Garden Blogger Bloom Day – September 2013
I like September as the heat of the summer is over and aside from many other nice things it’s when some of my favourite flowers bloom. This year I have grown Chrysanthemums for the first time. I am probably one of those unusual people who actually likes Chrysanthemums, not the dumpy ones you buy from DIT stores and garages but the tall elegant stems. I hope they make a come back like Dahlias have and having grown them this year I was surprised how easy they were. I can’t tell you what the one above is as the label is buried under the foliage.
Japanese Anemones are always a sign that summer is on the wane and these thrive in my garden. Strangely though the pink ones I bought a couple of years ago have disappeared so many they aren’t as robust as the white ones.
Kirengeshoma palmata is another elegant plant that just isn’t grown enough. My specimen grows in a shady border adjacent to the patio so I can see it from the living room even when it gets too wet or chilly for me to garden.
My Asters have had a tough year due to me moving them around for the workshop project. I have lost all the labels in the process so I have no idea which one this is but I like the delicate flowers.
I am increasingly going off bright yellow in the garden but I do like this Rudbeckia which arrived of its own accord a few years back. I suspect it seeded from some wild bird seed. However, it arrived I prefer the flowers of this perennial plant to the annuals that I have grown for years.
I am also very chuffed with my Kniphofia, I think it is Toffee Nose, and unlike the Asters the change of location seems to have done it a power of good as it has never had so many blooms on it nor for such a long period of time. Of course the warm summer may have helped so we shall see.
There are also lots of Dahlias and Zinnias still flowering. As well as Pelargoniums which are still hanging on along with a few annuals. The cyclamen have started to flower now as well which is a sure sign that the season has turned.
For more Garden Blogger Bloom Day post visit Carol’s blog May Dream Gardens.
Lots of lovely flowers – I must say I am not much of a chrysy fan but there are some amazing spidery ones. Last weekend at my landladies beach house in Tutukaka there were heaps of Japanese anenomes that I pulled out as pretty old and lots of seedlings would come up. They are pretty rampant here in NZ and need to be ‘kept under control’! The bromilliards now have space and on another bed we added 4 more ferns. Such a beautiful spot, beach over the road, pohutukawas, palms, cycads and a kowhai out in bloom with many singing tuis after the nectar. 1/2 and acre of flat gardens.
Love the mums, pity that variety can’t grow here and have to be imported for florists. We grow the bedding types here, the short ones that spread. Happy GBBD!
Your japanese anemones are looking wonderful, mine are a dead loss this year, maybe I should have watered them! Your Kirengeshoma is also ahead of mine, here it is still at the bud stage, but yes, it is a lovely plant and should be used a lot more.
Beautiful!
A good wide range of colors.
Happy Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day
Lea
Lea’s Menagerie
I haven’t come across Kirengeshoma before, it’s a stunner! And even more valuable if it grows in shade. Beautiful blooms Helen.
Your Japanese anemones are way ahead of mine in upstate New York in the United States. My plant has had buds on it for over a month and the first flower opened on Wednesday. I don’t like the common mums so many sell, either. There used to be a gardening catalog in the States that carried a lot of the more unusual ones and I need to look them up. I loved your variety and colors in your garden.
I need a flower for my shady area, I should give that Kirengeshoma a try. I love the color of your mum!
Beautiful selection. I love the delicate aster and the kirengeshoma particularly.
Gorgeous! Your Kirengeshoma puts mine in a bad light Helen! Look at those buds, Can I ask does yours get any sun? Mines is thriving but looks ever so pale in comparison too yours. I wonder if it gets too much sun.
That’s a wonderful colour on the Chrysanthemum.
Great bloom day blooms!
hi Angie – mine does get sun but more indirect than direct, it isn’t in deep shade with overhanging branches or anything. Maybe yours is just a lighter shade
Wow, that Kirengeshoma palmata is stunning, and not something I have come across before so must look it up. I have just planted a pink Japanese anemone as my white ones are doing so well too, so I hope they are not a short lived addition – the white ones are SO reliable aren’t they (well they are here, anyway)? It’s interesting what you say about how different plants respond to being moved, as I have found that in my recent jigging about in the garden. Toffee Nose seems to be a nice late kniphofia. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Cathy
Good luck with your pink Japanese anemone, I hope they do better than Maine
Still lots of colour in the garden, Helen, and some interesting plants. I wonder if Chrysanths will experience the same revival as Dahlias have had over the last few years. Dahlias were shunned for such a long time before their popularity grew again.It would be lovely if the same happened to Crysanths !
I completely agree that it would be good if chrysanthemums made a come back
I remember loving Chrysanthemums (the spidery kind) as a kid, but seldom see them at nurseries these days. I agree that they should stage a comeback. ‘Toffee Nose’ would make a brilliant addition to my growing Kniphofia collection.
hi Ricki
I prefer the smaller Kniphofia to the large brighter ones. We can get the spider flowered chrysanthemum from Sarah Raven here in the UK, I don’t know if they sell to the US
Have hummed and erred for years about growing crysanths Helen. There’s something about the foliage that does not appeal. However those flowers look glorious so maybe I should be more adventurous and give them a whirl. ‘Toffee Nose’ looks most elegant in the rain and what subtle colouring too.
Hi Anna
The leaves do have a distinct smell to them and they aren’t that prepossessing but I have planted mine amongst dahlias and you can’t really see the leaves
Kirengeshoma palmata is a winner!
The Dahlias are Fantastic!
Beautiful photos, I found the Kirengeshoma palmata to be especially interesting. With your nudge I went off to research this a little more and I am going to find a spot in my garden to try to grow this.
Odd about your pink autumn anemones. Ours are as tough as old boots. Perhaps it’s something to do with the soil. Red hot pokers haven’t done well in my garden. Yours are looking super.
Beautiful blooms — you have a amazing variety!