What's still blooming?

My aconitums are in full bud, but not quite open yet.
Should be any day now!
Hope they're as nice as yours, Pirl!

Thanks. When I moved them (long ago) they didn't flower at all the following year. From now on they're staying where they are.

pirl - Very nice! I bet they do look gorgeous with the various aster colors.

Thanks, Cindy. I have a mini mountain of blue asters but no others.

Tricyrtis - one of the few to effectively hide from the deer.

Rabdosia longituba.
Comes in both blue and white.

The asters are unbelievable! Can I say I'm jealous???
And the Rabdosia! Beautiful! I have a Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' that I just love this time of year. It'll have to come indoors shortly though since it's not hardy. I will have to look into a Rabdosia for planting outdoors.
I did notice a few errant blooms on Weigela 'White Knight' even though it's been dry for a few months now.

It was just one pot that went wild, Cindy.

The Rabdosia is splendid.

One pot?!!! Truly amazing and beautiful!

It didn't like the first few places where I tried it but loved the last spot so much that it had to go to the hill so it couldn't spread further.

Perfect place for it! It just billows with all of those lavender flowers.

Cindy, I have a hardy plectranthus which is realiably hardy for me (plectranthus kameba).
It reseeds avidly, so I'm a little concerned if it may become a nuisance.
But it has nice fall-blooming blue flowers which are so refreshing at this time of year.
So far, the reseeding hasn't been too onerous,
but I've only had the plant 3 years, so too soon to know for sure.

I'm guessing it stays in place all year long in the garden. That's amazing and it's also beautiful. The few plectranthus I have are inside. Maybe I should try leaving a piece of them outside to see if they make it over winter.

This one is hardy to zone 6/7.
Mine is perfectly happy.
Maybe too happy, in fact.
I've left plenty of other coleus outside with predictable results.

We do know what "predictable results" are!!!

That Plectranthus k. is so pretty. It might be a bit of a zone stretch for me if I left it outdoors.

Aconitum finally opened.

Another tricyrtis managed to hide from the deer.
It's a single bloom in the midst of about a dozen chomped stems.

An obscure (my specialty, of course) fall-blooming perennial called leucosceptrum stellipa.

Edited to say that I missed most of the bloom.
It has blooming spikes about 4-5 inches long;
bloom starts at the bottom and progresses toward the end.
It just has about an inch of bloom left today.
Unfortunately, I only get a chance to check things out on the weekend...



This message was edited Oct 22, 2010 3:17 PM

Viburnum obovatum still has a few (slightly ragged) blooms.

Finally, I thought this was pretty cute.
It's an unfurling cyclamen hederifolium bloom.

Oops... one more.
I think this is a cimifuga racemosa (AKA actaea) - but why it's waiting to bloom 'til now, is beyond me.
I don't have a tag, so I'm not really sure about ID.
If anyone else has any ideas, I'd welcome them.
At this rate, it may never open.

This message was edited Oct 22, 2010 3:27 PM

The Cyclamen photo is great! Strange about the Cimicifuga. And how similar the colors on the Tricyrtis and the Leucosceptrum are.

Love your unusual plants, Weerobin. It's great to see plants I don't see around here.

Not really a bloom, but the hyacinth beans did well on an obelisk this summer, and I've been surprised at how colorful the seedpods are.

I think they definitely count. Any color in the fall garden is a bonus.
I've been patiently waiting for my 'blue bean plant' (decaisnea fargesii) to earn it's keep.
I have several plants (wondering if they needed cross-pollination). They're 3-4 years old.
The plants look robust, but so far, no beans...

Maybe someone out there in DG-land will appreciate my excitement today.
I have nurtured an obscure woodland perennial ainsliaea cordifolia for about 5 years.
Today, for the first time, I saw it bloom.
I was of course very excited. Here's the bloom:

I excitedly showed my wife my discovery - she shrugged.
Admittedly, the plant (shown here) isn't the showiest.
But maybe there are some DGers out there who can understand the thrill.

Weerobin - we understand! We once rescued some trillium from the path of a scraper and then watered them all summer even after we thought they had died. Great thrill in the springtime when they bravely emerged!

Dont - cha - luv plants?

That ainsliaea is an unexpected bonus for fall blooms. I like the dark purple setting off the flower color.
Rebecca - how tall does your hyacinth bean get on a tripod? I may just replace a sad Clematis with one since it has a tendency to go brown after it blooms.

Yep, I understand the excitement of having your little plant baby bloom - you nurtured it & now it's rewarding you!

Cindy, the obelisk was about five feet tall and the beans would have liked to go higher. The fact that they couldn't and had to cluster at the top made them prettier, I thought. This was the first time I had used an obelisk and I was pleased with it because I could pick a specific semi-sunny spot for it (I have very little sun here and things with a little vertical height get more!) Next summer I'm going to get 2 additional obelisks and try sweet pea and cypress vine on them.

Rebecca - I'm in a mostly shade spot as well and you bring up a good point about more light up higher. I've held off on the hyacinth beans because I thought they'd need more light. I wonder if they could "share" a 5 ft tripod with a Clematis.

Mine are in shade also and this is the first year I've grown them. When should I expect pods? I do have a few flowers on the vine.

Do you start it as seeds indoors, seeds in the garden, or plant in the garden?
Do you buy them locally, or mail order?
I don't recall seeing them locally, but I don't brouse the annuals section very much.

Does anyone have experience with my blue bean vine (decaisnea)?
I need to do something to get it in gear?
So far, no flowers, no beans. Each plant is 6ft tall, but a little scrawny.

I'm guessing I bought mine locally but can't really recall. Plant Files should show vendors who carry the seeds.

Oh to be scrawny again! Sorry but I don't know a thing about the plant.

And Cindy, what's up with the browning clematis.
Mine does the same thing. Year after year.
Nice initial foliage and first flush of blooms, then when it gets hot, foliage turns brown / crispy.
Now in late fall, it has regrown nice foliage and even cranked out a nice bloom.
This is Clematis Patriot. Picture is from yesterday!

Lovely! I got surprise blooms on Dr. Ruppel, Henryi and another one that got mixed in with a Jackmanii.

When any of mine go brown I cut them back, give them Epsom Salt (1 TB to a gallon of water) and they do resume growing normally.

Wow, weerobin - that's a awesome clematis bloom for late October, I'm impressed!