October in the Northern Hemisphere

[ian mcdonald]

We have just had Michelmas day and the Michelmas daisy,s are in flower being fed on by Red Admirals. img. 1020022.

[Gerdk]

This is Aconitum episcopale - climbing in Sorbus koehneana

Gerd

[Gabriela]

This is Aconitum episcopale - climbing in Sorbus koehneana
Gerd

Lovely combination. We cannot say it's fall until the late Aconitums start flowering

[Leucogenes]

Today in my rock garden ...

Vaccinium macrocarpon (Newfoundland, area around St.John) and
Fruit of Gaultheria parvula (NZ, South Island).

[Tristan_He]

Kniphofia rooperi is spectacular this year. Almost the only poker I have had any flowers off actually - snails are very fond of the flower stems and constant vigilance is needed as the leaves make an ideal hiding place for them.



This michaelmas daisy is a nice dwarf. I bought it as 'Winston S. Churchill' but that is supposed to be dark pink-red. Anyway, very nice and if the sun ever comes out the insects love it.



This is a taller one - a New England aster - which is mildew resistant but tends to get knocked over by the rain. The flowers also get damaged sadly. Still, a nice plant and heaps of flowers.

[Lampwick]

Hypericum inodorum 'Magical Grace'

Pictures taken today.
My daughter (Karen) and I, attended a Plant Hunters Fair at Weston Park, Shropshire, on September 11th. 2016.
We purchased this plant. It adds a nice colour to the garden at this time of the year and has the added bonus if the attractive pink berries which I believe will turn black in the coming weeks.
Apparently there are a number of “Magical” hybrids. Are other members familiar with these?

[Hoy]

The following pictures are more of trees than of flowering plants but I put them here anyway.

The most interesting pictures disappeared completely both from my camera and from my laptop after I had transferred them to my laptop

A hazel tree (Corylus avellana) in the pasture we passed today. Usually they are multistemmed.




The oak forest (Quecus sp) is still green. No frost here yet but the nights are getting chillier.




Juniper tree (Juniperus communis). Trees are not uncommon and the tallest juniper ever recorded in Norway was 17m. In the 19th century millions of juniper logs were exported from Norway so the tree-formed ones are scarcer now.






The ash tree (Fraxinus exelcior) is still green while the birches (Betula pubescens) have lost their foliage. The birch foliage is usually infected by a fungus and fell off early here at the west coast.

[Hoy]

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is common in the forests and also in the open landscape. They are among the first plants to change colour in fall. It depends more on date (shorter days) than on temperature as it has been quite warm until now.




The bog-myrtle Myrica gale) is still green. The leaves and stems have a special fragrance when crushed.




The moist pine forest (Pinus sylvestris) had bog-myrtle as dominating understorey.




Other places the understorey consists of Molinia caerulaea.




A small tarn. Not even a little breeze today.




The rest of the pictures are gone . . . .

[Yann]

nice landscape Hoy, it's a bog?

[ian mcdonald]

Male flowers of bog myrtle on the local patch. They are easy to find when in flower img 3003.

[Hoy]

nice landscape Hoy, it's a bog?

Due to all the rain lately the soil is soaked everywhere. (It usually is soaked in fall.)  It is also a lot of permanent bogs here even in sloping landscape. Some bogs are very soft and consist of sphagnum moss, other are grass (and similar) covered and some have shrubs like bog myrtle.

[Gabriela]

Beautiful! A very nice debut for October Trond. Sorry for your lost pictures.
Talking Myrica - is Osmunda regalis found to grow together with it in some places in Norway?

This year, in the same habitat close to Myrica found the NA Osmunda (spectabilis they call it now); most impressive, large specimens in full, blazing sun! From the distance you couldn't say what it was, then coming close was unbelievable. I was used to see it only in moist areas/ shade.

[Robert]

Trond,

I enjoyed the photographs of your countryside. Norway is such a beautiful place!


We had our first meaningful rainfall of the season yesterday. The scent of Tarweed, Madia sp. , etc. is everywhere in the countryside. The fragrance is divine! I wish that I could package the fragrance and send it on to everyone on the forum. The scent is so ephemeral, here today and then gone tomorrow.

A few photographs from our Sacramento garden before the rain.



A seedling of Mimulus aurantiacus var. pubescens blooming for the first time. This seedling is a bit different in color than most forms of variety pubescens. Most are bright yellow. I have a number of other seedlings coming on and I am very curious how they will turn out.



Rhododendron kiusianum - a violet form - blooming out of season. The plant came from the Rhododendron Species Foundation and preforms extremely well for us.



Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans has started into its blooming season.



Zinnias and Pea wire. I planted green Shell Peas and Purple Podded Snap Peas the other day. We have had very few pollinators this summer. It is kinda scary as it seems like "Silent Spring". I left the Zinnias as they do attract various incests, bees, butterflies, etc. In addition, I like to create my own Zinnia hybrids to my liking. For me it adds to the fascination of growing Zinnias, a very common annual. 

[Hoy]

Beautiful! A very nice debut for October Trond. Sorry for your lost pictures.
Talking Myrica - is Osmunda regalis found to grow together with it in some places in Norway?

This year, in the same habitat close to Myrica found the NA Osmunda (spectabilis they call it now); most impressive, large specimens in full, blazing sun! From the distance you couldn't say what it was, then coming close was unbelievable. I was used to see it only in moist areas/ shade.

Thanks Gabriela

Osmunda regalis is rare in Norway and I have never seen it in the wild here myself. As far as I know it is not connected to habitats where Myrica grows.

But I have seen it in Madagascar! (The books say it is the same species!) No bog myrtles there but a lot of other ferns - and a bunch of palefaces in the "shady" canyon.

(November 2015)

[Hoy]

Trond,

I enjoyed the photographs of your countryside. Norway is such a beautiful place!


We had our first meaningful rainfall of the season yesterday. The scent of Tarweed, Madia sp. , etc. is everywhere in the countryside. The fragrance is divine! I wish that I could package the fragrance and send it on to everyone on the forum. The scent is so ephemeral, here today and then gone tomorrow.

A few photographs from our Sacramento garden before the rain.

A seedling of Mimulus aurantiacus var. pubescens blooming for the first time. This seedling is a bit different in color than most forms of variety pubescens. Most are bright yellow. I have a number of other seedlings coming on and I am very curious how they will turn out.

Rhododendron kiusianum - a violet form - blooming out of season. The plant came from the Rhododendron Species Foundation and preforms extremely well for us.

Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans has started into its blooming season.

Zinnias and Pea wire. I planted green Shell Peas and Purple Podded Snap Peas the other day. We have had very few pollinators this summer. It is kinda scary as it seems like "Silent Spring". I left the Zinnias as they do attract various incests, bees, butterflies, etc. In addition, I like to create my own Zinnia hybrids to my liking. For me it adds to the fascination of growing Zinnias, a very common annual. 

Robert, although I don't know the scent of tarweed I can imagine how it feels!

Some nice flowers you have in bloom now. Zinnia is used as a summer bedding plant here but it is not common. I have grown it a fewtimes myself also but it prefer more sun and drier climate than we have here, I suppose.