Anemone x hybrida ‘Whirlwind’
Well, it’s fall here in Maryland and some of the usual suspects are providing our flowers for Bloom Day. Japanese anemone are robust and reliable, as well as incredibly beautiful.
Anemone x hybrida ‘Whirlwind’
Some of the other regulars are in the following pictures.
Trycyrtis ‘Autumn Glow’
Alstroemeria ‘Sweet Laura’
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
St. John’s Wort ‘Hidcote’
In the wildflower patch, the wild asters are currently the star of the show, attracting insects of all sorts.
Wild Aster
In the cutting garden the standouts are the Tithonia.
Tithonia
Beth has shown they look really nice next to the Salvia ‘Black and Blue’. They are also quite tall so it’s easy to see them from underneath as well.
Tithonia from underside
A similar color comes with the Atlantic Poppy which took forever to start blooming but now has a new flower every day.
Papaver atlanticum ‘Flore Pleno’
Inside the greenhouse we have blooming for the first time the Scilla maderensis. It seems to open just a few of the flower elements per day so that it’s never completely in flower for us.
Scilla maderensis
It is nevertheless interesting and exotic which goes a long way to getting space in the greenhouse.
Looking down on Scilla Maderensis
The first of the Oxalis are coming into bloom now.
Oxalis melanostica ‘Ken Aslet’
There are three species blooming now, but the rest will extend the blooming season into January at least.
It’s worth noting that one does not live by flowers alone. The garden fruits and vegetables have been abundant this year, pushing us to new recipes and uses for the crops…
Vegetable garden production
Kieffer Pears
Collecting Seeds
Blackberry Lily (Iris domestica) seeds
Seeing some of the fall seeds is a good reminder that it’s a good time to pack up all those seeds you’ve been carefully collecting all season long to share with the various seed exchanges. You did remember to do that right? If you didn’t it’s still not too late. Many flowers hold their seeds well through the summer and into the fall. They are not always so easy to see and harvest as the blackberry lily (which by the way is a bit too common for most seed exchanges). Some of the species Peonies are still carrying their seeds right now.
Paonia obovata alba seeds
Generally, however, it takes a bit more effort to select and harvest seeds.
As an example I picked a few handfuls of Primula sieboldii back in June and put them in an uncovered plastic bowl. This week I put these primula seeds through my seed strainers. You don’t have to have seed strainers but it makes the process a lot easier. Mine were designed for sifting for gold but the process is the same. They stack one on top of the other and the gold (seed) sifts down to the bottom tray. Here are a few pictures showing the process.
Screen 1
Primula sieboldii with seed pod highlighted
Screen 2
Screen 3
Screen 4
The resulting Primula sieboldii seeds from screen 4
As inspiration here are the original Primula sieboldii which I obtained the seeds from.
Primula sieboldii in April
As a word to the wise, which I wasn’t with some very nice Allium seeds, don’t put seeds that are still moist in a sealed container, or they will just rot over the summer.
In the end I sent off 22 packs of seeds to the Alpine Garden Society, the Scottish Rock Garden Society, and the North American Rock Garden Society. Besides sharing with others this will give the donor first pick privileges when the seeds are distributed this winter.