Mums and Remnants

In my travels I see all kinds of views. They have been rain soaked the last two days.

And if I had thought of it, I would have taken some pictures for Bloom Day in my travels. I didn't.

Bloom Day will have to be held high on the low spot of a North Carolina mountain top in the wild cultivated gardens.

Don't let the fall foliage distract you. There are flowers out there to find.

I got mums. Not round store bought mum balls, real mums grow here. The Yellie Mum is looking pretty good even after an onslaught of strong winds and incessant rain.

The new pink mum is laying down and winding down. It did very well coming from tiny root sprigs this spring.

The original Sheffie Mum is not having a particularly floriferous year. This batch along the drive has a few blooms. The first batch in the roadside bed looks as green and healthy as can be and there is not a single flower stem. It has been engulfed. I'd say it needs more sun.

The asters are still with us. There are aster remnants mostly. The big show is over.

The last of the blue asters linger. One day they are there. The next day they are done.

All that wind finally dropped a broken limb that had been hanging in a maple tree for two years. Thank you. Looking at that dead branch had annoyed me endlessly. I kept thinking I was going to have to climb up there and get it down.

On the left is my Seven Son Flower, Heptacodium miconioides. It bloomed quite well this year and is now trying to form the pink calyxes that follow the flowers before it gets frozen.

Flowers are not just about petals. The grasses are in full bloom too.

And even when they are done, those dried flower spikes will last all winter long.

So don't let the fall foliage distract you. There are still plenty of flowers in the wild cultivated gardens in mid-October. If it hadn't been so cold and raining I might have gone looking for more.

September's riot of color in the Tall Flower meadow is over. Now I have to make more of an effort to go looking for blooms. You can make it easy on yourself by visiting Bloom Day Central at May Dreams Gardens.