke up to a trace of snow and must get my tulips in!)

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA, your Chrysanthemum 'Grandchild' is adorable. My big Purple Wave is about to bloom

Roses in October. Perfume Factory

Top Cream rose

Reminiscent Pink rose

Mexican Sage

Pineapple sage starting blooming

Dee - that ‘Big Blue’ Salvia, really is big.

Rouge - That’s a big stand of Monkshood which I have not been able to grow…I’d love another close up photo. Are those white and purple?

Heruga - Persimmons? Do you have to be in zone 7 or warmer to grow those? What made you decide to grow them? How do they taste?

Debra - Are those grasses ‘Hamelin’? That balloon flower is such a vivid blue/purple!

Lat62 - Is that Cranesbill foliage in the 1st photo? Pretty fall color.

FANewbie - Hope you will post ‘Purple Wave’ when it blooms. I enjoy roses in October too. Yours are very pretty. The ‘Top Cream’ reminds me of my New Dawn that I lost last year. I have about a dozen flowers on ‘Beverly’ right now. The sun was in my eyes so the photo's a little fuzzy, but there's another half dozen on the other side. And with these cool nights, the flowers are lasting on the bush longer. I just pulled and tossed two Pineapple sage that never bloomed. [g]

Hey @prairiemoon2 z6b MA here is a picture up close of the "Bicolor" variety:

Wow, my Astra Blue balloon flowers bloom waaay earlier and are long gone.

lat62 love the color on that geranium foliage. Beautiful! Forever, your roses are lovely. I especially love the Top Cream.

I always forget to take picture of my monkshood. I also always forget to prop it up somehow lol, so it's always flopping. But I love the deep color.

:)

Dee

Prairiemoon, I believe you are correct! The grass is Hamelin…..thanks for reminding me! And because I see your hydrangea, I’m going to post a picture of my tree. Unfortunately I didn’t keep it well watered through the extended dry period we still are having and the top flowers burned. Live and learn!!

debra

Prariemoon, the pure species persimmons are naturally only hardy to zone 7 but they made some hardier(zone 6) cultivars like the Jiro varieties, which is the one I have. Our love for this fruit and also the growing of this tree has been passed on for generations-my great grandparents, grandparents, my dad and now me. It tastes like sweet yam with a touch of honey. Very mild yet refreshing.

Rouge, that Bicolor is quite different. I think I’ve only seen the deep blue and the white. Pretty!

Debra, your Hydrangea tree is stunning. I just love the shape of it and the way the branches stay erect and then gently hang down just enough along the edge. And I can’t see any burnt flowers. Looks the way it should this time of year. Nice.

Heruga - I love to hear that kind of a story behind something someone is growing in their garden. Four generations and I’m sure you plan on passing it on. Such a connection with previous generations and future generations. Are they difficult to grow or have any pests or diseases you contend with?

Prariemoon, yup it’s very special to me and I hope it can keep going! They aren’t particularly finicky(drought and flood resistant) as long as the winters don’t get so brutal but I’ve got alot of scale on them this year. Can’t do anything about it though unfortunately because I’m keeping it organic. Also requires annual pruning.

Heruga, It seems like winters are getting milder so that should be a good thing. I grow organically too. I had scale on a very large mature Blue Holly bush and it's very dense, so it must have been developing for quite awhile before I noticed it. I almost gave up on it and had it dug out until I got a price to do it. [g] So I decided to give it a shot and just prune all the scale off it that I could see. It was a severe pruning job, but 3 years later, it has come back fine. I didn't see what other option I had. I know there are some oils you can spray on it that are organic but I hadn't heard how successful that was, so I went for the pruning instead. I hope you can mangae it and keep it going.

Is there a chance you can propagate it, in case you lose it?

