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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY, OCTOBER 2014

Finally the gorgeous fall days have arrived. Sunny skies, dry air and a flurry of fall flowers. I'm joining our host Carol at Maydreams and the rest of the gardening world who share their October garden flowers.


Salvia Leucantha, in two shades. The purple and white and the all purple. Although I like the all purple one the best, the hummingbirds have a clear preference for the original purple and white variety.


This is a large plant which spreads rapidly and when I need to divide I plant outside the walls. Here you can see them coupled with another fall bloomer Mexican mint marigold, Tagetes lucida. Sometimes called false tarragon, mint marigold can be used in place of French tarragon.


Out in the front the golden eye, Viguera dentata,  and native lantana, Texana urticoides, are in full bloom.


Native Texas skullcap, Scutellaria wrightii, 


And blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum, among the green leaves of ruby crystal grass.


Alyssum seeded along the edges of the potager beds and Gregg's blue mist flower, Conoclinium greggii, below


The show in the sunken garden goes to the seed heads of the Ruby crystal grass, Melinus nerviglumis, caught in the morning sunlight.


A cluster of native cosmos offset by the grey-green of sage.


I love gayfeather, Liatris spicata mucronata, but wish it would't flop so.


Our fall in central Texas is about the purples and yellows.

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful Jenny! Is it possible that your Liatris is not spicata (which blooms in spring/early summer) but L. aspera or one of the other fall bloomers? I had several different species but the deer loved them as much as I did. :(

    Salvia leucantha is so wonderful, but by the time it blooms here the hummingbirds have moved on. I still love the fuzzy purple blooms though!

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    1. Thanks for the heads up on the liatris. You made me check some more and apparently this one is L. mucronata. I used to have the earlier blooming one, which was much smaller but it has disappeared. This one seeds heavily.

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  2. Beautiful!
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea

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  3. Your garden is so beautiful, as usual! I think with regard to Salvia leucantha I agree with the hummingbirds... :)

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  4. Beautiful! I love the light setting off the seed heads! I tried planting Liatris this year, but something kept chewing it down every time it made any headway. I'm not sure if I should blame the bunnies or our groundhog, as they're over in critter territory. Your salvia is so pretty! Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom day!

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    1. The first time I planted this the deer ate it. Of course they can't get to these but I plan to try to establish it outside next year.

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  5. The bright colors in your October garden are fantastic! My fall color palette peaked a couple of weeks ago - but looks like yours are still going strong!

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  6. Your Bloom Day garden pictures are beautiful. I'll have to try Tagetes lucida as an alternative to Tagetes lemmonii - even my dwarf version of the latter flops horribly. Happy GBBD, Jenny!

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  7. As you know, I am a big fan of your garden, but I am an even bigger fan of salvia leucantha. I have been trying to find it here in Spain for a while now, but to no avail. I have recently been looking on French websites, but I keep getting sidetracked by all the lovely sages... how to choose?

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  8. Oh my--your garden is so filled now with the "cooler" colors.....Love it! That Salvia is luscious--I like both versions.

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  9. I tried that liatris but the deer liked it too much. WAY too much. I'll console myself with your photos. I am a huge fan of Tagetes lucida as well, I use it in cooking fairly regularly but I think other than the flowers what I like best is how wonderful it smells whenever you brush by. If I were gardening just for the fragrance, I'd have beds filled primarily with rosemary, tagetes, and lavenders!

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  10. Oh my goodness, that looks gorgeous. And so colourful. I love the way you use plants - it looks so natural, and yet so pleasing and harmonious you know it must have been designed that way. Here in the UK, as you will know, all the colour is slowly fading (or being blown off the trees by a howling gale!)

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