Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - September 2010

Carol's been hosting GBBD for years over at May Dreams Garden, and now I'm a monthly participant after years of observing.  The nights are getting colder, mornings have a nip in the air, and the sun only makes a brief visit each day -- the garden is definitely slowing down.  Will any of the flowers on the veggies make it to harvest?  The edible ornamental peppers might:

 

The Kentucky wonder beans probably will:

 

But I doubt this tomato flower will become a ripe tomato:

The ever-bearing strawberries keep producing a berry here and there, but this one might be a little too late:

The zinnias in the patio garden provide a much needed dash of color there:

 

And the butterfly bush is thriving in a pot on another corner.  It will be interesting to see how it overwinters and comes back in the spring:

 

The osteospermums picked up at Walmart for $10 were probably the best purchase of the summer: 

 

Not technically blooming in my garden, but eminently visible over the fence is my neighbor's sweet autumn clematis: 

 

It's absolutely stunning, even from all the way over on the patio: 

 

I did a terrible job fertilizing the dahlias this year, so this is actually the first blooming dahlia of 2010 and it's not even fully in flower yet:

 

I wonder what (if anything) will be blooming in October?

Comments

[Layanee]

You are up quite early aren't you? Saw your comment over at Carol's. Anyway, nice blooms. Love that first shot of the pepper flower. So very pretty.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Looks like quite a lot is happening in your garden. Lucky you to have such a wonderful clematis to enjoy without all the work!

[Katie/Gardenpunk]

The ornamental peppers are gorgeous. I think I am finally convinced I am growing them next year.

[Town Mouse]

I like that butterfly bush, what a great idea to put one in a pot! You can probably cut it way back, less to freeze off ;->Mine came back for years, then it just got too big.

[Mr. McGregor's Daughter]

That's the best way to have Autumn Clematis- all the beauty, none of the work.

[Donna]

Osteospermums are great. They bloom and boom and bloom. I bet they hang in through October.Pretty photos.

[Valerie]

I have lots of green tomatoes in the garden. Our squash is still small and I do not know if they will get big enough for Canadian Thanksgiving in October. Thanks for sharing.

[A Garden of Threads]

I too have lots of green tomaotes and squash that will never ripen before frost. My blooms have mostly given up, not enough rain and the sun has moved to much to even give them light. Fall has arrived in my garden.

[Mummer]

I love seeing the first signs of Fall in your garden. That is something I truly miss here in 'Paradise South'. It's still in the mid nineties, so my gardening is limited to watering and transplanting very early in the morning - lest my my vision be obscured by dripping sweat!

[commonweeder]

I didn't mention in my post that I still have squash blossoms which will probably bear nice yellow squash, and even a few tomato blossoms that will die unfulfilled. I appreciate the reminder to look everywhere for blooms.

[linda]

Your ornamental pepper is beautiful! It's a little sad seeing all the veggie blooms that won't have time to mature into ripe fruit. Your neighbor's clematis is a beautiful 'borrowed' view! Lots of pretty things in your garden this Bloom Day.

[Dee @ Red Dirt Ramblings]

I wonder too. Hi Heather. Is it sad as your garden slows down? I always wonder about those gardeners who have such a long winter ahead. I love that shot of your ornamental pepper. It's really really good. Welcome to the dark side my friend. (bwahh, haa haa)~~Dee

[noel]

aloha heather,

what a lovely garden you have, and your veggies look great, i think you just may still get some tomatoes.

[Heather's Garden]

Layanee -- Midnight's pretty normal for me, I'm a night person usually in bed by 1 or 2am. I was pretty excited to get the first link and comment though!

Linda from ELW -- Very lucky indeed since I managed to kill 3 clematis this year by not watering enough. They might surprise me and come back next spring, but I doubt it.

Katie -- Thanks, they're all self-sown from last year's plants, so they really couldn't be easier to grow. I think I'm going to move at least one container of them inside to see if I can manage to grow through the winter.

Town Mouse -- I'll stick just about anything into a pot. It was only $5 at the end of the local wholesalers's season back in late June, so I figured for $5 who cared if it made it through the winter, but now I've become attached.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter -- I enjoyed his sweet autumn clematis before I started gardening, but now that I know how tempermental clematis are in my garden I love it so much more.

Donna -- Considering the abuse the osteospermums take in my garden (lack of fertilizer or water is common) I've figured out they're darn tough little flowers.

Valerie -- I have a table full of ripe tomatoes that I have to start giving to neighbors. They're all coming at the same time again!

A Garden of Threads -- The lack of regular rain has really slowed down my veggie production too. Even established bushes are starting to droop.

Mom -- I'm about to put on socks and long-sleeves so I really envy your warm temps today. It is definitely fall in New England!

Commonweeder -- If I had as many flowers in my garden as you do I wouldn't have to resort to vegetables for blooms!

Linda -- It is sad, isn't it? But it's tough to complain when my kitchen table is covered in tomatoes. I have a cherry tomato plant that I'm thinking about bringing into the kitchen for the winter just to see if it will bear fruit.

Dee -- It's very sad as the garden slows down. I'm trying some fall crops this year so maybe they'll make the end a little less abrupt. But we have a few weeks in FL to look forward to and the weekly farmer's markets down there make the winter feel a little shorter. And along the shore here in CT at least spring comes pretty early.

[Dorothy/Gardening with Nature]

What a gorgeous garden. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[Aerie-el]

Lovely blooms! I applaud you, at least your dahlia came up!

[Gayle Madwin]

Do you know what species of strawberries those are? They look just like my Fragaria vesca.

[Monica at Garden Junkies]

Nice to see some veggies in bloom, rather than the usual annuals and perennials. I always forget that veggies bloom too! Love the shot of the osteospermum. I've tried to grow them so many times and have had absolutely no luck - not sure what the problem is but I suspect it's lack of watering while they're still in the cell-pack from the nursery (I'm terrible with watering anything in a container!).

[Heather's Garden]

Noel -- In my garden it takes about 5 weeks to get from blossom to ripe fruit and this time of year that slows down because the garden gets about an hour less of sun each day. So I'd be really suprised if I got tomatoes from those flowers before our first frost (usually some time in October).

Dorothy -- Thank you for the compliment and coming to visit!

Aerie-el -- That's a great way to look at it, at least the dahlias grew! It's fully in flower today and a few others have flowers about to pop.

Gayle -- I don't know what specices the strawberries are, the label only said ever-bearing. They don't really give us a lot of strawberries, but they're very pretty in the pots.

Monica -- The osteospermums need a lot of water and I'm terrible about watering them myself. You'll notice I only take photos of the flowers, that's because the foliage looks terrible from lack of water!

[Scott]

Love those ornamental peppers...fabulous!

[Jennah]

I love your one orange zinnia! I only got shades of pink (mostly) and red.

And I'm jealous of your osteospermums. I bought two of them and they really didn't bloom at all after their initial planting. Perhaps they were too dry, though I watered both of them often and they were both in slightly different sun conditions. The foliage actually looks fine - just no blooms. I had high hopes for them because I liked their height, but I don't think I'll be buying them again.