Temperatures have finally come down here and, in our view, it's been cold for more than a week now (even if much of the country wouldn't consider daytime temperatures in the upper 50s-low 60sF "cold"). With the exception of a single flower, the
Dahlias and
Zinnias are gone. There are still flowers but they're harder to find and sparser in number. I'll start with the plants providing the most prominent splashes of color.
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Barleria obtusa (aka bush violet) was just getting started in mid-October. It peaked earlier this month and is already waning but there's still a plentiful supply of blue flowers in both the front and back garden.
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Senna bicapsularis is a reliable fall bloomer. I cut the plant back hard early in the year hoping it might bloom on shorter stems but, once again, it's reaching for the sky.
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The Australian fuchsias (Correa) were starting to bloom last month but they've really got their bloom on now. Clockwise from the upper left are Correa 'Ivory Bells', 'Pink Eyre', 'Sister Dawn', and 'Wyn's Wonder'.
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Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' got hacked back by an overly exuberant gardener a few months ago but it's coming back. The gardeners usually restrict their brief visits to trimming hedges and blowing leaves so I don't know what compelled the serious haircut this plant received.
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I can always count on the large-flowered Grevilleas to continue blooming while everything else settles down for a nap. The two large shrubs on the left are 'Superb' (top) and 'Peaches & Cream' (bottom). 'Ned Kelly' (lower right) is less prolific but still a year-round bloomer.
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Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' and its cousins are still going strong
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Since our trees were trimmed, the Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy) is getting more sun and will hopefully produce more flowers over the next several weeks
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The garden offered a couple of surprises this month.
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Dahlia 'Rancho' produced its first, and probably last, bloom last week. It's pretty but 6 months to obtain a single bloom isn't worth the investment.
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Our Xylosma congestum hedges all produced these blooms after their last shearing. The bees have swarmed them.
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There are a few new blooms as well.
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The noID Camellia sasanqua inherited with the garden have just begun flowering. Unfortunately, hybrid Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection' lost a lot of its buds during our late heat spells but new buds are forming so I hope I'll see some of those flowers in the new year.
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Now that the heat is off, the Gazanias are blooming again |
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Our periodic flashes of hot weather usually take a toll on Violas here but I still can't resist planting a few every year
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There's a little of this and a little of that scattered elsewhere in the garden. Here's the rest, sorted as usual by color.
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Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), Brachyscome 'Brasco Violet', Leucophyllum laevigatum, Polygala myrtifolia, noID Osteospermum, Pandorea jasminoides, noID Scaevola, and Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic'
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Clockwise from the upper left: Arctotis 'Pink Sugar', Cuphea 'Honeybells' C. 'Starfire Pink', Eustoma grandiflorum, Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Osteospermum 'Berry White', Penstemon mexicali 'Mini Red Bells' and Pentas lanceolata
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Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum 'Yellow Beauty', Achillea 'Moonshine', Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Lantana 'Lucky Orange', Leonotis leonurus, Osteospermum 'Sunshine Beauty', and Zauschneria californica
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All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