@djacob Z6a SE WI, very handsome hydrangea tree!
@prairiemoon2 z6b MA, I love Beverly too. It is clean, blooms a lot, with sweet fragrance. Yours is lovely

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a) This is the first year I grow Monkshood, and I absolutely like it. Mine started blooming a month ago and still looks good today

Prariemoon, I may actually try oil early next season. It’s not the biggest tree yet so application shoul be manageable and fruits don’t form until after september so I’ll do it before it does. Good to hear about your holly, they rejuvenate well so that was a good decision you made to get rid of the scales.

My persimmons are grafted onto the American persimmon rootstock, but I don’t graft. Cuttings are also possible but there are many more benefits to growing a grafted persimmon such as fruiting time and adaptability to native soil conditions. For seed propagation, seedlings will turn out to be pure diospyros kaki species which is naturally only hardy to zone 7. My grandma(was also in NJ) actually grew one from seed from the fruit she ate and it grew for 12 years until one winter killed it..

Heruga, you’re right, Hollies are amazing the way they rejuvenate. This particular shrub is a blue holly male and it has grown higher than the gutters on my Cape. It’s very vigorous. Of course, I broke the garden rule not to remove more than a 1/3 in one pruning, so I guess that rule doesn’t apply across the board.

In your situation, it sounds like a good idea to try the oil. You’ll have to let us know how that works out. I always love to hear experiences with different solutions.

It makes sense that your tree is grafted and benefits in the ways you need. I’m surprised that they don’t fruit until after September. When do you harvest them? So apples are harvested in the fall, but I thought a Persimmon was a soft fruit?

Grafting would be a challenge, but growing from seed might be worthwhile, because our winters are getting warmer. Warmer than your grandmother’s winters.

Debra, That's nice you have a Beverly too. I am very happy with mine. Has it all, the health, vigor, fragrance and repeat. How tall does yours grow?

It's great you have Monkshood still blooming. I was sad for the bees yesterday because there's very little out there right now for them. My asters are done, the sedums are done, all I really have left are the Mums and some of those have centers but a couple are the cushion mums, which they seem to explore only to be disappointed.

Such gorgeous plants everyone! My season is just about over but there are bits of blooms on a few things not worth showing.

Rudbeckia triloba still putting out a nice showing. Dee we have to love these cheery plants!

Miscanthus 'Strictus' a bit rain battered but grateful for it. Monkshood is blooming but the foliage is showing signs of how dry it has been.

Prairiemoon, sorry I meant they ripen in the fall. In fact I just picked 6 of them. They really start to form fruit in June so yea I'd have to complete my applications by then. I'll let you know how it .does next year :) And you're right, we all just got bumped a zone so I'm zone 7b now so own root persimmons may totally be possible now. This will be an interesting experiment, I may try taking the seed from the ones I just harvested and grow it.

I love monkshoods but can't get monkshood to stay alive until bloom in my property. I had 2 aconitums japonicums and 1 aconitum sachalinense which all dies back by August.

Peren.all, I love the photos of your property with all the space you

have to allow plants to grow the way they want to. Masses of plants, nice.

Heruga, Yes, that makes more sense that they ripen in the Fall.

I love experiments and will look forward to hearing about yours!

I tried Aconitum too and it never came back after the 2nd season.

I have one or two 'stragglers each year of Allium thunbergii ‘Ozawa’

Peren.all, I love the photos of your property with all the space you

Ditto @prairiemoon2 z6b MA

My ajanias likely won’t bloom until November. They are floppy too and don’t look the greatest but I’ll see how they look when they bloom. Next year I def need to cut it back midseasom. Meanwhile here is my trycirtis hirta.

pm & rouge thank you! Heruga the squirrels or chipmunks destroyed my Tricyrtis , I really need to replace it.

Peren.all, oh how so? They like digging up the rhizomes?

Yes Heruga they ate every rhizome, The area was a churned up mess. They move Lilium bulbs but too tend to be quite tidy about it.

So I posted this to the "old tag" thread, but I got such a kick out of it I wanted to post it here too, because honestly, it was the highlight of my day at least, if not October lol.

