Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - October 2017

Despite us being half way through October there is still loads of colour in the gardens in the nursery. A lot of it will carry on until the first frosts up here in the Scottish borders. Two great annuals in the herb garden are marigolds and Sunflower 'Claret' is still flowering with it's yellow and brown flowers. They've been in flower since August and I will definitely be growing them again next year. The ordinary humble yellow sunflower however has not flowered, they've been sitting in bud for weeks with not a hint of yellow petal.  

Sunflower 'Claret'

Also in the herb garden are the last of the marigolds (Calendula), this year I sowed 'Art Shades' which come in creams, yellows, oranges and any combination in between. They have also flowered since August and I've gathered seeds for next year. I'm hoping they will also self seed in the border too.

I love marigolds (Calendula), they are such a cheery flower

Late summer perennials are such good value as many of them flower right through autumn until the first frosts. This is when Asters or Symphyotrichum as they are now known come into their own. Flowering in whites, blues, purples and pinks they can be anything between 1.5 feet to 6 feet high. They are also great for flower arranging and will last in a vase for more than a week.

Aster 'Coombe Fishacre' has sprays of pale purple flowers

White Aster 'Monte Casino' which has sprays of tiny flowers all the way up it's 6 foot high
 stems and an unknown purple Aster

Another great perennial in flower now is Rudbeckia, again a variable genus of plants all with big cones in the flower centres. Some are 2 feet high and some a massive 7 feet! Again they flower for weeks and will tolerate a range of conditions, especially our clay soil and exposed conditions.

Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm'

Rudbeckia lanceolata, a towering species, great for the back of a border with tall grasses
such as the Stipa gigantea in the back ground

Sedums and Persicarias are still holding their own despite having been flowering for a month or so and all the Calamagrostis are turning lovely buff and caramel colours. They give a lovely variation of texture and movement in the borders amongst other tall perennials. The flowering stems will stand through most of winter too, looking pretty with frost on them. 

Sedum 'Herbsfreude' and Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Atrosanguineum'
with Lathyrus latifolius in the foreground

Then there's the apples on the trees in the stock beds, I'm looking forward to apple pies and crumbles through winter

Thanks to Carol for this meme, you can see what is flowering in her garden here  May Dreams Garden

In other news

~ I was delighted and surprised that my blog was featured on Thompson and Morgan's blog, you can see it here Thompson and Morgan blog

~ If you are looking for a garden to visit why not visit Floors Castle, you can read about my own visit here Floors Castle Gardens

~ If you want to find out what's been happening in our garden at home like our Facebook page 

                                                      The quirky Bird Gardener 

~ If you to see whats new and looking good at the nursery like our Facebook page

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