Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - October 2010

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A few more things still flowering outside this fall Bloom Day. This may be the last outdoor Bloom Day until next March, but that will depend entirely on the weather. If it's like last year I may still have some plants flowering in mid-November but we've already had a few light frosts. We'll have to see how that goes though.

But this month... There's quite a bit that's still going. Sure there's a lot the same as I had flowering in September but it's still nice to have this much still going in the garden.



My Pink Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) is still going strong. I'd never even noticed the way it branches and flowers lower on the stems. I wouldn't have noticed either but I was chopping it back to make room for my Rhododendron. By the time the main flower stalk has finished though so have most of the side shoots. I think it's more "Oh that's interesting" than anything practical. The flowers are actually kind of ugly strange. There's not that much else that's as reliable for fall flowers though and the leaves are actually a very nice dark glossy green.


This little Pansy seedling has popped up on my patio and (other than being eaten by earwigs) is doing well. Of particular note is that this seedling is identical to its parent. I need to try to collect some seeds from it for next spring.


This volunteer Morning Glory comes from my neighbours yard and is growing through and around my Honeysuckle. The Honeysuckle's still flowering with lots of buds to open, and I know there's at least one open today (I can smell it) but couldn't see it for a picture today. It's nice though because by the time this has started to flower the Honeysuckle is mostly finished with only the odd bloom here and there.


And because I love it so much here's my Red Rose again, this time with the seeds of my Miscanthus 'Little Kitten' - the smallest Miscanthus I've ever heard of.

Also still flowering in my garden but not pictured is my Toadlily (Tricyrtis hirta 'Tojen', Sedum 'Lynda Windsor', there's one or two flowers on both my Clematis 'Rebecca' and my Hall's Honeysuckle and just missing Bloom Day are my Mystery Aloe (x Haworthia?) and Echeveria, both of which have moved inside the house for the winter. Plenty of African Violets and the like too, but maybe we'll be looking at more of those next month?

Outdoor Plants at the Toronto Zoo

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Many of the outdoor plantings at the Zoo don't really take off until around this time of year. Here are a few pictures I took yesterday.



Some sort of Pennesetum, possibly 'Little Bunny'.


Large Castor Bean plants outside the front gate, along with large Sunflowers, large Cannas, and really nice "annual" Fountain Grass.


Lobelia cardinalis


Probably Asclepias curassavica?


Natural wooded area near an unnatural waterfall near the Mayan Temple display.


Some sort of Miscanthus, even more of these will start to really put on a show as we get later into September.

Helictotrichon sempervirens (finally) flowering

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Helictotrichon sempervirens

I've had my Blue Oat Grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens) for maybe 6 years now? It's always been very nice, and blue, and evergreen but has not once flowered. It has moved around the yard a time or two and that may have something to do with it. It hasn't moved recently and is apparently now well established. It is making its first show a big one too, 30+ gracefully arching flower spikes that catch the light beautifully against when seen against a dark background and move gently in any breeze.

This grass looks best as a specimen, surrounded by lower growing plants where it can be appreciated fully.

Hakonechloa macra 'Fubuki'

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Joseph posted a link to a page about Hakonechloa macra 'Fubuki' (Japanese for "Snow Storm") and wow I need it. I'm not sure if any of our suppliers will be growing it (this year at least) because none of them mentioned it but I guess I could get lucky.

It's a fantastic alternative to the more common yellow and green forms or (shudder) the all gold type. In other pictures it seems to be more of a soft cream colour rather than a pure white. I think I like that better.

If I am able to get my hands on it you'll definitely be seeing some pictures.

Now where to put it...

Fall highlights

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Mostly the classics here. I may have missed the boat on some of the less common ones which have already dropped their leaves - I'll see what I can do for something more interesting for another post.



Spirea betulifolia 'Thor'

'Thor' Spirea is a fantastic plant. Grows about 24" tall by 24-36" wide, white flowers on moderately large blue green leaves through the summer turning intense orange/red in the fall. Similar but larger is Spiraea x media Snow Storm™ - also has white flowers on blue green leaves but turns slightly more purple in the fall but gets around 3-4' tall, 4' wide. Probably my prefered spirea but with limited space 'Thor' is an easy alternative.



Acer sp.

Honestly haven't taken a close enough look at this tree to figure out what type of maple it is... I'll basically though just use this space to say that if you want a maple it's not a Norway Maple! Here at least they rarely get any fall colour to speak of (sometimes yellow-brown) and are always plagued by Tar Spot. Instead look for a nice Acer rubrum cultivar, Acer x freemanii 'Autumn Blaze' is always stunning, or Acer saccharum for a slower growing but also beautiful tree.



Miscanthus sinensis 'Graziella' & Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'



Miscanthus sinensis 'Huron Sunrise'

Ornamental grasses are not only great in fall but some such as Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' are really nice during the summer as well. Most will look good through the winter as well. My Miscanthus purpurascens did not turn red last year or this year or I'd love to say it's nice but so far it's been a disappointment. Nicest Miscanthus in my books probably goes to 'Graziella' for nicest texture, 'Morning Light' wins for best leaves in general having a similar texture to 'Graziella' but with white margins on the narrow leaf but has been moderatly slow to establish and has not yet flowered this year (the flowers are very nice on it so I wish it would bloom!), 'Huron Sunrise' is my favourite for flower colour, though there are many others with similar colours. Mostly I'm just not a fan of Zebra-type or broad leaved variegated Miscanthus cultivars ('Cabaret' etc).



Sedum

Not sure which one this is. Don't really care. They're generally nice and new varieties are popping up all the time. I use them in landscaping but don't know that I could dedicate that much space to one... Maybe a more dwarf purple leaf one like 'Xenox' (I've grown and really like this one!). Biggest thing I like about them is that unlike some of the fall plants like the hot season grasses Sedum will be one of the first plants growing in the spring.