I was emptying some old pots today and saw a tag in one of them. Pulled it out and read it:

Too funny! This must have been a plant swap plant - this isn't my writing and I don't use metal blinds for tags. I must have taken a chance on this mystery pot lol - too bad I can't remember what it turned out to be!

:)

Dee

Dee, that is a funny tag! lol

Well...more Mums are open now and that is the last of them. The asters have gone by and not much else blooming except for the Borage and some Dill.

Such lovely plants and so beautifully combined pm!

Lush and glowing, Prairie...I love the low autumnal sun with those colours and textures. Annoyingly (cos no pics), this is often a really great time in my house garden, as the late salvias are absolutely gleaming. A new 'Phyllis Fancy' has been outstanding, currently in full arching bloom, threading through a deep blue salvia corrugata and a dark red figwort (Phygelius), while another new salvia, subrotunda, is definitely a keeper. The winter clematis is filled with buds (although the leaves always look less desirable, they will be hidden by swags of ivory bells in another month. Lots of green still, enlivened by sparks of crimson and orange (late diascias, fuchsia and single dahlias).

I am now completely phone/camera less but hope lives eternal that photos will surely, sometime be in my future.

Thank you Peren.all and HU-6. I moved a number of Mums around last year and I like the combos better. I do see some gaps that are not in the photos and want to actually add at least 2-3 more Mums to make it more symmetrical. Happy as I am with it this year, I always seem to want to tweak it…lol.

I love this time of year, not quite as much as the spring, but there is something about the light. I went out later after I took those photos and the light was again, so different, just after the sun went down and the autumn colors of the garden with that low light really caught my attention. And the fading colors change every day. I don’t like to see the garden after everything is done. I really wish we had snow and it stuck around until spring. I know, I’m soft in the head…lol.

I realized the past two days, that the bees are actually using the cushion mums. They are seeming to get something from the center of the flowers and the cushion mums have been covered with bees. I bought single blooms specifically for the bees and so now they have both.

HU-6, your garden sounds like you are loving it and really a gardener without a camera?! That shouldn’t happen!!

Next year I def need to cut it back midseasom.

I get you @Heruga (7a NJ),

Last season I cut my singleton, permanently potted Ajania hoping to stop the flop later in the year. But for my hardiness zone it seems tricky to get just right the time for the cut back for this already late blooming plant. And so in 2023, with the chop back, it bloomed too late as snow took it down before it fully flowered. Bitten once, I have left it alone this season.

It wont reach its peak till into November. Here it is as of today

Heruga, you being in a zone 7 gives you more room for error for a "Chelsea Chopped" Ajania. Yup. be sure to post pics,

Rouge, that is quite impressive especially considering its in a pot. You are really good at growing perennials in pots. Not sure how heavy it is but you could always bring it inside a garage or somewhere sheltered if you expect frost too right? Mine looks nothing like yours, actually I'm a little embarassed to show mine now. Aside from the flopping, the wilt seems like it finally reached to my rock garden and my 2 ajanias in the back are showing signs of it. Plants start budding for flowers, they wilt, stems slowly wilt and die. My siberian yarrow right next to it is doing the same thing. So yea I'm really not sure I want to post pics of my ajanias this year.

From Spring to late Fall, good old Corydalis lutea is always good for some colour.

Here is some yesterday:

Well this is the best shot I was able to take for my ajania. The front one looks ok so far and luckily it covers my other 2 ajanias(mostly) behind it. Those 2 are looking horrendous. It would probably be in full bloom within 2 weeks but posting for this October thread.

Excellent picture @Heruga (7a NJ). Such a wonderful late Fall plant.

(Mine wont be as advanced as yours till probably mid November).

Not sure how heavy it is but you could always bring it inside a garage or somewhere sheltered if you expect frost too right?

I could move it closer to the house but frost isnt the issue as they are very cold hardy. It is the possibility of snow in November that will splay the plant and with that cold, kill it.

