Garden Bloggers Bloom Day September 2008

– Posted in: What's up/blooming
7 comments

The growing season gets a slow enough start around here that many annuals don’t really strut their stuff until September. This is a real liability for the frost-sensitive ones like cosmos. I learned to seek out early blooming varieties because the old-fashioned ones often only had two weeks of bloom before shriveling in the first frost. On the other hand, many of the spring bloomers, enjoying the return of cool evenings and plentiful rain, make a comeback. This includes pansies, foxgloves, mountain bluets, and catmint.

Photo Gallery

Click on any thumbnail for a medium image, and click on the medium image for an even bigger one, if you want to see detail. If you click on the first thumbnail, you will be able to go through all of them without coming back to the main post to click the next one.


If you want to see more colchicums, browse through the photos at the very bottom of this page (in the footer) or look through the Colchicum category in the sidebar.

What’s in Bloom Now

‘Zebrina’ and ‘Bibor Felho’ mallows and descendants
tunic flower
catmint
Cynanchum ascyrifolium
Colchicums ‘Nancy Lindsay,’ ‘Autumn Herald,’ ‘Autumn Queen,’ ‘Ordu’ and ‘Harlequin’
red, white, and pink Phlox paniculata
Caryopteris
flowering tobacco
golden feverfew (grown from seed, probably later than typical)
black-eyed Susans
white, lavender, and purple field asters
Colchicum byzantinum
Colchicum speciosum hybrid
Colchicum autumnale ‘Album’
larkspur
‘Commotion’ blanket flowers
‘White Wonder’ feverfew (grown from seed, probably later than typical)
pansies
annual dianthus
astilbe
Johnny-jump-ups
morning glories
scarlet salvia
marigolds
lantana
verbena
geraniums
cosmos
garlic chives
zinnias
Stella d’Oro daylily
double soapwort
petunias
yellow miniature rose

Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what other gardeners are growing this month.

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It’s a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it’s time to reflect on what’s come before.

~Mitchell Burgess in Northern Exposure

Comments on this entry are closed.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter September 17, 2008, 8:33 pm

You have so many things blooming now. Your mention of Malva reminds me that I forget to list mine. I love your Colchicums. I have only one type, and those are actually belong to the boy. They’re the only plants he’s enthused about. At least he has good taste, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

Shady Gardener September 16, 2008, 8:52 pm

I always know I’m going to see some interesting, beautiful things over here! I really do need to purchase some of those colchicums. They’re very special, aren’t they?! 🙂 Have a great day.

Cindy September 16, 2008, 6:46 pm

Those colchicums are just gorgeous. I can’t grow them on MCOK so it’s a treat to see them in your garden!

Kathy Purdy September 16, 2008, 5:47 pm

Annie, this is my first experience with caryopteris, and I haven’t noticed the color varying when the nights are cooler. I will admit that sometimes it looks bluer and sometimes more purple.

I took a picture of the corm once, but I guess I never posted it here. I’ll have to remedy that some day.

Karen, I know a lot of people grow colchicums in the Pacific Northwest, so I’m not sure why you’d have trouble. Sometimes mine don’t bloom the first year after planting, but they usually do after that.

Karen September 16, 2008, 4:10 pm

I’m jealous of your colchicums, mine never seem to come back after the first year I plant them. I’ll keep trying, though, for that spectral, luminescent color! Congrats on yours, they are gorgeous.

Annie in Austin September 16, 2008, 12:44 pm

Do you think the caryopteris is bluer with cooler nights? It looks great in the photo and so do the starry morning glories.
Kathy that clump of cochicum from Byzantium is amazing – it would be interesting to have X-ray vision and see what the bulbs look like under the earth!
Who is eating Owen’s sunflower seeds? Birds?

Happy Blooming Day!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Carol, May Dreams Gardens September 15, 2008, 10:35 pm

I do love the colchicums! I’m going to look in the catalogs for more to buy next year. Thank you again for getting me started with those.

We had a misty, dewing morning this morning, and it seemed to stay that way all day. Bleh. Tomorrow the sun should be shining again.

Thanks for joining in for bloom day.