You would have been forgiven for thinking it was spring October 25 and 26 in the Toronto area, with temperatures in the high ‘teens to mid twenties–especially if you noticed these delightful, fresh-faced sweethearts blooming!
Colchicum and Autumn Crocus are sweet, fall-blooming bulbs, almost identical to one another, that wait patiently until everything else fades, leaves are dropping and the gardener’s heart is sinking under the acceptance that four to six months of ice, snow and bare branches are upon us. The world has become yellow, brown and damp. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, they appear, reminding us of the heady anticipation of early spring!
Like spring bulbs, these close up in cool, grey or wet weather
Their notorious habit of falling over gives them a strange mood
Scabiosa, Butterfly Blue, “Pincushion Flower”, below, on the other hand, is a low-maintenance perennial that blooms in summer and continues to bloom as long as you deadhead it. Tougher than most other perennials, it is still making a delicate show all by itself in the fall garden, while most other things have completely given up.
Scapbiosa, Butterfly Blue
Well, almost alone in the garden
A bright spot in a drab landscape
Given its easy-care determination, it is no wonder this flower was the 2000 Perennial of the Year.
What visual reminders that Spring will come do you enjoy at this time of year, when things are getting soggy and grey?
i see a lot of yellow flowers around this time of year around here
You must have more variety in your climate . . . not too much cheery yellow around here!
not sure we moved here not so long ago
It looks like a nice, peaceful place to move to.
The landscape doesn’t look drab to me, but very beautiful – I can’t think why I never thought of adding scabiosa to my friends who bloom late… like Japanese anenomes and dahlias….
My Japanese Anemones have given up already but the Scabiosa is still going. (I am too lazy for dahlias.) Thanks for your lovely comment.
Love your flowers, but the cat wins the prize. I love white kitties…don’t currently have one.
Thank you. I have two sweet little white sisters with completely opposite personalities, and they just make me smile constantly. They love to watch me garden and they adore black clothes!
Neat!
What a pretty kitty. My end of the season blues is more that the flowers are out there freezing right now. Poor things. We are down in the twenties at night. Brrr.
These photos were taken a few days ago–I staked a flowering delphinium and deadheaded Pincushion flower late last week, but it’s getting too cold now!
Love the autumn crocus shots especially — that’s the one we (my partner and I) call by the nickname “Naked Ladies” since they are all bloom, no leaves. Do you know that common name for them as well?
I have heard that name for them. Also, “Meadow Saffron”. Glad you enjoyed!
Beautiful with all the heat in Texas flowers are sometimes few and far between..they can’t stand the heat..
Interesting to hear that–in Toronto the middle of the summer is actually so hot that a lot of flowers give it up for a while until it cools back down again, too. Thanks for stopping by.
Beautiful white cat! What is his/her name?
That cat is Liya–I have two little white sister cats with opposite personalities that help me garden and stop bunnies from eating the plants 🙂
our late cat Sandy used to chase the bunnies and squirrels out of our yard, and leave us “presents” (read: dead rodents) on our porch 🙂
Haha–same! These girls leave them outside the sliding door, but our deceased cat often left them in my husband’s shoe when he was young!
Got to keep bunnies and squirrels at bay somehow!
Yeah! What’s funny now, is that my mom actually purchases unsalted peanuts in bulk at the grocer and feeds the squirrels in my backyard! We are a strange family… 🙂
Beautiful garden!! The Pincushion Flower is so pretty, and I love that it’s low maintenance!!
Thanks–great to hear you like it.
I wonder if I could intersperse autumn crocus with daffodils?
That should work, because daffodils have to be planted deeper than autumn crocus, so they won’t be fighting for nutrients and they’ll also bloom at different times. They like the same kind of deciduous tree type setting as well, and thrive when leaves are mostly off the trees.
What a great idea. Are you planting bulbs now?