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Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - October 2014

October Bloom Day in my Southeast Texas garden is much like September Bloom Day. There are still quite a lot of blossoms around, but they are mostly my "old faithfuls" - blooms that I've shown you many times before. Nevertheless, get ready, because here they come again! My October parade of flowers...

Orange cosmos reaching for the sun-drenched sky. A sky in the shade that I always think of as "October-blue." 

Gotta have marigolds and here they are.

I like the look of these orange ones in combination with the purple basil.

It hasn't been a great year for brugmansias but the cooler weather is encouraging some blooms.

The same could be said of my roses. They've mostly been a flop this year, but here's pretty 'Peggy Martin' showing a few late blooms.

'Molineux,' a David Austin rose.

And 'Caldwell Pink,' my favorite old rose.

'Ducher.'

The Knockouts have continued to bloom when few of the other roses did. Here's pink Knockout. 

Even 'Old Blush' is getting in on the act - belatedly.

It's always nice to find unexpected reseeds like these zinnias in pink...

...and white.

Red gerbera daisy.

Hamelia patens - "hummingbird bush."

Porterweed.

What would the fall garden be without a few chrysanthemums scattered around? These lived in pots last fall and I planted them out in the garden after they finished blooming. Now they are beginning to bloom again.

Summer phlox lingers well into autumn.

Lantana 'Dallas Red' - a butterfly magnet.

The purple trailing lantana is at its best in autumn.

Jatropha was late coming back after last winter's freezes and has been late to bloom this year.

Wedelia.

'Chi chi' ruellia can be a thug in the garden, which is belied by its pretty dainty pink flowers. 

Abelia.

'Cashmere Bouquet' clerodendrum.

'Mystic Spires' salvia.

'Coral Nymph' salvia.

'Black and Blue' salvia.

Mahogany Esperanza.

The more traditional yellow Esperanza.

The flowers of okra are pretty enough to give it a place among the ornamentals.

Pineapple sage.

'African Blue' basil - beloved by bees. It is constantly covered with them all day long. If you look closely, you can see a couple of them here.


Turk's Cap.

And Dutchman's Pipe.

Blue plumbago.

Firespike.

Almond verbena.

Crossvine 'Tangerine Dream.'

It may look a bit pinkish in the photo but it is actually 'Blue Mist.'

An old species canna.

And, finally, here's another fortunate reseed. I didn't plant any Tithonia this year but this one came back all on its own, a "volunteer." I just love such surprises - a bit of garden lagniappe.

 
Thank you for visiting my autumn garden and I hope you will come again. A big thanks also to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day once again.

Happy gardening!
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Comments

  1. LeaOctober 14, 2014 at 11:23 PM

    So many beautiful blooms!
    I'm glad you included the okra. I think okra has the prettiest bloom of any vegetable.
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 15, 2014 at 9:28 AM

      It shows its relationship to hibiscus, doesn't it?

      Delete
  2. rusty duckOctober 15, 2014 at 4:25 AM

    Glorious Dorothy, especially against that brilliant blue sky. I bought Black & Blue Salvia a month or so back, it's a beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Donna@Gardens Eye ViewOctober 15, 2014 at 9:48 AM

    Dorothy I cannot get over all the blooms still there especially the roses and those orange cosmos....love them!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 15, 2014 at 10:01 AM

      Actually, October is one of the most floriferous months here. The cooler weather is a relief to plants as well as the gardener.

      Delete
  4. CaroleOctober 15, 2014 at 3:43 PM

    Beautiful - we only have cameilias and roses at the moment. Cheers from CArole's Chatter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 15, 2014 at 4:32 PM

      Well, camellias and roses are beautiful, too. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  5. bookwormOctober 15, 2014 at 7:52 PM

    What a beautiful blue sky! I enjoyed your flowers, especially the ones that don't grow where I live in upstate New York. When I lived in Arkansas, years ago, we grew both "regular" and red okra, and the flowers were the best part. Happy GBBD. Ramblin with AM.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 15, 2014 at 9:05 PM

      I do love this red okra. The entire plant, including the pods, is decorative. And the pods are also good to eat.

      Delete
  6. Pam's English GardenOctober 16, 2014 at 6:38 AM

    The abundance of blooms in your October garden, Dorothy, is amazing to me. I never saw an okra bloom before. How beautiful! P. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 16, 2014 at 9:20 AM

      In October, everything seems to be in a hurry to get in its last flush of blooms, and so even though we don't get much "fall color" in our leaves, we do have our fall colors here.

      Delete
  7. Ni de Aqui, Ni de AllaOctober 16, 2014 at 8:48 AM

    Hi Dorothy! Beautiful flowers you have! And there are some that I also have blooming here in Virginia. I have phlox, but I called fall phlox :), mist flower and plumbago, but my plumbago is the one that is used as ground cover. I really like your zinnias and the different types of salvia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 16, 2014 at 9:23 AM

      Thanks for dropping by. It is always interesting to compare blooms every Bloom Day and see what we have in common with others in widely separated areas and what is different.

      Delete
  8. RoseOctober 16, 2014 at 9:01 AM

    So many lovely blooms in your garden, Dorothy! I've never tried growing okra before, but it would be worth it just for those pretty blooms. I do have 'Black and Blue' salvia, though, which is one of my favorites. It's an annual here; does yours survive the winter? And I love pineapple sage! Happy Bloom day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 16, 2014 at 9:24 AM

      All the salvias do survive winter here - at least our normal winters. Should we have an exceptionally cold one, it might be too much for them.

      Delete
  9. Lee@A Guide to Northeastern GardeningOctober 16, 2014 at 4:15 PM

    Your roses and daisies are beautiful Dorothy and I enjoyed my visit to your garden....so colorful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 16, 2014 at 5:51 PM

      Thanks, Lee. I enjoyed my visit to your northeastern garden as well. It's always such a treat to see what gardeners elsewhere are growing.

      Delete
  10. HELENEOctober 16, 2014 at 7:37 PM

    What a lovely collection of October flowers, I also have very much a repeat of September’s flower still, but by next month it’s all change in my garden usually. And I see you have a Dutchman's Pipe! I so want one of those :-) I also agree about the okra, very pretty flowers, I have never seen it before. Happy GBBD!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 16, 2014 at 10:23 PM

      Yes, I think we can both probably expect big changes between now and November Bloom Day. But every month is its own adventure, isn't it?

      Delete
  11. Danielle Bedics-Arizala, The Magic GardenOctober 25, 2014 at 10:42 AM

    I am still in awe of your orange cosmos. I've never seen them in that color before. Also, had no idea you could get chrysanthemums to bloom again. There's so much color going on in your garden. It looks wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 25, 2014 at 11:07 AM

      I always plant my chrysanthemums in the garden after they finish blooming in pots and, for the most part, they do survive and do well.

      Delete

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