October Flowers

An ongoing challenge in selecting plants for a garden is finding those that will continue to provide color and interest while the rest of the garden is decaying with colder weather and frosts.  While there have not been any frosts yet, and usually this garden is spared them until the end of November, the options for color this year include two surprises.

This Gaillardia, Oranges and Lemons, was purchased through a mail order company and planted in in spring 2010. It was a slightly random selection, chosen for its combination of color and height, with no specific advice to be found about its qualities or virtues.

It was a very hard start for the two plants.  One almost died after planting, then seemed to resurrect itself. The other did not do much better.  I have had similar troubles with other Gaillardias, so maybe that is a common problem?

Then in the middle of the summer both developed good sized plants, started blooming, and bloomed continuously for the rest of the summer.  While I tried to deadhead them as the flowers dropped their petals, just like the one in the bottom left corner of this picture, the plant didn't seem to care and regularly put out new blossoms.

So, at least for the first year, this seems to be a keeper.  It still has to survive the winter and show its stuff next year, but I am pleased so far.

The other showy plant is actually blooming now because of delay and neglect.  It is a pink Gladiolus that came out of my mother's garden a few years ago.  I have no idea of the name or variety since I pulled these bulbs from the flower bed after it had been rototilled.  

The reason it is blooming is because these were never planted until early September.  While there was a good chance that none would have time to bloom, I decided to take a chance.  So, these came through, but few of the rest have any flower stalks.  I am not a big fan of Gladiolus, but since these were some of Mom's, I have tried to keep them going.  I had heard that these are a favorite of deer, but so far, no chomping has occured.

I have many other plants from Mom, that I will write about as they show their colors.