At last! Temperatures are moderating and fall is on the way. It is not just the gardener who is celebrating the advent of the new season but the garden plants are too.
All that is except the plumeria. A few nights of temperatures in the 50s and it is already beginning to cry "I'm out of here" Shortening days mean the plant starts to cut back on food production, the leaves turn yellow as the supply of food is reduced. The leaf forms an abscission layer and eventually falls off.
Every day new leaves fall and soon it will be time to move the plant into the garage. During the winter it will receive no water and will go completely dormant. Because the plants are so large I plan to do some pruning before I move them which will make the job a lot easier.
Flower colors become more vibrant as with the native orange lantana, Lantana horrida. And the award winning David Austin rose, Rosa 'Molineaux', blooming again for the first time in months. This shrub rose is a repeat bloomer and named for David Austin's favorite soccer team.
There are lots of flowers that are repeat blooming such as the Verbena, Verbena bonariensis whose lanky growth was cut back to the ground a few weeks ago.
Another repeat bloomer is the soft leaf yucca, Yucca recurvifolia, which the deer have failed to find.
It has become quite a free-for-all of flowering plants in the sunken garden with Perovskia, white Salvia greggii, mealy blue sage, Salvia farinacea, frost weed Verbesina virginica, and Mexican bush sage, Salvia leucantha.
But there are some plants that bloom only in the fall. They wait patiently for the shorter days before they begin to bloom. Notable in my garden is the Philippine violet, Barleria cristata.
It blooms best when given plenty of sun and is one of my favorite fall bloomers because it attracts neither bugs nor disease. It dies to the ground during a normal winter and shifts a little from its original positions as the center often becomes very woody and dies out.
And finally the bush clover, Lespedeza thunbergii, waits patiently to bloom in the partly shaded border of the English garden.
There are lots of short day plants which will bloom over the next few months including chrysanthemums, poinsettias, Christmas cactus. Make sure the later receives at least 15 hours of darkness from now on.
Happy Fall Y'all.
Your garden is amazing in all seasons. I'm sure it's a relief to have the cooler temperatures. All the plants are beautiful, but that Yucca with the yellow flowers--wow!
ReplyDeleteI'm envious of those cooler days that bring a second spring of sorts. We're still riding a weather roller-coaster here - the heat abated today and we expect it to be cooler through Saturday before the temperatures go up again next week. I look forward to seeing my Barleria (B. obtusa) bloom but that doesn't usually happen until the end of October at earliest. Unfortunately, mine doesn't die back in winter so a hard pruning of existing plants and a watchful eye for seedlings is required to stop it from taking over.
ReplyDeleteI must say you have a beautiful garden .Loved the Yucca and Barleria blooms.It would be my pleasure if you join my link up party related to gardening here at http://jaipurgardening.blogspot.com/2020/10/garden-affair-succulents-world.html
ReplyDeleteHappy Fall Jenny! Your garden is looking fantastic and lovely to see it in a different season to when we were there. I've just found out the Perovskia has been reclassified as a Salvia! For once this is easier to remember in view of it's common name, unlike some of the recent changes. Good to see you and David looking so well via a social media post the other day x
ReplyDeleteAloha,
ReplyDeleteVery interested to learn how you will go about trimming your plumeria before overwintering in the garage.
Cheers, y
As I am moving indoors a lot of my tender plants that I see growing in your garden I had a chuckle over you moving in your plumaria. Even in balmy Texas tender plants are still grown. Something about the Fall light makes the garden glow. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteThe plumeria are a big favorite on my street in SoCal, in fact there's one just outside the southeast fence corner. Fall is gorgeous in your garden, Jenny!
ReplyDeleteYour autumn garden is beautiful and I especially love the Philippine violets. They are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks great! Hooray for autumn.
ReplyDelete