Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - October 2014

October Bloom Day in my Southeast Texas garden is much like September Bloom Day. There are still quite a lot of blossoms around, but they are mostly my "old faithfuls" - blooms that I've shown you many times before. Nevertheless, get ready, because here they come again! My October parade of flowers...

Orange cosmos reaching for the sun-drenched sky. A sky in the shade that I always think of as "October-blue." 

Gotta have marigolds and here they are.

I like the look of these orange ones in combination with the purple basil.

It hasn't been a great year for brugmansias but the cooler weather is encouraging some blooms.

The same could be said of my roses. They've mostly been a flop this year, but here's pretty 'Peggy Martin' showing a few late blooms.

'Molineux,' a David Austin rose.

And 'Caldwell Pink,' my favorite old rose.

'Ducher.'

The Knockouts have continued to bloom when few of the other roses did. Here's pink Knockout. 

Even 'Old Blush' is getting in on the act - belatedly.

It's always nice to find unexpected reseeds like these zinnias in pink...

...and white.

Red gerbera daisy.

Hamelia patens - "hummingbird bush."

Porterweed.

What would the fall garden be without a few chrysanthemums scattered around? These lived in pots last fall and I planted them out in the garden after they finished blooming. Now they are beginning to bloom again.

Summer phlox lingers well into autumn.

Lantana 'Dallas Red' - a butterfly magnet.

The purple trailing lantana is at its best in autumn.

Jatropha was late coming back after last winter's freezes and has been late to bloom this year.

Wedelia.

'Chi chi' ruellia can be a thug in the garden, which is belied by its pretty dainty pink flowers. 

Abelia.

'Cashmere Bouquet' clerodendrum.

'Mystic Spires' salvia.

'Coral Nymph' salvia.

'Black and Blue' salvia.

Mahogany Esperanza.

The more traditional yellow Esperanza.

The flowers of okra are pretty enough to give it a place among the ornamentals.

Pineapple sage.

'African Blue' basil - beloved by bees. It is constantly covered with them all day long. If you look closely, you can see a couple of them here.


Turk's Cap.

And Dutchman's Pipe.

Blue plumbago.

Firespike.

Almond verbena.

Crossvine 'Tangerine Dream.'

It may look a bit pinkish in the photo but it is actually 'Blue Mist.'

An old species canna.

And, finally, here's another fortunate reseed. I didn't plant any Tithonia this year but this one came back all on its own, a "volunteer." I just love such surprises - a bit of garden lagniappe.

 
Thank you for visiting my autumn garden and I hope you will come again. A big thanks also to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day once again.

Happy gardening!

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