Early October Flowers

Since my last flower post we’ve had a frost and freezing temps, so this one will probably be the last flower post this year. There will be some flowers like witch hazel and asters still blooming here and there in protected spots but I doubt I’ll find enough to do a full post.

I found a large colony of pink knotweed (Polygonum pennsylvanicum) still blooming, mixed in with grasses and clovers. As smartweeds go this one is very small and short but still pretty.

Pink knotweed is also called Pennsylvania smartweed. The flower heads are made up of many petal less flowers that grow densely on the stalk. Smartweeds get their name from the way your tongue will smart if you bite into them. Native American used smartweeds medicinally to treat a variety of ailments, and also used the chopped plants as a seasoning, much as we use pepper today. Some species are extremely hot while others are said to be milder. I almost always find smartweeds near water but these examples were not.

I’ve seen this pretty bi-color phlox in quite a few gardens. Many phlox blossoms are very fragrant but I always forget to smell this one. What would a fall garden be without a phlox or two? They’re so beautiful, it’s hard not to love them.

I was surprised to find peppers still blooming in a vegetable garden. This example had dark purple anthers.

False dandelion (Hypochaeris radicata) is a plant that is still thriving and I see it blossoming everywhere I go. This plant gets its name from its resemblance to the dandelion, but it would be hard to mistake one for the other. The yellow flowers are smaller than the dandelion’s and stand atop wiry, 6-8 inch long stems.

False dandelion leaves look like miniature versions of dandelion leaves and are nowhere near as wide or as long.

When I first saw this plant blooming while snow was falling a few years ago I thought it was a Shasta daisy on steroids, but it turned out to be the Montauk daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum) which is a Japanese creation also called the Nippon daisy. It is extremely hardy; I’ve seen it bloom after a 28 degree F. night and it is also a very late bloomer. It would be an excellent choice for a fall garden.

Many roses will usually bloom right up until a hard freeze and these pink ones still had a lot of buds coming along.

A friend complained about how weedy her morning glories had become, creeping throughout her vegetable garden and self seeding everywhere. I thought back about what poor luck I always had with them. Though I tried many times in various gardens they just refused to grow and bloom. That’s frustrating for a professional gardener but I suppose it’s good to have things in life that keep us humble.

I saw this zinnia still blooming in a friend’s garden. It might be the last one of the season.

New England asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) have just about finished now and I’m seeing fewer and fewer of them, so I thought I’d better grab a photo. It was on a roadside that had been mowed earlier, but even after being cut it still bloomed. I’ve seen other plants do the same.

Pink turtleheads (Chelone lyonii) still bloomed in a local park and I was surprised to see them. Mine stopped blooming a week or two ago. I don’t know the origin of this plant and have never known if it was a native or a cultivar but it does very well and asks for nothing. Pink turtleheads are native to the southeastern U.S. and don’t seem to mind dryness in spite of naturally growing near water.

I’ve never been able to look so deeply into a turtlehead blossom. There’s a lot going on in there. I’m going to have to read up on this plant.

I don’t see scabiosa very often; it doesn’t seem to be very popular here. This example was growing in a local park and seemed to be doing well, with many flowers. Actually I should say many flower heads, because what you see in this photo is a flower head containing many small florets. I’ve read that the name scabiosa comes from the plant’s use in the past to treat scabies, which causes severe itching. It is native to Africa, Europe and Asia.

Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota) had a good year but their time seems to be just about over now. Though another name for this plant is “wild carrot” you had better know exactly what you’re doing if you dig and eat the root because there are very similar plants like water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) that are among the most toxic plants known.

I still see various species of goldenrod blooming here and there but the huge fields of them I saw in August and September are finished for this year. Native Americans used goldenrod for treating colds and toothaches, and it has been used for centuries to treat kidney stones and urinary tract infections.

The last thing I expected to see in October was an orchid in bloom, but there it was blooming away under a powerline cut I was passing through. It grew in what is essentially an unmown meadow, in full sun but surrounded and shaded by plants three times its height. To say it was a surprise would be an understatement.

I believe, because of the dry conditions it grew in and its nodding flowers, that it might be nodding lady’s tresses (Spiranthes cernua.) That orchid blooms in October with white flowers that nod toward the ground. There are at least two other orchids that look nearly identical though, so I could be wrong. I don’t get to see as many orchids as I’d like.

Many people have never learned to see the beauty of flowers, especially those that grow unnoticed. ~Erika Just

Thanks for coming by.