Tuesday, October 15, 2013

An Astery October Bloom Day

Autumn slowly ambles into the picture on an October Bloom Day. There has been cool and not a bit of cold. Our average annual first frost is October 15th. Normally it is earlier. This year it is not. That lack of cold may be the cause of the late start of the turning. There is still a lot of green out there.





















There are autumn crocus for Bloom Day this year. I believe this is one of Bulbarella's catalog purchases that was handed over to me. I also recall some saffron crocus that were divided and I ended up with some of those bulbs. I have no idea where they are. Bulbs can get lost in the garden. You only know where they are when you find them in bloom.



























You don't have to go looking for the Blue Asters. They are everywhere.



























Blue asters with white asters.



























Blue asters and the Yellie Mum.



























Out in the roadside vegetable garden these Gloriosa Daisies, Rudbeckia hirta, have been blooming non stop since the first of July. They're thriving on horse dung and wood chip mulch. They're in my strawberry patch. They need to go. At this point, frost is the only thing that is going to stop them.



























Look what I grew. I harvested some purple sweet potatoes. My experiment was a success.





















Purple sweet potatoes and purple crocus in October. Not bad.





















Let's not forget the grasses. Late summer when they bloom and well into fall is their prime season of interest.





















For more Bloom Day interest be sure to visit international headquarters at May Dreams Gardens.

6 comments:

Rebecca said...

Purple sweet potatoes? (Now I have to find out if those are different from the orange ones I'm accustomed to eating.....)

No frost here yet either.

Swimray said...

Congratulations on the potatoes. Love how the asters explode this time of year.
--Ray

Rose said...

I wouldn't have the heart to pull out those Gloriosa daisies; the photo with whatever is blooming in the background is beautiful! Do purple sweet potatoes taste differently from the usual orange ones?

Lola said...

Love those asters. I too would like an opinion of the purple sweet potatoes.

Christopher C. NC said...

The purple sweet potatoes were good. A nice flavor, but not as sweet as the orange to me. I want to try them mashed. I planted orange ones too. They will all need to be dug before frost.

Unknown said...

Wow didn't know you could get purple sweet potatoes, I have just harvested purple majesty, normal potatoes.