BECBG in early fall



It looks as though it will take a hard frost to end this display. We visited the Botanical Gardens to meet the orchid society people (which I’ve posted about on Garden Rant), but as impressive as their handiwork was, I found myself admiring the persistently vibrant annual beds even more. The Mexican sunflowers I mistook for dahlias last time continue to open, while the verbena bonariensis has been joined by massed boltonia.

I’ve noticed this in my own garden; starting with younger seedlings such as those I get from Select Seed and my friend’s basement greenhouse provides a delayed, and hence longer-lasting display. I imagine the growers at the Gardens do everything from seed; I wish I could. It would simply take too long with all the shade.

The orchid show was interesting, though all the prize ribbons detracted from the flowers. I guess the winners don’t mind that too much. Above is … some kind of cattleya, I think. I’m just beginning to learn about these plants.

Easier to identify are these colchicums, which have naturalized all along the front perimeter of the perennial beds. These could be waterlily or pleniflorum, judging from images I’ve seen in catalogs. Lovely. I should give these another try in the front yard; looks like they might take some shade. Most bulbs will.

Comments

Carol Michel said…
As they say, good things come to those who wait, and when you grow your own seedlings you do have to wait a bit, but you end up with a display that goes longer into the season, as you've noted.

Be careful with those orchids. I read your post on Garden Rant... you could end up with "the fever", first you get one orchid, then two, then a dozen, then you are president of the local orchid society!

Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Sue Swift said…
Hi – this is an invitation to join the Garden Bloggers Retro carnival. I don’t know if you’ve ever come across the concept of a Blog carnival – if not I’ve explained it in detail on my site today (Oct 1). But basically the idea is to revive an old post which you think is worth rereading, or which you think new readers might enjoy. Send me the link to the post, and in November I’ll publish a series of posts describing and linking to all the posts people have nominated.
I hope you’ll join in and we have a fun carnival!
Sue
Unknown said…
That's a good point, about seed-started annuals and smaller transplants blooming longer and looking better at this time of the year. I never really thought about that before, but am appreciating right now that it took me so long to get my nicotiana sylvestris into the ground. It's still very fresh-looking and has been in bloom about 3 weeks.
lisa said…
I like those colchicums too, and your picture really makes me want to buy some! However, my finance dept. has been found guilty of gross misappropriation of the fall bulb descretionary fund, so I'm done for this year. No harm in starting next year's list, though.... ;-)

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