Mid October Blooms

Its been chilly and a good few nights of light frost, however, there's still a good display of colour in the garden and only the hostas seem to be completely finished. Most other plants seem quite keen to keep going.

Here's a little snapshot of what's in flower for Blogger's Bloom Day, hosted by May Dreams Gardens.

Left: Aster with Sedum Autumn Joy.

Above: flower border with sedum, verbena, roses, and forget-me-not still in flower. I was hoping the geranium would show a 2nd flowering but most aren't accommodating this. Kale and leek mixed into the border.
Below: A closer look at the Forget Me Not (annual) grown from seed. The masses of green around the blue flowering plants are Poached Egg Plant which show some signs of flowering.

Above: Sedum Autumn Joy are spread throughout the garden. I divide plants and don't want to waste them so they get spread here, there and everywhere.
Below:  A closer look at the sedum and verbena.

Above: Nerine bulbs were divided this year.

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Above and below: 
I always forget the name of this plant - schizostylis coccinea. I dug out half this plant in the Summer and this seemed to have given it a much needed boost as last year it had a poor show of flowers and this year it's looking good with lots of buds. 
Does anyone know another name for this plant (easier to remember)?

Above: Fuchsia Tom Thumb is flowering well and lots of buds.

Above and Below: A bit more Autumn looking - grasses and crocosmia. Crocosmia seem to flower forever. They multiply like crazy too.

Happy Blogger's Bloom Day!

Blogger's Bloom Day is hosted by May Dream Gardens and bloggers share their blooms from across the globe.

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Oct Veg and Apple Harvest

I hit an all time record this year with my apple harvest: 15 apples! Doesn't sound like much but the apple tree is a small tree  grown in a pot. Last year I had 14 apples, so this year a slight improvement. No idea what type of apple variety it is. All I know is that it's a self fertilising tree and they taste slightly tart.

Still harvesting this month....

Above: I pulled a few carrots to eat over the weekend. Carrot seed sown in Spring were very slow to germinate and I had to resow, however, a good supply of carrots now.
Below: I'm still getting a bowl of cherry tomatoes every week which is just right for me as I'm not a big tomato eater.

The eggplant / aubergine really need eaten - all at the same time it seems!
Below: still harvesting beans.

Courgette / zucchini are still going strong as well.

View my seed list page for type of seed used and date sown.

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

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.