Posted on by Donna

Garden Journal-Blooms of October

 

“Just before the death of flowers,
And before they are buried in snow,
There comes a festival season
When nature is all aglow.”
–   Author Unknown

The geese are moving in droves and the fall color is at peak now.  Fall is in full swing and it is another Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (GBBD) on the 15th.  With the recent warm weather and fall rains, I am astounded as to what is still blooming in the garden.  We had really cool weather a couple of weeks ago, and many flowers faded, but others came back to life.  This will continue  until the dreaded first freeze.  Even then the resilient ones will keep going.

I’ll be linking in with Carol at May Dreams Gardens and Gesine at Seepferds Garten for this Bloom Day in October.  So let’s wander the garden to see what’s going on….

 

 Veg Garden 

There is still life in the veg garden especially since I have kept it covered.  Carrots, scallions, arugula, peas and a few beans.  Lovely endive pictured above among the weeds and under the netting.  The netting has worked wonders for keeping the critters out of the veg bed.  Of course we still have tomatoes going.  Soon I will be planting garlic here.  And the new veg bed is being installed.   I already have plans for what will planted in it. 

 

These are wonderful Hatch green chiles getting ready to be roasted.  I’ll be blogging about them soon.  They are still growing strong on the patio in grow bags.

 

Meadow

The meadow is fading fast although the asters and some echinacea are still blooming.  Monarchs are few and far between.  Last week they were everywhere as evidenced by the picture here and at the beginning of the post.  Then we had a couple of frosts and they have gone for the most part.  Just a few stragglers now.

 

Pond 

 The pond is fascinating to watch as the seasons progress.  In fall it begins to clear, the algae is less and less and the water lilies recede some.

 

 I spend as much time as I can near the pond listening to the waterfall.  Soon the freezing temps will be here and the pump will be turned off for the winter.  The sound of water will cease until spring warms the water again and we welcome the first frogs and toads.

 

Perennials

Loads of perennials still going strong especially with the warm spell we had last weekend.

 

 Surprise bloom on the native hibiscus.  These are usually dinner plate size, but this late bloom is quite petite…such a cute bloomer.

 

 

 Beautiful fall crocuses blooming in the white garden.  These remind me of spring.

 

 

This Knockout Rose has become a lovely mottled white and pink.  This picture was captured just as the sun was rising and the dew was still on the bloom.  It sparkles like glitter.

 

 

Gaillardias are still blooming profusely all over the garden.  I love how you can see all the phases of the plant at once.  Every phase is beautiful from just beginning to bloom to seed heads.

 

 

I was amazed at the blooming power of borage.  It is still going strong.  It puts out flower after flower with no deadheading.  This one is glowing in the sunlight.  The pollinators are in love with this flower.  I will definitely be growing it again around my veg garden.

 

This low growing aster has tiny white flowers.  It’s called ‘Snowdrift’.  Lovely plant for lighting up the fall garden.

 

So what will GBBD hold for us here in the North East US in November?  I am holding out for any blooms that are still around.  I bet I can predict a few…

Morning light through fog on the meadow

 “There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October.” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

 


I’ll also be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday and Tina’s PicStory Weekend Flowers on Friday.  So drop by to check out all the wonderful flowers.

Hope you enjoyed my first post at Beautiful Wildlife Garden, If You Build It….  I blog the first Saturday of every month at BWG.

Please remember, to comment click on the title of the post and the page will reload with the comments section.

All content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.

 

Shameless Book Flaunt–For those that have asked my poems were published in the book, The Moment I Knew. You can order the book from the publisher Sugati Publications where more of the proceeds go to the womens’ groups chosen by the authors.  Free shipping from the publisher as well.  You can also order it from Amazon soon.  I hope you enjoy the book and I would love to hear your feedback on my poems.

 

55 Replies to “Garden Journal-Blooms of October”

  1. Donna, pretty monthly show again! The weather has been so rainy, I have been using it as an excuse to cut back much of the garden. This is a year to put behind us with the erratic weather.

    1. You said it. I had a nice weekend to weed and plant and move things, but no hacking back. I may do a few things in a couple of weeks but I am running out of time. The garden is fading fast. Not sure anything will be in bloom in a month.

  2. Donna, Beautiful photos~Fall really is a splendid time in the garden. The Monarch shots are lovely and looking at your white fall crocus has me wondering why I haven’t any this year! Have a sweet weekend. gail

    1. Thx Gail. The monarchs were such a wonderful presence in my garden this year. They posed for so many pics…I love fall crocus. Such a lovely surprise when few things are blooming. Enjoy your weekend too!!

  3. I love the colors in your garden and the small waterfalls. It is always soothing to hear water sounds in a garden. Your photo of the misty fall colors is enchanting too.

    1. Andrea I so enjoy your visits. The waterfall was a must have in our garden plan. We had a spell of warm weather with mornings filled with dew. I came out every morning I could to try and capture the beauty. That picture was one capture.

    1. Aren’t you so sweet to say so…those peppers were a labor of love and a lesson in patience and persistence. They are a blessing for learning the lesson. And they taste incredible.

    1. So glad you enjoyed the picture and poem. I particularly like that poem because it really describes October around here in my garden. Come by for a visit anytime!!

  6. What a beautiful series. I particularly love the Monarch butterflies, the rose and the morning light through the fog!!

    1. Liz I am so happy to have you visit and glad you enjoyed many of the pictures. We had some incredible weather lately that made these pictures possible.

  11. Hi Donna, You know, we’re experiencing the same thing here. The plants, despite the rain are just beautiful. The colors are so rich and lovely. Have a great weekend.

