Late October Blooms

/ karen

I love the way the garden provides a last-minute rush of colour. Late October flowers have such magic. A message of hope. Winter is on the way, but spring will return – and so will the flowers.

Today’s flowers are like jewels. They are as welcome as the intermittent bursts of sunshine. There’s little warmth in the sun’s rays, but these flowers light up any room.

Shining brightly in the middle of the posy is rudbeckia. I believe this variety is Goldsturm. A reliable plant that flowers on and off all summer and then puts on a show stopping display in October. Goldsturm is a perennial form with flowers growing to 60cm tall. I love its dark brown central cone which sets off the yellow flowers a treat. It’s great for pollinators too. In my garden, the flowers are covered in bees and hoverflies.

Another daisy flower I’m particularly fond of is the white argyranthemum. Sadly the name has been lost in the mists of time. Perhaps someone will read this and let me know what it’s called. It’s been growing here for 30 years, so I can attest to its longevity! The centre for the flower starts off greeny-yellow and fades to pure swan white. Flowers last for at least a fortnight in a vase. Such a good value, reliable plant.

Adding a shot of blue is this wonderful aster- now renamed tongue-twisting symphyotrichum. I think I’ll be sticking with the original name to be honest.

October roses are so precious. Of course, they are glorious in the heat of mid summer. But they really are a joy just as the weather turns cold and miserable. I appreciate the scent more now than in June. In summer I’m always rushing around, too busy to smell the roses. By October, I’m slowing down. I drink in the scent, knowing I’ve got to hold on to that memory right through the cold days ahead. I’m kind of winter-proofing myself. Looking for a floral armoury to protect me from winter.

This hybrid tea rose is called Special Occasion. It has a fruity scent and is easy to grow and disease resistant. It’s a rose I can highly recommend.

There’s two varieties of anemone in today’s posy. One is pink, possibly September Charm, and one white, Honerine Joubert. You need plenty of space to grow anemones. We divide them every three years to keep them compact. There’s always plenty of spare plants to give to friends.

Fuchsias and salvias provide a splash of pink, and there’s a few Blueboy cornflowers too. There hasn’t been a week when the cornflowers haven’t provided a few flowers. They’ve been fabulously prolific, despite the heat and drought.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my slide show of today’s flowers. As always, I’m joining Cathy for her In a Vase on Monday meme. Why not go over and see what Cathy and all the others are growing and putting in their vases this week.

And let me know what plants you are growing at the moment. Are you, like me, winter-proofing yourself in some way. The colours of my October flowers remind me of a stained glass window. Wouldn’t you agree.

52 thoughts on “Late October Blooms”

  3. Hello Karen. I feel my absence but we went to Madrid and there they had to admit me to a Hospital. I am already at home resting and today is the first day that I have taken the notebook. Your magnificent bouquet of flowers has made me smile and forget the pains. The photos they have are as beautiful as the flowers. I like them all. The Rudbeckia with its yellow color reminds me of the sun’s rays. The blue Aster is the sky. The white Argyranthemum is the cotton clouds of the sky that draw flowers. The Rose is the sunset. The Anemones are wonderful. Fuchsias and pink Salvias are the skin color of my cheeks so much that you have made me smile with your flowers. And the Blueboy Cornflowers are my friends. What a beauty of a bouquet at this point in time. You are very lucky to have so many flowers in the garden. I hope that your whole family is in good health: send them all my love. Karen love and health. Take care. Very loving greetings from Margarita. 🙂

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    • So sorry to hear you have been in hospital Margarita. If you have time, send me an update via e mail. k.gimson@btinternet.com although I’ll have to learn how to translate into English. You have been much missed. I have been worried. I hope you are on the mend now. Loving greetings. Take care of yourself. Love from karen xx

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  5. What a spectacular vase full of gorgeous colour! Yes, they definitely remind me of stained glass too. You will be able to look back at this post in the depths of January frosts and that glow will warm you!

