Wednesday, October 15, 2008

October Bloom Day...and up here there are plenty of things blooming! The fall color on the trees, for instance...looks as pretty as any flower I've ever seen. My commute doesn't seem long at all right now for sure.My porcelain vine has only a couple berries left after producing a lot of them, I think that means the birds have officially discovered their location. The 'Purple Pimento' peppers are looking lonely without their "host plant" being alive..sad but true: frost has already visited....
....dwarf papyrus sure noticed! I gotta move these plants and the fish indoors pronto!
This Bald Cypress has some nice color to its' needles as well...
...but the most "living color" is still in my annuals that are protected by the eaves and soffit...

...blooming along like rock stars!
Ah yes, but this frosty landscape was the scene a couple weeks ago, and after a brief reprieve it'll be back with a vengence soon enough... ...but my Wafer Ash doesn't look too worried. I'm afraid it should be though, they've discovered the Emerald Ash Borer in Wisconsin!
It would be a real bummer if he gets infested too, since his yellow fall color fits in so nicely with the Big Bluestem and asparagus ferns in my fall landscape.

Spurge coloring up nicely...
...and I can't decide if flash (above) or no flash looks better.
This cute volunteer petunia is still going, too... ...complementing the purple mums nearby.
My sedums are all nearly done, which seems early, and I haven't seen hardly any Asian lady beetles in the house, which seems late! I'm not sure if this is a lady bug or Asian Lady beetle , but if the color is the tie-breaker then she's the Asian beetle. I like the pattern on her shell, though!

Another spurge, blooming away like it's summertime...
...but this nice purple aster has her timing down pat!
Here's what's left of the 'Little Lamb' hydrangea blooms...

...more pretty asters.... ...Japanese maple on fire...
....poor yellow cherry tomatoes are not. Well, as the late Jerry Reed said, "When you're hot, you're hot...and when you're not, you're not!" :)
More fabulous annual action! These windowboxes are very well protected under the eaves, and receive warmth from the southern sun, so they are always the last to go (unless I forget to water them! They got pretty droopy at one point last week, yikes!)
Heck, they look better now than they have all year...I sure appreciate the extra effort!
Heuchera 'Patricia Louise' still going strong, too....
...even some hostas are still blooming pretty well...
...though this one is definately done! I'm digging the fall color, though.
My Virginia witch hazel is blooming this fall, even better than last year ...
....like cute little stars!
More fall aster action...
...'Russian Princess' lobelia still has one lone bloom...
...as does this helenium...
....this mum has more than one bloom...
...but not much! That's kind of the theme right now, only a few real "performers", but mostly "putt and sputter". That's okay though, I appreciate every darn bloom! (Besides, it's my responsibility to feed them...they can't really "forage" on their own that much.)
Snapdragons are still at it... ...and my Christmas cacti are just getting started. This is a pretty tangerine-orange just in time for Halloween!
This pansy bloom looks funny, I think some sort of bug took a bite...
....more snapdragons. You can squeeze the sides of these flowers between your thumb and forefinger to make them open their "mouths"...maybe they bit the pansy! ;-)
Another pansy, looking kinda rough. Hey, if I had to spend every night outside right now, i'd look rough too!
And finally, a colorful sunset on the river brings us to the end of another Bloom Day...
...and for plenty of awesome Bloom Day action, check out our esteemed founder Carol at May Dreams Gardens ! Happy Bloom Day everybody!

16 comments:

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Lisa, your fall color is beautiful. I love the witch hazel blooms.

lisa said...

Thank you Debbi!

Unknown said...

Wow, you've got a lot going on over there! I guess I should have protected by annuals a little better. I could have went out in search of more stuff to take pictures of but my view screen of my camera is broken now so I just clicked the button and hoped for the best. Probably not the best way to take a picture....

lisa said...

My annuals get no special treatment, either...they just happened to be in a semi-protected spot. Hopefully you can get your camera fixed, I'd freak out if mine didn't work! (Heck, I tend to "wing it" when taking pictures even with a fully-functioning camera! ;-)

donna said...

Hey....another northeastern Wisconsin (Green Bay) gardener here. Nice to see a gardening blog with great photos from this part of the state. I'll be checking in regularly, so keep up the good work.

lisa said...

Thank you! Great to hear from a gardener in my area!

Carol Michel said...

That's great fall color and a lot of bloom, too. It's almost dangerous for some of us gardeners to drive when trees look like that, isn't it? Hard to stay on the road!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

chuck b. said...

Witch hazel is too groovy. Such an unreal looking flower. Does it have any fragrance? I finally got a witch hazel in my garden... no flowers yet. I think it's supposed to bloom in winter here. If mine looks half as groovy as yours when it does bloom, I will be thrilled. Well, I will be thrilled just to finally see a witch hazel flower in real life for the first time.

Unknown said...

Oh yeah, the snapdragons definitely got at those pansies... lol!

I love all of your flower photos, of course, but that frosty landscape photo is absolutely gorgeous. I know you don't want to hear that now, but the cold beauty just does it for me. :)

By the way, that witch hazel blooms in the fall? All the time, or it's just confused?

lisa said...

Carol-I try to be careful, but I've annoyed more than one driver by being too slow (or just stopped in the road :)

Chuck-My witch hazel blooms don't smell, but I want to get a hybrid that does. This one is plain ol' Virginia witch hazel (hamamelia virginiana), a native that always blooms in fall. I want a hybrid with red flowers that blooms in winter, but I need to do some research to make sure I find one that can take my winters. They really ARE cool little blooms in person, I can't wait to see YOURS!

Kim-Snapdragons are such sassy flowers! ;-) That frosty picture was taken out the side window as I drove by...gotta be a multi-tasker for my kind of photo-ops! I agree, the cold weather is a welcome sight, and I'm actually looking forward to snow! This witch hazel is hamamelia virginiana, but I want to get a hybrid with red flowers and winter blooms. This one IS supposed to bloom in fall. (I thought it was confused when it did this last year, turns out it was ME...go figure! ;-)

troutbirder said...

My goodness what a beautiful fall collection. It looks to me like your end of the season blooms are better than what I had all summer!

lisa said...

Why thank you! I've seen your blog though, so I know you have some righteous blooms too! :)

EAL said...

Fascinating--a witchhazel that blooms in fall and is hardy in your zone. I have always coveted a witchhazel. The ones I know about bloom in very early spring.

lisa said...

I bought it at forestfarm.com, they have a large selection of witch hazel, I'm sure you could find one too. This has been a cute, well-behaved little tree for me.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Lisa, I just found you through a comment you made on someone else's blog. I just scrolled down your blog, and don't remember if you put a November GBBD post up, but I sure enjoyed these from October!

Happy Thanksgiving,
Sue

lisa said...

Thank you! I missed Nov. Bloom Day due to illness, but I plan to put up a garden-related post later today. Happy Thanksgiving to you too!