Probably my last GBBD post for 2023, though perennial mums have only begun to bloom. Maybe I’ll do a short post for November, who knows. But back to now, the last 30 days comprising September’s end and October’s start have been fairly seasonal except for some wonderous warm days the first week of October.
The average high for the period was 62.7°F, with the highest temperature of 77.5°F on 3 October. The average low for the period was 47.4°F, with the lowest temp of 37.°F on 13 Oct. We haven’t had a light frost yet here; looking at the forecast, we may get one 23-24 October when lows of 33-34°F are predicted. I’ll probably plant my garlic around that time — it should be in the ground several weeks before the ground freezes.
Rainfall has been about normal, for a change, in late Sept and early Oct. Typically September and October rainfall is about 7 inches, combined. This year, we got 2.5″ of rain in late Sept. and 1.37″ in early October, for a 30-day total of 3.87, a little more than half the two-month average. After the deluge of the summer, the reduction in rainfall is very noticeable.
And now, some of the last blooms in my yard until April or May of 2024.
FRONT YARD
The ‘Bluebird’ asters (Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’) are the big show in the front, covered many days with bees (including sleeping male bumblebees) and flies, and until very recently the occasional butterfly or moth. Probably one of my five favourite plants in this garden for its carefree nature (no maintenance needed), attraction to pollinators, and regal contrast to the foliage of nearby trees, shrubs, and other perennials turning yellow, brown, orange, and red.
‘Bluebird’ asters
video (20 seconds) of bees and flies in ‘Bluebird’ asters:
Other flowers in the front yard
SIDE YARD & VEG GARDEN
Welcome to most of the October action in the garden. I didn’t plan it this way but the garden has its own ideas.
The pink asters (a New England aster cultivar, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, but not sure which one) are just about finished now but they’re gorgeous, their stems strong and hirsute and yet floppy, and the flowers are very attractive to insects.
I’ve been very happy with the bloom longevity of the Japanese anemone ‘Curtain Call’ that I bought last year. And bumblebees love it.
The native Gaillardia aka blanket flower that I planted last year (G. aristata) has also been a surprisingly long-lasting bloomer, still going strong in mid-October.
The rest, a combination of annuals and perennials:
BACK YARD
Not a lot happening here now, though I think the Pee Gee hydrangea just gets prettier as the blossoms both deepen and fade and the foliage yellows. The Joe Pye weed faded a couple of weeks ago but hosted monarchs, fritillaries, and bees while it flourished.
SHADE GARDEN
Also quiet now that summer’s over (it’s never a real flower hotbed), but the ‘Hot Lips’ turtleheads (Chelone), now finished, put on a great show this year.
The only other bloomer at the moment is the heuchera/coral bells (‘Kassandra’, maybe?).
ROCK WALL
The white snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’) that I put into hospice in the rock wall in 2013 is blooming!
FRUIT GUILD
Yarrow and sneezeweed are it.
Hope to see you back in the garden in May 2024! (or in November if I post a few mums)
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. (She’s in USDA hardiness zone 6a in Indiana and I’m in zone 4b/5a in New Hampshire.)
That Bluebird aster is something! I love it. I’ve not heard of that one before, and I’ll be looking it up to see if I can get one.
Thanks for commenting, Lisa! If you add Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’ to your garden, let me know how you like it.
Your October garden looks great. What you and I grow are very different but then so are our climates. I love asters, even though I attempted to remove Symphyotrichum chilense, a California native, 2 years ago. It spreads by rhizomes but this was supposed to be “manageable” in low water gardens like mine. It behaved for several years but, when we had a good rain year it spread like crazy, then fried in the late summer heat in subsequent drier years. My attempt to pull it out has been only semi-successful. It rebounded somewhat this year as we had an extraordinary “water year,” registering almost 24 inches between October 1, 2022 and September 30th of this calendar year 😉
Thanks for your comment!
Not much seems to become unmaneagable here in NH 🙂 except some weeds, mostly those introduced from other places recently, like Asian bittwersweet, knotweed, glossy buckthorn trees. Jewelweed and goldenrod, both natives, popped up EVERYwhere this year but they are easily managed and I left most of them for insects and habitat. I’m trying to think of natives that are too spready here and coming up blank …. Lupine spreads all over but most people like that. Wild geranium is very spready but it’s easy to pull up and it grows where a lot of other things won’t. I grow crocosmia, not a native here, and it sure spreads, but again, I like that.
I’m not sure how much rain we got over the year-span but from June through Aug, it was almost twice as much as usual for us (about 20 inches vs. the typical 11 inches). For Southern Calif., 24 inches does seem like a lot of rain!
Wow, so many beautiful pictures of pollinators. You’ve got a lot happening so late in the season.
Thanks, Jerry. I appreciate your commenting.
I love the late-season insects and plants. I’ve intentionally planted more native (and non-native) plants that bloom or offer pollinator value (as well as habitat) on the edges of the seasons, early spring and early fall, to give insects and the birds and others that feed on them a better chance of thriving, and to give migrators more energy to get them where they’re going.
What exquisite photographs of your October garden and the pollinators. Very beautiful.