October 2021 in the Northern Hemisphere

[ashley]

Lovely photos Cohan.  No frosts here yet but autumn colours are just starting.

[Maggi Young]

flea beetles are a real nuisance - I don't think the larvae kill much here, but the holes the adults  chew in so many leaves here are a flamin' pest.

[Mariette]

In this case it´s a strange infestation with aphids which mars the leaves of Euonymus, distracting from the colourful fruits and a last flower of a lonicera seedling.



Cyclamen hederifolium and Crocus ´Zephyr´, I think - it popped up where I never planted it.



An easy and even self-seeding colchicum species from Georgia.

[cohan]

thanks, Ashley- I imagine your mid-winter is probably no colder than my autumn!

Maggi-the ones I have seem to have a fondness for certain Brassicaceae- Arabis caucasica was harassed every spring (right at flowering time) until it finally gave up (of course could have been other issues- usually it grew back later in the season, but it wasn't exciting out of flower, anyway!) - right beside is A ferdinandi-coburgii variegata, which the beetles don't touch (shiny, leathery leaves may be the difference); several veg plants in the family are also seriously affected.. Drabas untouched

Mariette- nice Lonicera! I usually have a few aphids around, on different plants from one year to the next, but almost never to the extent of impacting anything. I haven't tried fall bulbs, with my early frosts...

[ashley]

Our climate is very maritime Cohan.  In recent years snow has been rare and transient.  Last winter we had only a few frosts.

It's interesting that chlorophylls are first being withdrawn from this leaf beyond a break in the mid-vein.

[Mariette]

Really interesting to notice how this process works, Ashley!

@ Cohan: Your garden provides so many lovely sceneries and inspiring plants, I´m sure I wouldn´t miss autumn bulbs after such a rich season and enjoy the snow! Every climate has got its advantages and disadvantages - I admire people like Leena and You who know how to make the best of it!

[ruweiss]

Poncirus trifoliatus - a hardy citrus plant. The flowers and the resulting fruits are very decorative, but
the spines horrible. These plants are the common stock plants for the citrus cultivars, but the fruits
taste extremely bitter.

[cohan]

Our climate is very maritime Cohan.  In recent years snow has been rare and transient.  Last winter we had only a few frosts.

It's interesting that chlorophylls are first being withdrawn from this leaf beyond a break in the mid-vein.

(Attachment Link)

Yes that's about what I expected. Your winter might be about like our September....lol though I suspect even then we have greater diurnal swings!
interesting leaf- colouration of damaged leaves does often seem much like autumn colouration.

[cohan]

Really interesting to notice how this process works, Ashley!

@ Cohan: Your garden provides so many lovely sceneries and inspiring plants, I´m sure I wouldn´t miss autumn bulbs after such a rich season and enjoy the snow! Every climate has got its advantages and disadvantages - I admire people like Leena and You who know how to make the best of it!

For sure very climate has advantages and dis-! Climates like mine seem harsh looking in, and the season is short compared to many, but for those things that can take the cold, the rest is quite easy- soils here are generally good, rainfall during the growing season is usually enough and not too much, summer temperatures are almost never excessive- so really it is very easy to grow things here. I simply don't try to grow things that need a lot of heat, and of course if they can't take frost, they are houseplants!
Autumn here is very beautiful in nature, so I don't worry much about the garden- it is spring I focus on ...lol

[cohan]

Poncirus trifoliatus - a hardy citrus plant. The flowers and the resulting fruits are very decorative, but
the spines horrible. These plants are the common stock plants for the citrus cultivars, but the fruits
taste extremely bitter.

It's an interesting plant, I've heard of it before... I guess some people use the fruit for marmalade, and it has medicinal uses, too. quite hardy, I think even well beyond the dubious British use of the word..lol

[Robert]

Poncirus trifoliatus - a hardy citrus plant. The flowers and the resulting fruits are very decorative, but
the spines horrible. These plants are the common stock plants for the citrus cultivars, but the fruits
taste extremely bitter.

Poncirus trifoliata is used as a dwarfing rootstock for Citrus.

[Robert]

Sternbergia, perhaps lutea, is blooming well in our cinder block garden. Other species are emerging from the ground and will be blooming in a few weeks.



The later blooming Colchicum species are still blooming. They increase well in our cinder block garden and the extra bulbs can be planted out in our garden to extend the blooming season. Some of the species also set viable seed, another plus.



Crocus speciosus is finishing up in our garden. I doubt the identity of this Crocus; however it provides autumn flowers and does well in our garden. It is a keeper. We also have other autumn blooming Crocus species. They have finished blooming for the season.



Pineapple Sage, Salvia rutilans, blooms autumn into the early winter in our garden.



Moraea polystachya is a species that also blooms autumn into the winter. Occasionally this species will produce a few flowers in the spring before going dormant for the summer.

BTW – Mariette posted a nice photograph from her garden about a month ago. The plants are beautiful, however I liked the scene with the red-striped apples on the ground. For me, wind-fall apples have been a happy autumn scene for the last 50 years.

[shelagh]

A lovely variegated Euonymus in fruit in the garden.

[Leena]

Last week we had several nights below zero, but the lowest was only -4C, so it was not so bad. This week it is warmer (+5-+10C) with rain and clouds,
but still nice when it isn't winter yet:).
Athyrium 'Ghost' picture is from earlier in October, now cold nights "killed" it for the winter.
Crocus speciosus 'Conqueror' has increased nicely.
White spotted double Helleborus (sown from seed ex seeds) flowers out of season, the same plant did it also last autumn.
Epimedium 'Buckland Spider' has always nice autumn colour.
The last picture is of a new raised bed I made last week for my Hepatica seedlings:), or some of them. There isn't enough room for all when they are big, but for now I have there some potfuls of seedlings germinated last spring:).

[cohan]

I thought I posted, not sure what happened! Here goes again! It's been a generally mild and dry fall- compared to recent years with more wet weather and some cold spells. We've been to -8/9C but also days to 10C and above. Recent significant rain, presumably the tail end of the 'bomb cyclone' 'atmospheric river' events which hit the west coast. Even with the warm days, the soil is staying frozen in some wet shady places.

A few things in the gardens and adjacent--
Lonicera chamissoi, a nice small European alpine honeysuckle- tiny but deep pink flowers, potentially showier w/berries; this grew to a nice dense little shrub over several years, then died back a lot after some erratic weather a few years ago.



Another Lonicera- bird sown in the garden- maybe caerula- don't know if it is from wild plants (none around here that I know of) or someone's garden (Haskap grown for berries seem likeliest).. few flowers this year, no fruits seen yet. With Iris hookeri, and one of many Picea glauca seedlings that need to be moved!



There are a handful of local Ribes species, all are appealing for early spring flowers and foliage, many for attractive and/or tasty fruit in summer, and all have good fall colour from gold to red, everything between, and with so many plants, over a long season of colour. This one sharing space with an old lawn mower.





Saussurea riederi had plenty of time to ripen seed and dry foliage this year, unlike some shorter/colder seasons. So unlike occasional black and dark brown foliage , this time it all dried to grey-brown, providing a foil to weedy native Rubus idaeus. -the sauss itself is becoming rather weedy- I should probably have it in a naturalised setting with a mowed border!