Mexican Petunia

Not only is the Mexican Petunia still blooming its heart out, even the Salvia 'Cherry Queen' still has blooms in it and the Sweet Basil still has big fat bumblebees descending upon its remaining few blooms. October gardens in Georgia . . . . not bad!

Not a Garden Plant

I share a house with Praline; she got me a few years ago, when I just happened to walk through a pet store, saw an "adoption niche" and took a good look at this cat. At least part of her early life must have been miserable. She and I got along just fine, from the first moments, but it took her months before she would come out of hiding (below the skirted sofa on which this picture was taken) and let anyone else touch her. The school bus, the garbage truck, the FedEx and UPS trucks would cause a frantic dash to her hiding place and the doorbell terrified her.

Little by little, it got better and yesterday we had a breakthrough. We both heard the UPS truck coming down the street; she sat up straight and looked to the front door. The truck stopped and she jumped from her bed on my desk to the floor, running toward the stairs. Soothingly speaking to her, she stopped at the top of the stairs and even when the doorbell rang, she stayed sitting there, returning to jump back on my desk when we heard the truck leaving. Wow - such progress!

Asters in my Garden

Robin Lane Fox, writing in today’s Financial Times, mentioned asters. He stays away from the novi-belgii varieties, he wrote, and instead prefers the novae-angliae forms. That made me think. I have only two Asters in my garden, a Japanese and a Georgia, and it made me curious about their official (Latin) names. Both still had their original tags, stuck in the ground next to them, so I went outside, pulled the tags out and now know that I am growing a Asteromoea mongolica and a Symphyotrichum georgianum. How “mongolica” translates into “Japanese” and how anyone could ever in a snap identify a “Symphyotrichum” as an aster is beyond me, but, needless to say, a serious gardener should know her plants’ Latin names. I’ll have to remember that, if I ever decide to garden for anything more than pure enjoyment.

Oh, and another thing, when I lived in England, I had never heard of asters. But I sure recognized Michaelmas Daisies!

Lemon Verbena

As if my garden needed another plant . . . ., especially a tender perennial in October . . . . Oh, well! I stopped off at the Hall County Garden Expo yesterday afternoon and this is the plant that came home with me. It will probably have to spend the Winter indoors (as if the inside of my house needed more plants . . . .), but as long as it makes it till next year, it will have been a good (modest) investment.

Swamp Sunflower

Among the first perennials I bought after becoming a Master Gardener, I have over the years been more than happy to "share the wealth" and give many of these invasive plants away. Last year, it even occurred to me that I should eradicate them all from my landscape. Now I am glad I saved a few of them; so cheerful on a cool October morning! Its neighbor, a Rosemary, is in bloom also (it's always in bloom!), but cannot compete with the Swamp Sunflower's showiness.

October Red

Although I prefer a "cool" garden, with whites, pinks, lavenders and purples, a Pineapple Sage, because it blooms so late in the season, is always a welcome presence, especially on days like today, when the morning air is a bit chilly and the fog lingers beyond sunrise. With a Maple tree to its left, a Pine tree and a huge Rosemary to its right and an Angelonia just below it, I hope this shrubby herb will come back this year (I'll have to find some new Angelonias again next April).

Autumn Blooms

This Chrysanthemum almost did not make it to make garden. A young woman selling a variety of plants at the Hoschton Farmers' Market earlier in the year touted this plant as an "old-fashioned, late-blooming heirloom" ("heirloom" sells, right?). When she said it had pink flower, I was convinced. It is, in fact, a delightful plant (prettier than shown in this early morning photograph) and the first thing I see every day when I open my dining room blinds. I think the seller's name was Kathy. So, Kathy, if you happen to read this . . . ., great recommendation! And, if you are at the market again next year, I may well buy a few more from you!