Bloom Day - October 2011

Happy October Bloom Day! Rather than repeat some of the blooms I've pictured in more recent posts, here are a few you haven't seen much of.

My passalong Persicaria (could it be 'Lance Corporal'?) is determined to take over the world, to judge from the hundreds of tiny flowers and eventual seeds that are produced by just a few plants. They look like bright pink beads on the flower stems.

The crape myrtle is way past its flowering prime and like me, it's missing the hot, sunny days of summer. But there are still full trusses of blossom that haven't opened. I wonder if they will continue to open one at a time, as it seems they are doing here.

Hardy fuchsias are long bloomers in the garden. Both this little variegated Fuchsia magellanica macrostema and the larger Fuchsia hatchbatchii below it have had flowers for months and show no signs of stopping.

A sweet little Cistus x obtusifolius keeps plugging away with a few blooms at a time.

At a distance, I didn't see the slight rain damage that became apparent when I saw the image below on my screen. It's a charming flower anyway: I'll take it any time of year.

My climbing 'Sally Holmes' rose is also suffering from the inches of rain Portland has already endured this month. This is her fourth wave of blooms this year, and the trusses are getting getting totally drenched.

The really big excitement here is that after four summers, my Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) has finally produced three panicles. I wanted (and thought I got) a white-plumed variety, so I'm a little concerned that they look pinkish (even brown in this late afternoon shot.) Maybe they'll bleach out as they age?

After driving up the coast to Big Sur, I can see why pampas are considered such a huge nuisance in California, but I still love them. I hope I'm not going to be guilty of harboring an invasive species here in Oregon in years to come...

After a very slow start this year, the dwarf Pomegranite (Punica granatum 'True Dwarf') is still putting out a few flowers.

Following three years of serious winter setbacks, both Trachelospermum jasminoides have come back like gangbusters and climbed the fence as they were originally intended to do. Although their peak bloom period is over, there are quite a few flowers and you can catch their faint scent when the sun is on them.

Three Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb' have been blooming most of the summer. I brought a pot of them from my last house five years ago and just this summer I plopped divisions into the ground to fill an open spot. They are supreme survivors, adding a splat of intense yellow to the front garden.

And finally, the Cape fuchsia, Phygelius x rectus 'Passsionate' has spires that are over my head and still flowering at the tips. The hummingbirds that were enjoying them have gone for the winter, but the flowers keep hopefully opening, just in case one returns hungry.

Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Click on over to see flowers from all over the world!