Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - October 2012

OSO EASY™ Cherry Pie, Rosa 'Meiboulka'

Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for October 2012.

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6b garden in central Indiana, fall is slowly pulling the curtain across the garden, ending this most unusual growing season.

This fall has been as good a season as I can remember in quite some time.  It brought rain, which revived many plants that had sulked and suffered through the record setting drought.

The roses made a nice comeback, including this OSO EASY™ Cherry Pie, Rosa 'Meiboulka', which has been a star since it was planted just last season.

The yellow roses out front, Sunny Knock Out® Rose,
Rosa 'Radyod', had a tough summer, planted in full sun with a south facing wall throwing radiated heat back at it all summer.

They look pretty good now, with cooler weather. Early next spring, I'm going to cut them back hard and rejuvenate them a bit.

Elsewhere in the garden, asters are finishing their bloom in Plopper's Field.

The bees have been all over them, in search of pollen that they probably couldn't find in July when the garden was so dry, almost nothing was in bloom.

Asters, grasses and other prairie-type flowers are finishing up their grand stand in August Dreams Garden.

I do like the backdrop that the grasses provide for the flowers.  And to think, I had to be talked into planting grasses when this garden was designed.

Out in the vegetable garden, I've cleared off most of the crops and some cover crops are growing in the raised beds.  Surprisingly I'm still picking a few raspberries and this crazy Clematis is blooming.

Not even frost has stopped it, and we've had several frosty mornings. Go, Clematis, go.

Finally, an October bloom day post just doesn't seem complete without the quintessential flower of fall, tall sedum.

In a few weeks, these blooms will fade to a lovely, rich brown, the leaves on the trees will turn and drop and the curtain really will be closed for this growing season.


How's your garden blooming on this mid-October day?

We would love to have you join in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and tell us all about what is blooming in your garden.

It’s easy to participate and all are invited!

Just post on your blog about what is blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month and leave a comment to tell us what you have waiting for us to see so we can pay you a virtual visit. Then put your name and the url to your post on the Mr. Linky widget below to make it easy to find you.

“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence