This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Wednesday 3 October 2012

October Reds (Dogwood, Sedum, Aster)

We've a light frost forecast for tonight which means the possibility of a lovely sunny day tomorrow. There's always a positive!

October is  a great time of year for red in the garden and the Cornus dogwood shrub is a fantastic Autumn/Winter plant. Its leaves have turned from green to red, and the leaves will soon fall off to show bright red stems, which bring a welcome splash of colour through out winter. You can see the bright red stems in the photo.
Above: this is what the dogwood looked like last Winter. 

Below: another red in the garden this month - Sedum Autumn Joy.
Above photo was taken 30 Sept 2012.
Below photo was taken 8 Sept 2012.
Its great to see colours change and become more vibrant this time of year!
Above: Sedum Autumn Joy, photo taken 28 Aug 2012 (only a slight hint of pink showing).
Below: Aster beginning to flower, and looks nice with the Sedum.
When to divide a Sedum - well when it splits like the one above. Of course with all the rain  we've had, the base of the plant is covered in moss!
Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

11 comments:

  1. I just LOVE those Dogwoods! I hope the colours on mine are as good as yours, especially after the severe pruning I gave them in the Spring. The Sedums are impressive too. That's not normally a popular plant here, because it is often perceived as dull. Your's certainly isn't dull.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Both the Sedum and Dogwood are beautiful plants! I love the dogwood stems in winter...what a nice splash of color in the winter garden!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The sedums are so lush and gorgeous. They make a big fashion statement in floral terms for your garden.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am only just coming around to liking Sedums - they certainly add a late splash of colour. The red stems of the Dogwood are stunning.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I knew Mark's tongue would hang out at the sight of your dogwoods

    ReplyDelete
  6. Some gorgeous colours, especially the stems of the dogwood.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the color changes in your yard this time of year!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dogwood is BEAUTIFUL. Love it. Grows so huge though!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You do have lovely reds in the garden. Mine red roses will be black by morning since we will have a killing frost. We don't have any colorful shrubs like your gorgeous red dogwood. I should plant some. Stew sounds pretty good since we will probably wake up to snow in the morning too. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your dogwood is so vibrant!! I love how deep red those leaves are. I have a dogwood tree that also changes color but it turns a bit orangish-red. If you take a stem of sedum and stick it in a pot of soil in warm weather, it will sprout roots. It's an easy way to grow more plants. :o)

    ReplyDelete