These are the plants I love in the garden at the beginning of October. The weather is still hot, but changes are coming this week. Thank goodness.
New plants I love in the garden now.
Last weekend, I went to the inaugural Native Plant Festival in Oklahoma City, and I bought a few new plants. I have so many natives now, but I keep sticking more in here and there. Here’s what I bought:
- Zizia aurea, golden Alexander, is considered a keystone perennial. I’m planting it in partial shade near the little green she shed.
- Symphyotrichum pilosum, frost aster, because I can always use another aster. Ha! I’m putting it in the shade garden.
- Salvia azurea, blue sage, which I hope to make happy. I’ve wanted it for a long time. There’s a stand of it I see on my way home. I wanted to collect seeds, but I forgot. Now, I have three plants for the border facing the street. Since it likes a little extra water, it will go next to the drip irrigation.
Roses are plants I love in the garden now.
Roses look great in the garden in October. ‘Desdemona’ is showing off, and so is ‘Munstead Wood.’ I like blue-reds in the garden better than orange-red ones. It’s just a personal preference. The Japanese beetles are gone too which helps.
I ordered two ‘Valentine’ roses from Antique Rose Emporium which I’m going to grow in containers. I bought Allen + Roth metal-looking containers from Lowe’s and, of course, my favorite potting soil, Happy Frog from Under the Sun. You can also order it online.
If you decide to overwinter anything in a container, remember it needs to be hardy to two zones colder than your hardiness zone. I live in USDA Zone 7A, so the roses need to be hardy to Zone 5A. I placed them on the south side of the greenhouse where they will get a little residual warmth from the heated greenhouse and the winter sun.
I love Late-summer/fall blooming plants now.
Is there anything more beautiful than pink muhly grass in Autumn? I don’t think so.
I’ve been thinking about how some plants may flower all summer, but by fall, they are super tired. My ‘Rotkugel’ ornamental oregano is a good example. It’s time to cut it way back so it can bulk up for next spring.
It’s good to have some plants that begin flowering in September even though they may get nipped by frost fairly soon. They are fresh for the pollinators and for me. Salvia leucantha, Mexican bush sage, is a great example because it doesn’t begin flowering until mid-to late-September.
Something to plan for in future years–part of that four-season approach. I’ve noticed that some native plants flower only now. Asters are one group I’m grateful for as are chrysanthemums. No, mums aren’t native, but there are some very good mums for the garden. They are part of my fall favorites.
I still love the pale zinnias blooming in the kitchen border. In fact, let’s give a shoutout to the kitchen border because it is just lovely and delightful as I sit here and write. I don’t feel like photos do it justice but click on the ones in galleries to make them larger.
Rosa ‘Desdemona’ is beautiful as always. ‘Bluebird’ smooth aster is blooming its heart out. The mystery salvia is still flowering, but bear in mind I’ve cut it in half several times to get new foliage. ‘Truffula Pink’ gomphrena is strutting her stuff after a very long summer, and a purple heath aster (unknown) is so fluffy I am in awe.
I think next spring I’ll plant the buttercream zinnia mixture here because it won’t clash with the tangerine ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ echinaceas. That’s if the echinaceas overwinter. Sometimes, they don’t.
Because of the asters, the garden has a certain fluffy feel. I’m hoping the weather will cool off, and it’s supposed to. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks for reading so long. I appreciate it. If you want more of my ramblings check out this week’s episode of The Gardenangelists podcast, which I host with Carol Michel, or my Instagram where I post almost every day. If you subscribe to our free weekly podcast newsletter, you get access to the podcast a day early too.
Talk to you soon.
I so enjoyed seeing what’s still doing well in your garden. We had our first frost last night, which took down the annuals. But the roses just laughed at the cold. This time…
Thank you! We had a freeze too. It’s now time to rest and recharge for spring planting. Haha. ~~Dee
Your garden is absolutely enchanting, filled with a vibrant array of colors and textures. The way you describe your plants shows your deep appreciation for the beauty of nature. It’s wonderful to see your passion for gardening and the care you put into it. Your photos capture the essence of each plant, and it’s a joy to witness your garden’s transformation through the seasons. Keep up the fantastic work, and thank you for sharing your garden’s beauty with us all!
Well, thank you so much. I appreciate that. ~~Dee
I love your garden descriptions, friend. And these transition blooms are dreamy! It took me a long time to really appreciate long term planning like this, but man it makes a difference. Love it all.
I, too, am becoming more appreciative of Autumnal Floral colour, as well as other seasonal variances. “Summer” all year, like “Christmas” all year removes the “specialness” of those times, making them more mundane. (Heaven Forbid!!) Here, yeah, Asters, Ironweeds and Goldenrods are carrying the day, but so too are our upright Plectranthus varieties and Ceropegia ampliata baskets! ‘Mona Lavender’ and ‘Velvet Elvis’ are clouds of spires of light purples, while the Ceropegia dangle their large (ish) white/lime lanterns from their rope-like stems! Oh, and then there’s the no parking under the black walnuts right now, as they begin to hurl their botanical hailstones!! Dee, I have a question about the Gomphrena you’ve mentioned/shown. You state that you enjoy the variety “Truffula” over the more common ‘Fireworks.” I kinda thought they were the same, and I’ve grown both, much to our butterfly’s delight, but I hadn’t noticed the differences and was wondering why you have a preference of one over the other? (To put it another way: “What am I missing, here?!!”)
Hey Jesse, Truffula Pink is much shorter than Fireworks in my garden. Also, Truffula Pink is more floriferous than Fireworks. I like the shorter stature, and more flowers are always better. However, I like a lot of other gomphrena even better. The QIS varieties are lovely as are some of the other florist varieties. I bought these Truffula Pink ones because I had a few holes to fill in early summer.~~Dee
You can’t have too many asters or perennial mums!
I feel pretty much the same. I do wish Drummond’s aster wasn’t so aggressive. It’s trying to take over the garden. ~~Dee
Lovely! I need some more asters!
You do!~~Dee
Looks great given everyone’s weather issues. My late fall bloomers are mostly still in bud, so hoping they don’t get frosted.
Oh Linda, I hope they don’t either. We are having a record low tomorrow morning of 41. That’s a bit early.~~Dee