At this point in the season, low temps here in my part of New Hampshire have dipped to 18°F (with highs below 40°F) and there’s not much in the way of flowers left other than some annual mums around town (not mine).
But between 15 October and the ten days of November, we did have some blooms remaining. And of course, fall foliage colour.
“'What’s the autumn?' “'A second spring when every leaf’s a flower.'” — Albert Camus, Act 2 in the play "The Misunderstanding"
First, the perennial (to zone 5) mums (I don’t know their exact names, though I think the pink one might be Chrysanthemum ‘Hillside Sheffield Pink’), which are wilted now but still in flower; in October and early November they hosted so many insect species. In chronological order …
19 Oct22 Oct22 Oct26 Oct26 Oct28 Oct28 oct – sweat bee28 Oct – sweat bee28 Oct – bumblebee28 Oct – honey bee28 Oct – North American tarnished plant bug & pure green sweat bee28 Oct – yellow-legged flower fly28 Oct – dark paper wasp28 Oct – eastern calligrapher fly28 Oct – emerald bottle fly28 Oct – apple leaf skeletonizer moth26 Oct – bumblebee26 Oct – drone fly
29 Oct
4 Nov – house fly4 Nov – eastern calligrapher fly10 Nov with snow – you can see the pink ones withstand cold and snow better than the orange ones15 Nov – TODAY
Goldenrods – not frost-killed, just finished blooming by the third week or so of October, though I saw some later varieties/individuals in places besides my garden.
18 Oct – monarch18 Oct – bumblebee19 Oct – emerald bottle fly19 Oct – bumblebee & flower fly22 Oct – bumblebee22 Oct
19 Oct – Calyophus hybrid ‘Ladybird Sunglow’22 Oct10 Nov – Scaevola hybrid ‘Whirlwind Blue’10 Nov – Verbena rigida ‘Cake Pops Purple’10 Nov
Annual Vermillionaire® Large Firecracker Plant (Cuphea)
As I’ve mentioned before, this annual lasts the entire season here in my part of NH. I planted this one in June, because that’s when I first found it at the local nursery, but it could have been planted in late April or May.
28 Oct 4 Nov (after frost)
Here are the rest, in chronological order:
18 Oct – Gaillardia18 Oct – perennial arugula 18 Oct – nasturtium22 Oct – another hardy mum22 Oct – Pink Pewter lamiun22 Oct – annual begonia22 Oct – ‘Ellen’s Blue’ buddleia22 Oct – ‘Curtain Call’ anemone22 Oct – Cardinal flower22 Oct – jewelweed24 Oct – feverfew buds & flowers24 Oct – ‘Rozanne’ geranium26 Oct – ‘Rozanne’ geranium28 Oct – ‘Grandpa Ott’ morning glory28 Oct – nasturtium28 Oct – black-eyed Susan28 Oct – evening primrose28 Oct – comfrey28 Oct – calendula28 Oct – hydrangea (the one that never blooms)
And finally, some fall foliage that’s also cheery and colourful.
Weeping larch (tamarack)
28 Oct 4 Nov15 Nov
The rest of the fall foliage, in chronological order.
21 Oct21 Oct – native grasses, dwarf ‘River king’ birch, tulip poplar21 Oct – dwarf ‘River King’ birch21 Oct – Japanese maple and spicebush22 Oct (with peegee hydrangea blooms)22 Oct – filipendula22 Oct – tulip poplar, hazelnut, summersweet22 Oct – tulip poplar and invasive euonymus23 Oct23 Oct23 Oct – mums, spicebush, pagoda dogwood26 Oct – invasive euonymus, tulip poplar, hazelnut, summersweet26 Oct – hosta26 Oct – summersweet, spicebush, pagoda dogwood, Japanese maple, invasive euonymus26 Oct – dwarf ‘River King’ birch, native grasses28 Oct28 Oct15 Nov
Hope to see you back in the garden in May 2024!
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.)
Your chrysanthemum are/were fabulous! Despite my VERY different climate, we share some flowers, such as the Cuphea, Gaillardia, and Scaevola. In coastal southern California, I don’t get anything like your fall color, though.
Your chrysanthemum are/were fabulous! Despite my VERY different climate, we share some flowers, such as the Cuphea, Gaillardia, and Scaevola. In coastal southern California, I don’t get anything like your fall color, though.
So many lovely flowers! I love the peachy colored mums. I’m zone 8b, and you have more flowers still than I do!
Thanks, Lisa! Surprised we have (or had) more flowers here than you in Zone 8b!