October 2020 in the Northern Hemisphere

[ArnoldT]

Reverse of Dryopteris erythrosora  Autumn fern

[Maggi Young]

Two photos of  Autumn scenery  in  Perthshire  Scotland. today - from SRGC President  Julia Corden


Loch Dunmore near Pitlochry in  Highland Perthshire



Autumn in Highland Perthshire near Pitlochry

[cohan]

Rose & Symphytum look lovely together, Cohan!
In my garden, the asters are now mercifully covering the gaps left by the drought. Most of them are seedlings, but the red one on the left is A. n.-b. ´Royal Ruby´.

Thanks, Mariette-- I love the Symphytum flowers, but in this spot, they grow very well and very tall, then-- flop! I now chop them off a couple of times in the season.. I've planted a couple pieces in tougher spots, maybe they will stay upright!
Nice selection of Asters you have! I have many, but all natives, with less variation in colour.

Yann -- nice views and fungi! There are many interesting ones here, too, along with lichens and mosses, I treasure these other inhabitants of forest and meadow

Leena-- Cimicifuga is looking great! I think we had some light frosts, but it is hard to be sure since I don't have anything that is greatly affected by light frosts..lol Around the 11-12th I think we had some stronger frost, since the Aralia finally gave up! Then on the 13th, snow! Pictures to come very soon, but the change was dramatic, from autumn to winter in a day-- 10cm or so then, and more a couple of days later, now up to 30cm or more on the ground, it is very white, and tonight forecast for -18C.. 5 more chances of snow this week....

Herman-- lovely Alstroememeria!

Gabriela-- I have never tried any autumn flowering bulbs, probably all too late for this climate, but interesting to see growing in other places..lol

Trond-- is that Begonia outdoors all year there? I know there are a couple of quite hardy ones..

John-- xGordlinia is interesting-- looks more like something that should flower in spring, rather than fall..

Rudi-- Poncirus is very pretty!

Arnold-- nature's lovely and efficient engineering

Maggi-- lovely views!

[Hannelore]

Crocus sativus

[ashley]

What glorious autumn colours Maggi

There don't seem to be any carnivorous threads so I'll post this here.  Heliamphora heterodoxa x ionasii is flowering here for the first time, since early July. 
Not having a tuning fork to hand I tried cutting off some of the enclosed, tube-like anthers then halving them & dusting the cut ends on the briefly-receptive stigma of a later flower.  At least one ovary is swelling now but it remains to be seen whether any viable seeds result.

[Gabriela]

What glorious autumn colours Maggi

There don't seem to be any carnivorous threads so I'll post this here.  Heliamphora heterodoxa x ionasii is flowering here for the first time, since early July. 
Not having a tuning fork to hand I tried cutting off some of the enclosed, tube-like anthers then halving them & dusting the cut ends on the briefly-receptive stigma of a later flower.  At least one ovary is swelling now but it remains to be seen whether any viable seeds result.

What a beautiful pitcher plant Ashley! I had to google for it.There are not many carnivorous plants with such handsome flowers.

[Gabriela]

Brilliant fall colors everywhere: in public parks, in the garden and of course in the woods




Hydrastis canadensis

Viburnum acerifolium

[Hoy]

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Trond-- is that Begonia outdoors all year there? I know there are a couple of quite hardy ones..

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Cohan,

I have not had this Begonia for more than a few months. So I haven't tried it outside during the winter yet. But it should be hardy.

I had however a couple begonias outside for several years and they survived nicely. They succumbed to death one very cold winter some years ago though.

[Hoy]

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There don't seem to be any carnivorous threads so I'll post this here.  Heliamphora heterodoxa x ionasii is flowering here for the first time, since early July. 
Not having a tuning fork to hand I tried cutting off some of the enclosed, tube-like anthers then halving them & dusting the cut ends on the briefly-receptive stigma of a later flower.  At least one ovary is swelling now but it remains to be seen whether any viable seeds result.

Very nice, Ashley!

Remember seeing some similar ones on Mount Roraima in Venezuela when I was there several years ago.

[Hoy]

Brilliant fall colors everywhere: in public parks, in the garden and of course in the woods
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Very brilliant indeed, Gabriela.

Such colouring is rare here at the coast. (And we still haven't had frost either.)

[ashley]

Thanks Gabriela, that's a fabulous show.  Maples?  Autumn here is usually more muted due to smaller day/night temperature differences & often stormy weather. 
Yes heliamphoras generally have large, robust & very long-lived sepals that gradually revert to green.  Perhaps they do more than just advertise to pollinators, e.g. sheltering the stigma & anthers from heavy rain.   

Trond, I remember your fine photos of heliamphoras in habitat with carnivorous bromeliads (Brocchinia/Catopsis?), a showy pink/red Utricularia & many other plants new to me.  The tepuis must be wonderful to visit with their unique or even endemic biota, like islands scattered across an ocean of forest/savannah.

[Leena]

Wonderful autumn colours! Here it is nothing like that.
Gabriela, Hydrastis canadensis is very nice yellow, it is a plus for any perennial to have good autumn colour:).
in my garden I like ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) when they are dyeing for the winter. They are good in spring when they come up, then in the summer they are so majestic and now in autumn also good.
Prosartes hookeri doesn't have any special colour but it is a nice plants anyway. This is a young plant which hasn't flowered yet.

[Gabriela]

Trond and Ashley and Leena - the maples are the ones responsible for the brilliance, mainly A. rubrum, A. saccharum and A. x freemanii and their cultivars, usually selected for smaller, compact growth and reliable fall coloration.

Yes, the perennials which turn beautiful before going dormant bring a plus to the garden Leena, they make a nice contrast with the evergreens like Helleborus and Epimediums. Your Prosartes may turn yellow later, I have a young P. lanuginosa doing it, also most Solomon's Seals are turning golden, Gillenia, Maianthemum, Uvularia...to mention just a few coming fast to my mind.

[Hoy]

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Trond, I remember your fine photos of heliamphoras in habitat with carnivorous bromeliads (Brocchinia/Catopsis?), a showy pink/red Utricularia & many other plants new to me.  The tepuis must be wonderful to visit with their unique or even endemic biota, like islands scattered across an ocean of forest/savannah.

Yes, thanks. That was en extraordinary trip! I would love to go there once more.

A few reminders:

[Hoy]

Trond and Ashley and Leena - the maples are the ones responsible for the brilliance, mainly A. rubrum, A. saccharum and A. x freemanii and their cultivars, usually selected for smaller, compact growth and reliable fall coloration.
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Gabriela,

No autumn colouring of the native Acer platanoides (Norway maple) here yet. Though I know it is getting yellow and orange on  the other side of the mountains!