October Photographs 2001

October Photographs 2001

A few more plants from my garden all photographed this month. Just to show that with mild weather October can have a few flowers as well as a selection of leaves, stems and berries.


Clematis viticella Kermesina hanging on to allow me to capture a dew drop bloom.
Another Clematis, this time a very out of season spring flowering alpina. Always good for one or two late flowers, nothing like the mass in spring but still worth searching for.
	My Fuchsia that refuses to stop both growing and flowering this year. Wonder how much longer the frosts will spare this one?
Now one that very much is in season, the autumn flowering and easy growing Schizostylis coccinea. Very tough plant, well able to hold it's own in mixed company, going almost unnoticed until the brilliant flowers appear.
	The Geranium Buxton's Blue is always a late starter, but makes up for it by continuing until a really cold spell stops it. Quite a few of the longer flowering geraniums keep going until the bitter end.


A lace cap Hydrangea that waited until now to produce it's only flower head, or should that be bract head, the flowers being the tiny balls in the centre. This one, in spite of the colour when growing in my garden, is Blue Bird.

Not to be outdone the mop head Hydrangea has managed to produce one late head. You can just see the old summer bracts, green and solid looking, at the top of the photograph.

This Hypericum Hidcote is looking well past it's sell by date, but still producing the odd flower to add sunshine in a dark autumn corner, just behind the bungalow near a north facing wall.
	One that keeps appearing in these pages, and with good reason, I can think of no other plant that is capable of flowering every month of the year, cold and snow permitting. You would think with those silver grey leaves that this would be a soft Mediterranean type. It is actually from the Atlas mountains in Morocco. If it has one fault then it has to be the difficulty in trying to propagate it. I have had several attempts all ending in failure, but luckily my now twenty year old plant shows no sign of decline. Nearly forgot, this is Rhodanthemum hosmariensis.

The Mahonias can always be relied on to provide some colour and with a little warmth, fragrance in the garden as the days rapidly shorten. This is Mahonia japonica and only flowering slightly ahead of Charity this year. They are both wonderful plants being evergreen, but showing a little autumn colour in the older leaves which lasts through until spring. Allow plenty of room, they do like to spread out and cutting them back will take away many of the future flower heads.
	Jasminum nudiflorum defying it's name by flowering before the leaves have dropped. This will continue to flower on and off throughout the winter and particularly so now I have it on my south facing wall. It never did too well in the shade to the rear of my property. A very easy one to propagate with most cuttings rooting in a month or two. Best time to take them seems to be about September and let them root over the winter. Cuttings taken now would probably still root up in time to be planted out in late spring.

October Photographs 2001

A few more plants from my garden all photographed this month.

Just to show that with mild weather October can have a few flowers as well as a selection of leaves, stems and berries.

Clematis viticella Kermesina hanging on to allow me to capture a dew drop bloom.

Another Clematis, this time a very out of season spring flowering alpina. Always good for one or two late flowers, nothing like the mass in spring but still worth searching for.

My Fuchsia that refuses to stop both growing and flowering this year. Wonder how much longer the frosts will spare this one?

Now one that very much is in season, the autumn flowering and easy growing Schizostylis coccinea. Very tough plant, well able to hold it's own in mixed company, going almost unnoticed until the brilliant flowers appear.

The Geranium Buxton's Blue is always a late starter, but makes up for it by continuing until a really cold spell stops it. Quite a few of the longer flowering geraniums keep going until the bitter end.

A lace cap Hydrangea that waited until now to produce it's only flower head, or should that be bract head, the flowers being the tiny balls in the centre. This one, in spite of the colour when growing in my garden, is Blue Bird.

Not to be outdone the mop head Hydrangea has managed to produce one late head. You can just see the old summer bracts, green and solid looking, at the top of the photograph.

This Hypericum Hidcote is looking well past it's sell by date, but still producing the odd flower to add sunshine in a dark autumn corner, just behind the bungalow near a north facing wall.