Bloom Day - October 2016

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, is always a highlight of the month, although I admit I'm having difficulty getting excited about my garden at the moment. However, perhaps my outlook has just been blighted by excessive exposure to the political news.  I look forward to both the promise of rain (possibly as early as tonight!), as well as the conclusion of the US presidential campaign.

October is a transitional period.  Nighttime temperatures are consistently cooler and we also get some of what we define as fall-like daytime temperatures, which generally means readings in the low 70s and high 60s Fahrenheit (19 to 23 Celsius).  However, cooler days are periodically broken by warm spells generated by our notorious Santa Ana winds.  Next week, for example, we expect temperatures to soar back up near 90F (32C).

But to focus on the positive, here's what's looking good at the moment, starting with the plants that began their annual bloom cycle just this month:

On the left, the yellow blooms of Senna bicapsularis, a host plant for sulphur butterflies, can be seen growing against the fence dividing our property from that of our neighbor on the north side.  (The yellow Brugmansia next to it is growing on the neighbor's side.)  A closer view of the Senna's flowers can be seen on the right.

Blooms began appearing on Barleria obtusa (aka bush violet) just this week

I added this Symphyotrichum chilensis (aka Pacific aster or California aster) to the garden last month in the hope that it'll fare better in my garden than other asters have

Verbena bonariensis surfaced in the local garden center last month and I added 2 plants to my garden.  The plant has a reputation for self-seeding but, when I previously planted it in the driest area of my garden, that didn't happen.  I'm hoping my backyard border is more hospitable.

Plectranthus ecklonii (left) started blooming late last month and is still going strong, although the plant is only a fraction of the 6 foot height it should reach at maturity.  Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Wonder' (which I've previously mislabeled as 'Zulu Warrior') had a tough summer but it's still producing flowers on schedule this month.

Following these are the dependable plants that just keep on giving:

The pale pink Eustoma grandiflorum dominated my backyard border this summer but, while those plants have mostly faded away, the cherry pink, yellow and blue varieties are still producing flowers

Grevillea 'Superb' is by far the bloomiest Grevillea in my garden.  The largest of my plants, shown here, has produced flowers all year but it's particularly flowerful this month.

Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' runs a distant second in flower production.  It always has at least a couple of flowers but hasn't produced the generous bounty that 'Superb' does.

The Pennisetums consistently bloom from late summer through fall.  Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' is on the left and P. 'Fireworks' is on the right.

The bloom stalks on Achillea 'Moonshine' are shorter than those the plants produced in late spring and summer but the flowers keep on coming.  A few stems of A. 'Moon Dust' can be seen behind 'Moonshine' on the upper left.

The 'Profusion' Zinnias I planted from plugs never got very tall but they're still going strong.  I've seeded sweet peas along the wire supports in this raised planter and I'm hoping that the Zinnias will offer protection from the raccoons until the seedlings have gotten a good start.  The raccoons destroyed the seedlings from 2 sowings of sweet pea seeds last year.

Other stalwart performers in my garden include, from the left, Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink', Gaura lindheimeri 'Snow Fountain', and Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard'

Next up are the plants that took me by surprise:

I've bemoaned the fact that the Anemone hupehensis var. japonica that came with my garden have failed to make an appearance for years but a few stems of white and pink flowers appeared this month to surprise me - the pink form is shown on the left.  Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' (middle photo) made a surprise reappearance after a lackluster spring showing.  Salvia lanceolata (aka Rocky Mountain Sage, right) also unexpectedly produced another round of blooms.

I'll end with a collage of the best of the rest:

Clockwise from the upper left are: Osteospermum '4D Silver', Aloe 'Rooikappie', Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Peach', Gomphrena globosa 'Fireworks', Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Grevillea 'Pink Midget', Lobelia valida, and Trichostema 'Midnight Magic'

Visit Carol for a view of what's flowering elsewhere in the country and around the world.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party