Blooming Today

After too much time spent digging and planting and weeding, I took some time off to take pictures of things still blooming on this last Sunday in September.

Achillea, common name Yarrow, is a pretty dependable rebloomer after taking a little break. I expect I will have blooms on at least several of them until frost. Right now I have a rose pink one and this one blooming. They make good cut flowers and expand nicely to make a good sized clump after a few years.
Calendula is a self seeding annual that comes in many shades of orange/yellow/beige. I planted them years ago and always have some, though they are pretty much all this color now. Guess it's time to plant some new colors next spring. A good cut flower and will last past the first few light frosts.

Several of my Clematis are reblooming this year. This one is Duchess of Albany and is the only bell shaped on blooming now. All of the blue ones seem to be in bloom. This doesn't always happen, but is most appreciated.

This is Diervella (I think I've spelled that wrong, maybe?) 'Cool Splash'. It is a wonder variegated shrub for full sun even when it's not in bloom. The flowers aren't all that showy but it seems to bloom from spring until frost.

This is the last bloom on Hibiscus 'Nacodoches River'. It has different leaves for a hibiscus, being very, very thin and more of a reddish color. It grows in one of our small ponds. The flower is also much smaller, maybe 3 inches across, than those dinner-plate types that were blooming a month ago.

Hydrangea 'Pink Diamond' has finally turned pink. The flowers have been out for over a month, but have been very slow turning pink this year. Worth waiting for, I think since this is the best pink color I've seen in years.

This is also the last Lotus bloom of the season. 'Shewan Batsu' is a slightly smaller bloom than 'Imperial' which is in the other pond. Still, at 6-8 inches across, it makes quite a show. The first hint of frost will do in these plants. They look so sturdy with their huge, leathery leaves, but after frost the only thing that will remain will be the seed pods to be collected for dried arrangements.

I've always loved this Nicotiana sylvestris. It doesn't even come up until August some years, but then takes off. The plant makes a rosette of huge leaves at least 2 feet across and then sends up a bloom scape that is often taller than I am. The flowers are sweetly scented, especially in the evening.

We are still having occasional rebloom on some of the daylilies. This tiny one is Pixel with blooms only about an inch or so across on scapes less than a foot tall. Oh so cute!

If you've remembered (and had the time) to cut back your Tradescantia after the first bloom, you should have lots of new bloom right about now. This one, 'Karminglut', has just started blooming again.

And last, but not least, the first blooms on the Tricyrtis, the Toad Lilies) opened this morning. They just sit there all summer and then in mid to late September cover their whole stems with these interesting spotted flowers, one at each point where the leaves are attached to the stems. Sometimes slugs can be a problem, but it has been so dry here the past month or so, I think our slugs have all dried up or left for more pleasant climates.

Lots more still blooming. If it doesn't rain too hard, I'll share some more of our September blooms tomorrow.

Jane