What’s Blooming in October?

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It’s already time for another look at what’s blooming in my garden for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. It’s mid-October and the trees are just beginning to turn but there are still plenty of blooms to see. And if you’re interested in showing off your fall foliage colors then please participate in the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project!

Here’s what blooming in our Tennessee garden:

The Pink Cosmos is doing very well right now next to the vegetable garden. I planted a couple seeds in the early summer and now the blooms are showing up in the fall.

In the front sidewalk garden we have mums, a butterfly bush, Russian sage, Gaillardia, daylilies, and a Black and Blue salvia blooming.

Here’s the Black and Blue Salvia. It’s easy to see where it found it’s name.


The Russian sage has been blooming all summer. I’m not sure anything else in our garden has been as prolific. That’s just another great reason to plant it. Just make sure your garden has full sun!


The ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia is just beginning to go to seed. It was a hummingbird favorite this year that I picked up on the discount rack. It looks like Mr. Bee is still enjoying it.


Here’s a ‘Stella d’Oro’ Daylily that decided it wasn’t done yet!


Speaking of hummingbird favorites the zinnias are still blooming. Unfortunately they are starting to get the dreaded powdery mildew. It doesn’t bother me too much since we are so close to the end of the 2008 growing season. Time to collect seeds and plan for next year.


This achillea (yarrow) in the rain garden was taken from a cutting near the mailbox garden. Achillea are fairly easy to root.


I still have some sunflowers growing. This one is tucked into the birdbath garden. I planted the seed in the summer to have some blooms this fall and provide the birds with a little more food to eat.


And now you get to see something I’ve been waiting for, the Monarch butterfly! I was afraid we wouldn’t get to see any this year but just recently a few stopped by for a visit on the asclepias.


I think our garden may be along a migratory route. I hope they find plenty of nourishment for the trip.

Thanks for stopping by to see the blooms!

13 thoughts on “What’s Blooming in October?”

  1. That camera sure is getting a work out! The Monarch pics are great! They have been visiting us for the past few weeks. Lots of pretty blooms this month! Butterfly bush sure is looking good! You know I love my butterfly bushes…

  2. Skeeter,

    You bet the camera has been working out! I used the continuous shot function to get the butterfly pictures. It’s funny when you scroll through the pictures, it’s almost like a video!

  3. Hiya Dave,

    Never mind the flowers: that butterfly will stay with me for a long time.

    And how exquisite against the deep green of your page background and on that orange flower.

  4. Wow, Dave – that front sidewalk garden sure has filled out over the season. What a treat it must be to walk through there. Your salvias and annuals still look great, but the monarch images really steal the show!

  5. More blooms there than here. And yours are gorgeous.

    (I can’t seem to link to the GBFCP image. I tried using the instructions you left after Ms. Tina’s comment, but can’t get Blogger to accept the image address on the “Add Page Element” window.)

  7. Hi Dave, lots still going on but like everyone else, the monarch outshines them all. How lucky to be on the flight path. We have gotten just one or two at the most recently, they just hang on the butterfly bush. I love that asclepias with the mix of yellow and red/orange. You have very beautiful sunflowers too, I like seeing the butterfly bush in the background. We are not in the peak of our fall color yet, but there are signs it is coming, maybe next week.

    http://fairegarden.wordpress.com/

  8. Joco,

    Thanks for stopping by. 🙂 I was pretty pleased with the butterfly shots too.

    Nan,

    It really has, but that’s mostly because the plants there are fast growers and drought tolerant. The Russian sage really gets to full size in the full sun quick!

    TC,

    Thanks! The weather has been very good the last couple of weeks even though we’ve been short of rain. It’s almost like a second spring.
    (Try this link, maybe it will work! http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Oyjs043Crqg/SNMP1Aw-sDI/AAAAAAAAC1g/AfnE_6dRDRo/S220/Fall+Color+Project+Logo.jpg)

    Thanks Cindy 🙂

    Frances,

    I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to see any this year. After your Lucky day post a while back I had given up but then they began popping up. I think we have 4-5 of them floating around. I really like the orange-brown shades of sunflowers better than the other kinds. They just seem more unique!

  10. Beautiful stuff! I think ‘Mystic Spires’ is going to be my new favorite annual Salvia. I’ll have to look for that one next year. I wonder if the butterfly knew how good it looked sitting on that color-coordinated Asclepias?

  11. Racquel,

    Thanks! The B&B Salvia is much nicer than I anticipated. In fact I wasn't even sure it would bloom. It was a plant swap find.

  12. MMD,

    It’s a pretty good one! I found that salvia with another one for just a couple dollars. each pot had two plants in it so I really got each one for about 50 cents. I tried to tell the butterfly how perfect it looked but it was a little busy!

  13. There are still some good blooms in Tennessee, I see. I’ll be joining in your fall color project just as soon as we get some good fall color around here. We are getting there, but it seems slow.

    Thanks for joining in for bloom day!

    Carol, May Dreams Gardens

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