October Garden at Flower Patch

My October Garden

How is your garden doing?  Mine is more subdued than at the height of the summer, not as many things blooming at once but there is still beauty to be enjoyed.  The roses are still going and since the sun is not so burning hot the bloom colors are staying more saturated and they are lasting longer on the canes. This is Demitasse…she is a beauty that blooms consistently from Spring until first frost.
She is not in a good spot so she will get moved.  She is the perfect color to put in my Secret Garden so I just need to find the right spot for her back there.  I tried to find a link to one so if you liked her you could order it but I failed.  It was introduced by Jackson and Perkins in 2002 but it isn’t available now on their website. It is a great performer so it is a mystery why I could not find one for purchase.
I am turning the area she is in into a rock / succulent garden.  It is a sunken area between my front porch and our front yard.   You can see I have started collecting rocks and driftwood for the new garden. The pot you see there has a Japanese Maple in it that came from a friends yard.   I will keep it trimmed small with some bonsai techniques and it will find a home here with the succulents.
The Graham Thomas  rose is full of buds and blooms, with the deer so thick this time of year I am surprised I have a bloom left on any of my roses but I think they are more interested in the apples falling from my neighbors tree than my roses, they can eat their fill of apples so my roses don’t look as tasty. (the highlighted text is a link to this rose on the David Austin website)
They later on down this post you will see what they did come and eat..
Well the deer did find the single Daisy re blooming and took a nibble, the little rascals. This is one of my Crazy Daisies
Anne Boleyn is doing well too.  She is a David Austin rose, I have a ton of David Austin English roses because they perform so well for me.  Plus they are just gorgeous!
I have a lot of pink roses, I do love pink and though they are similar in color they are different in form…this is the Queen of Sweden rose.
The hardy (aka Cranesbill) geraniums are still going strong.  I have different varieties planted at the feet of many of my roses.  This one is called Tiny Monster..it is actually a deeper color but I failed to capture it correctly. I need to do an entire post of the different cranesbill geraniums I have.  They are tough as nails and take a beating but still bloom beautifully.  Can you see the little friend on one of the petals?
Another great bloomer that is also very drought tolerant is Gaillardia..this variety is called Arizona Sun and it readily reseeds itself so there is always plenty around.
I did not do much with my barrels this Summer because of the drought, they are harder to keep watered than in the ground plants. But I did put a few coleus in one and they are sure pretty..
Here is a treat for your eyes..one of my Dream Weaver roses has put out an entire bouquet on one cane, typical of her, the show off!
Another climber that is so stunning when it blooms is Kiss of Desire…
I had to cut away all the morning glories that were smothering her, they got to be quite thick and took over the back fence more so than this arbor..
see the bird feeder hanging in the middle just above the pot of bright pink flowers, that is the favorite spot of a ton of birds.  Just below it I have a large terra cottaa pot saucer with water in it and everyday I get a grand selection of birds.  I need to sit out there one morning and get photos to share.  Or a video then you can hear the birdsong too.
A bear recently came thru again and tried to carry off my bag of chicken scratch after ripping a hole in it, so I had a trail of cracked corn from the greenhouse to the road beside my house.  It was a full bag so it left a thick trail.  But now my garden is a smorgasbord for every bird in this neighborhood and they are eagerly cleaning it up.
You can see a bluejay in the largest patch left of the corn, just by the white square stepping stone.  And then he is joined by this little bird… I don’t know what he is called. He has a black head and dark grey feathers on his back with a whitish tummy.
 I thought they were chickadees but it does not match any of the photos I have seen of chickadees.   I need to visit the Visitors Center at the Big Trees State Park just up the road from us, they have a native bird display and I am sure it would be there.
I hope you enjoyed a wee bit of the Fall Garden.  Here is a shot of something the deer got to…it is of my Fall veggies I planted a week ago

Who knew deer loved Brussel Sprouts!  There are six of these little eaten up stems in my garden, they deer walked the fence down and ate all the leaves.  They did the same to the broccoli next to it.  I wonder if the plants will recover or if I should just replant.    My husband cheered them on when he learned they ate the Brussel Sprouts, he dislikes them intensely.
The deer did not bother the Hollyhock next to them though.
I hope you enjoyed a bit of my October Garden.  I love this time of year, the temps are more moderate but still warm.  Just right for working in the garden.
Happy Fall Gardening everyone.
I am working on getting the Greenhouse all tidied up and ready for winter along with starting some plants from slips.  What are you up to in your garden?

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