Thanks rouge. It is! Actually the latest plant to bloom in my garden. I've had my ajania blooms completely zapped the one year(different property) we had an early frost. I think it went under 25 F. But anything above that the buds keep going unscathed. But mine is in a sheltered location in full sun so there is a lot of retained heat. Good luck to yours!

Has anyone mentioned how well mandevillas do in cooler weather? I've stopped trying to grow pentunias in favor now of mandevillas. They remain fresh looking until a hard frost takes them out.

And I really like the late season show of the monkshood. All the local monkshoods have yellowing leaves this year. It might be the result of a dry summer. I hope my monkhood plants really spread next year.

Happy Halloween everybody, we are getting our second foot of snow today !

Over and out for my garden :))

Incredible @lat62...definitely an October Highlight!

Blimey! I garden at lat52...and my sheltered home garden still looks untouched by the seasonal changes...although the predominant colour is now green.

On the (much more exposed) allotment, only the gauras, gaillardia and salvias are blooming. I have just started to pull the summer annuals (callistephus, tithonia et al) and cut back the collapsed grasses. Nothing much withstands the damp and windy winter although I am more inclined to delay clear-up until spring, I never really get to experience the sorts of scene beloved by winter photographers.

How long will your garden be out of action, lat? Can you grow alpines in troughs and containers...or do you turn to completely different interests during the dark season. What are your daylight hours like? It has just flipped onto daylight saving here...so twilight at 5 oclock...and creeping as early as 3.30/4pm by the solstice. Time to start on the vitamin D.

I just got up to take my vitamin d, thanks for the reminder! And thanks for asking - at solstice, we see sunset at 3:45 but it's a long twilight with wonderful color in the southwestern sky. It can be torture getting up for school and work but those days are behind me now, so if I'm in bed until 9 am or slater it's fabulous because it's such a cozy feeling getting up that late and still watching the sunrise an hour later- loving the word hygge that I learned a few years ago - whether it's tv or a book or friends stopping over, I like to stay up late and sleep late as opposed to summer burning the candle at both ends. I think we'll have daylight savings this weekend and that means darker earlier, not really looking forward to that and I wish we would just get rid of that - it's especially hard in the spring when it's dark again in the morning after getting used to sunrise at the 'right' time. And getting out in the best sunlight hours from say noon to 2 pm is essential and helps me from getting 'SAD'. My winter camping and mountain backcountry skiing days are behind me but they afford wonderful memories and a sense of belonging here.

A little bit of gardening happens indoors - I'll stratify seeds soon and I received two oriental poppy roots in the mail too late to get them out so I'll try to keep those alive - and some houseplants - my 'christmas?' cactus are in nice bloom right now. I do some gardening under lights usually not until after the holidays. I have herbs to try to keep alive, that's been hit or miss. I do enjoy the respite from the constant weeding and the feeling my garden is 'unkempt' . Snow begins to melt allowing gardening to begin in April, putting out seeds and watching crocus bloom out of the frozen ground.

This year we are determined to keep our firepit shoveled out and do some nice winter barbecues - nothing like a warm fire and dark winter sky - we have a new breeo grill I'm looking forward to cooking on and I love the gazing at the night sky all winter , and cross country skiing is very fun with an apres' ski beer from one of our great microbreweries.

Sorry if I went on too long, was fun to think about why I love winter in Alaska!

A great reply @lat62..thank you.

Is this amount of snow you have already received usual or 'ahead of schedule'?

This much this early is unusual but the last 2 winters have been heavy snow years so maybe that is our new normal. I read in the paper that this is a record for October, barely edging out 1983 which is the year I moved here.

I found the page on the weather service that shows our current accumulation at 19 inches.

Wow, and to think it was 80 degrees yesterday and today here in southern CT. Wild. Temps are expected to go down to mid-fifties over the weekend, but honestly, that is even too warm for November here. Or, it was. Who knows anymore?

Nice post lat!

:)

Dee