Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ October 2012

Just the odd photo from me today to celebrate the October blooms in my garden. This morning was peppered with shopping and drizzle and looking at the just photographed sky there could be more of the wet stuff on the horizon. Everything is looking decidedly bedraggled now although there are still flowers about amongst them astrantias, various hardy geraniums, penstemons, the deadly 'Yellow Peril', nicotiana 'Lime Green', Swan River daisies, cosmos bippanatus 'Purity', verbena bonariensis, dahlia 'Bishop's Children', scutellaria and a couple of pale yellow daisy type flowers whose names escape me at present. Nothing is at its peak but they are winding down slowly as autumn progresses but one or two are still in full flow ~ 

Above an old favourite  - erigeron karvinskianus or Mexican fleabane which is dotted about the north facing courtyard in front of the house. The white flowers age to pink. This is the subject of contention ever year as himself sees it as a weed and I am convinced that he has tried to kill it off, luckily without success. It is one of the longest lasting flowers in the garden and will go on until the first really sharp frosts. There is some question about its tenderness but here in the north west of England it has survived for years, even coming through the harsh winter that we had a couple of years ago. Maybe it picks up on heat thrown out from the house or it self seeds each year - whatever I'm not complaining.

I don't know the name of this hardy fuschia which is the palest of pinks. I plucked a few cuttings years ago from a bush that was overhanging onto a pavement . Since then it has grown into a monster and is in line for some serious pruning. 

Finally I'm going to cheat with one that I took earlier  a couple of years earlier in fact - aster 'Little Carlow' which is bearing a myriad of little flowers at the allotment just now. It has come into flower later than usual but other than that it does not seem to be affected by the wet summer. It attracts both bees and butterflies and a couple of divisions  headed to the bee keeping area earlier this year. Must see how they are doing next time I'm at the plot. 

I will be putting the kettle on later for a cuppa before heading over to
May Dreams Gardens, where Carol kindly hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day each month. A most pleasant way to while away some time which invariably sees my wish list growing and growing.