    1. Grace it is amazing how the weather is not affecting some of most hardy flowers. I am enjoying your wonderful new blog 🙂

    1. Thanks do much and so glad you could visit. Apparently borage will volunteer itself. I have seen a little of this, but I would think since it is an annual my winters may take care of it. I will have to let you know in the spring.

  14. What another pleasant journey through your pictures. Really love the one with the two butterflies – wow – you did well to capture that! And the white crocusses – haven’t heard the name before but your perspective on them really makes them look stylish and beautiful.

    1. Thank you for your wonderful comment. The monarchs were so plentiful and willing to stay put as they covered the asters it was easy to capture them in the picture. The fall crocuses are a treat. Well worth planting. You see the foliage in the spring/summer and then it dies away. You soon forget it and suddenly in fall you are blessed with beautiful flowers.

  15. What a lovey thing to have – a waterfall in your garden. The flowers are all so beautiful and the borage is something new for me and I love the strangeness of it and the bee hotel! Thanks for sharing before the winter comes.

    1. Barbie, how wonderful to have you visit. I so love your gardens. Now that you are in spring and soon into summer, I can’t wait to see what is blooming. When I designed the garden and wanted a pond, I made sure it had a waterfall so we could hear the soothing sound of water from April to November. Borage was new for me to and it certainly was a winner. Take care!!

  16. Love the fall crocus! And another one to add to the wish list – Hybiscus. Your Borage will most likely volunteer for you next year, mine certainly does! But it is always loaded with bees. You know that you too, can eat those flowers? They’re very pretty in a salad. I just acquired a nice batch of Gaillardia from our local gardening club. Really look forward to next year’s show. Your pond and meadow are so beautiful. Just love that last view of the meadow.

    1. Kathy, How wonderful to hear the borage will come back. I love it and will plant it in a few other places. I had heard that you could eat them, but had not tried. It is still flowering so I will have to give it a try. I would be happy to give any of the gaillardia (I have several different varieties) or hardy hibiscus to you. You are so close. I would love to visit your gardens some time and have you pop down. We should try and arrange a few visits between several of us NY Garden Bloggers.

  17. Great post-beautiful photos! I only see an occasional Monarch now also.–Hopefully they’ll not meet too many obstacles during their migration…

  18. Fall is such an enchanting time of the year…your capture of the fallen leaves mingled with the water lily is a pleasant visual of the transition that autumn brings. Have a great weekend Donna!

    1. Cat so glad you enjoyed the post. I have grown to love the fall instead of mourning summers passing. The pond seems to be a wonderful place to see the seasonal transitions. I do love watching the changes there. Enjoy your garden and have a great weekend. Hopefully you will have more rain. Of course we are…after all it is fall in NY.

  19. aloha donna,

    great show, i especially love the last photo of all the autumn colors, something i don’t get in my neck of the woods.

    1. Noel how wonderful to see you in my garden…so glad you enjoyed the fall blooms and color…Your dahlias are stunning…

  20. I hope you have lots of blooms in November, too. I am impressed with your Hatch chillis! I love eating them – maybe I’ll try growing them next year. I love GBBD because I get more ideas of what I need in my garden – like your beautiful autumn crocus! Lovely.

    1. Thx Holley…I love the surprise of the autumn crocus. The Hatch chiles seemed pretty easy to grow from seed of course I had to start them indoors. They are prolific in their production. Easy to roast on the grill too. I plan to post about growing and roasting them. I love them and we have had a blast eating them. Of course when I am in NM, I eat them with everything.

    1. My pond is my sanctuary as is my meadow. I will be sad to hear the silence of the waterfall soon as we will be pulling the pump by Nov 1 at the latest as the pond begins its freeze or go into hibernation. Happy GBBd Pam!!

  22. Donna, so much more going on in your garden compared to ours. Great pictures of the Monarchs which I don’t think are in the UK. I see a lot of talk about knock out Roses, I wonder if this is the ones which are named Flower carpet Roses over here, I will have to go check it out. Alistair

    1. Alistair the garden is still pumping out blooms but we shall see for November. Ever the teacher I looked up monarch butterflies and they are occasionally in the UK. This is a great site…
      http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=plexippus

      I think the Knockouts are their own brand and Carpet Roses more of a similar yet ground cover type of rose. Let me know. I purchased 2 Hypericum perforatums which are hardy to my zone 5 and a native plant. They are the shrub variety and I am hopeful to see these shrubs grow in my garden next year.

    1. Thx Rosie. So glad you enjoyed the post. The monarchs were such a great visitor this year. I had so many opportunities to capture them but this fall was the best. They seemed to be one with us and not bothered by our presence which helped with picture taking.

    1. I am so glad you stuck with it so you could comment. I think my favorites this fall have been the aster and the peppers. I just pick about 5 more peppers and there are still a few growing and it is mid Oct in a zone 5 garden in NY. I am thrilled!! Glad you stopped by Nell Jean!!

  25. I struggled to find the comments, too. Hurray for Hatch green chile. I had dinner with some friends Thursday and they gave a huge freshly roasted ziplock bag full of them (still hot). I look forward to seeing your post on them.

    1. Glad you also found the comments. WordPress is a bit different with comments. I may have to put the sentence about how to comment right after the last picture. Green chiles are an amazing food. After we roast them, we cool them in a ziplock too…they peel so easily then.

    1. Scott so glad you enjoyed it. You must remember to plant borage. You will not be sorry. I am sure I will have extra seeds if you want some.

  27. Dear Donna,
    sorry, I´m late!
    Thanks for supporting Blogger Blüten!
    What a beautiful post, but it makes me a bit melancholic!
    Fall, winter- and, finally, SPRING, yeahhhh!

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