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    • Thank you Cathy. The first and last of anything is always special isn’t it. Just glad I was able to gather those flowers before the frost. Photos do remind me of what’s to come next year. Helps to get me though the winter. So cold already today. thanks for reading xx

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  7. Yes, very much like a stained-glass window, Karen! Such a beautiful vase. I too am revelling in asters and roses at the moment, along with the last of the calendulas and nasturtiums. I had to learn ‘Goldsturm’ for a plant recognition test this week – or Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivanii ‘Goldsturm’ to give it its full name for full marks! Envious that you still have cornflowers too….

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    • Thank you. When I was learning my plant names, I put little sample of plants on each step on the stairs and wouldn’t allow myself to move up a step until I remembered the plant! It sometimes took me ages to get upstairs to bed! You never forget them though do you when you’ve had to work hard to learn them. Thanks for reading my blog. Good luck with your plant studies 🙂 x

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    • Luckily the trees have protected the flowers so far. But we’ve had two bad frosts and more on the way. What a difficult year it has been with extremes of weather and high winds. I’m amazed anything has survived to be honest. Good luck with your bulb planting. I’ve still got some tulips to get in. Thanks for reading.

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  10. Thanks for explaining Rudbekia in cultivation. Maybe it was the extreme heat and drought here in normally mellow Somerset. The plant here this year has been disappointing and I was on the verge of digging it out. Perhaps I should have been more ruthless in dead heading earlier in the year.

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    • I suppose I’ve dead headed by using them in flower arrangements all summer. I haven’t given them a chance to try to set seed. I’ll dig up and divide mine over the winter. All the best with your garden Noelle, and thanks for reading my blog.

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  11. That’s a lovely, positive way of looking at autumn and I wish more people would see it like that. I for one have learnt to appreciate this beautiful season which gives us the chance to recharge our batteries and concentrate on other things. Your vase is a most charming ramble through your autumnal garden 🙂

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  13. ‘Jewel like’ is a good description of your vase, which certainly doesn’t look as if it is a product of the last few days of October.The argyranthemum is amazing and has definitely earned its place in your garden from what you say. Perennial rudbeckias have never done well in my garden but I shall keep trying! Well done or getting stuck into planting your bulbs – I have sorted through my tulips today and worked out which pots I am going to put them in, but the planting can wait a little while – we shall see what the weather does! Have a good week, Karen

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    • Thank you Cathy. I’ve made a start with some new tulip varieties. One is Exotic Emperor, a green and white one I saw at Coton Manor this spring. I’ve got my usual Apricot Beauty and Black Parrot. It was so dark this evening. I ran round the garden closing greenhouse windows and suddenly it was pitch black. Will need a head torch at this rate. Hope you are having a good week. xx

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      • I grew EO last year, after seeing it on another blog – such a pretty tulip. Monty Don suggested that if you are planting in pots you needn’t wait till November to plant – mind, you, suddenly it IS November!

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      • The past few weeks have just flown by! There’s Christmas decorations going up in the next village. And the Diwali lights in Leicester look spectacular. I’d better plant a few more paper whites quick- and get my amaryllis planted
        !

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  16. Lovely, cheerful arrangement, Karen. Thanks. It lifts the spirits as the days get shorter and darker! Sorry, can’t help with the name of the argyranthemum! Hoping they’ll all continue flowering for some time – at least till the first severe frosts xx

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  18. How beautiful, Karen! Such a wonderful late season treat to have so much variety in your garden. It is interesting that your ‘Goldsturm’ blooms in October and ours in August. Must be the temperature difference. Have a lovely week ahead.

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  19. I am sorry that I don not know the name either. I am pretty good with identifying specie, but not cultivars of varieties. Even the Japanese anemones are known simply as ‘white’ or ‘pink’. Pink happens to grow in one of the landscapes at work. I would prefer a white, but will not add any until we tame the landscape a bit more.

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    • Thank you Christina. I don’t know why the photos came out like that. Perhaps it was because of the dark hedge background. Or the autumn sun is not as strong and doesn’t bleach out the colours as much as summer sun. Either way I was surprised when I saw them on the screen. It’s just an old i-phone, which I’ve always got in my pocket. Thanks again for your lovely comments. Hope you are well. x

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    • Thank you Gill. It was the dark hedge background that set them off. I think the autumn sun doesn’t bleach out the colour of the flowers as much as summer sun. Or something like that anyway. x

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