Final Flowers for the Year 10-31-12

These are some of the few flowers still blooming after the frosts. Its a good time 

to call it a year.

I hope you have enjoyed the flowers and the comments. Have a great winter. The seeds

you have sewn will come up in the future.

Flower for the Day 10-30-12 Final Days for the Dahlias

The dahlia flower heads are all that remain after two nights of frost. This Dahlia is named Jean Marie.

This one is called  Mystery Day and the flowers

are seven inches and more. 

Flower for the Day 10-30-12 Burning Bush

Our burning bush (Euonymous alatus) has finally matured and produces  
fiery red leaves in the late fall.

Flower for the Day 10-29-12 Dahlia

This is my new favorite dahlia. Its colors are nuanced and change over several days as the flower head matures. Its name is Pretty in Pink.

It ends up like an ice cream sundae.

A trail in the woods to the creek 10-27-12

Over the last few years I have been making trails in the woods 

behind our house. This trail goes down from the northern wildflower 

garden down to a small creek that is normally dry.

Through the years the rains have washed the topsoil off so that the floor of the creek

is bedrock. There are pools of water which are surrounded by large limestone boulders.

In one area there is a small spring which puts out a small trickle of water from the crack

throughout the year.

The leaves are almost all off the trees.

It is a quiet spot within life's turmoil.

  

When there are sustained rains the leaves and detritus are carried down stream.

 

Water from the creek ends up in Sugar Creek south of the Frank Lloyd Wright House.

Persimmons 10-26-12

Persimmons (Diospyros) With all the leaves off the tree the persimmons have shown up in variousstages of maturity. The berry is ripe and edible when it is soft and the skin is beginning to split. At this time the calyx is easily plucked out. When ripe it has lost its tannin content and is sweet due to a high glucose content.

Diospyros is Greek for divine fruit or more literally the wheat of Zeus.

  

Flower for the Day 10-26-12 Field Coreopsis

Field Coreopsis has bloomed again. The depth of color is striking.

  

Flower for the Day 10-26-12 Night Blooming Cereus Finale

Begin forwarded message:

All that buds doesn't bloom. Unfortunately three of the six buds literally fell off to the floor.Two buds bloomed while I was away for the weekend.  I returned to this beautiful flower which slowly opened by 10:30 at night. Its always a knockout. As usual the most striking aspect is the pleasantly pungent odor which fills the room.

Montage from Front Rock Garden at the Lake House 10-21-12

Frog from Andrea Lieberman

Emergence

Angel with "precious" stones

Flower for the Day 10-24-12 Sedum

Sedum is a succulent ,with water saving leaves, in the stonecrop family. Its branches 

cannot hold up the flowers so they drape along the ground with the flowers perking

up at the distal end.

The delicate flowers have five petals.

Flower for the Day 10-23-12 Night Blooming Cereus

Nightblooming Cereus - Queen of the Night -  Epiphyllum oxypetalum, in 

the afternoon sun. This plant is a spineless cactus which has succulent green 

leaves. The flower arises from the edge of the leaf and blooms in the night and  

only once a year. The flower opens fully only in the darkness of the evening 

and has a very pungent odor. By morning the flower is permanently closed.

This specific  plant is very old and after a brutal hot summer it has looked pale 

green rather than forest green. Because of this I was getting ready to find it

a new home.  When I looked closely at it my plans have changed. It has six 

buds in various stages of pre-bloom. This plant has never had more than 

2 blooms per year. I have brought this scraggly messy friend inside and am 

preparing for the bloomarama.

Some of the buds are shown below.

Fall in Warren County 10-22-12

The fall colors in Warren County were extraordinary. These images are from the Village of Innsbrook near Alpine Lake.

And a little to the south west : Charette Creek

This red barn is by Charette Creek Road.

Nothing rivals mature fall hardwood color.

Flower for the Day 10-22-12 Heath Aster

Heath Aster  Aster ericoides. This plant resembles a bushy weed until it its small

flowers burst forth.

Flower for the Day 10-19-12 Sweet Alyssum

Sweet Alyssum  Lobularia maritima. This is a striking annual ground cover which 

re-seeds and grows under taller more showy flowers. It becomes more apparent

when it is the last one standing.

Flower for the Day 10-18-12 Salvia

In the midst of all the dying flowers in the wildflower garden

a nice stand of Salvia has shown up. It fits right in with the fall tree 

color. This is Salvia splendens which is also scarlet sage. It was first 

described and named in 1822.  Contrary to some prevailing thought

I was not there at the time.

As bees enter the flower head for the nectar, pollen from the stamens is deposited on his back allowing for pollination.

Flower for the Day 10-17-12 Ratibida

Ratibida  Ratibida columnifera. Also Mexican hat,prairie coneflower,red-spike Mexican hat, long headed coneflower, and thimbleflower. This aster has grown all summer and is now re-blooming. Its foliage has a strong odor that repels deer.
It is awkwardly graceful. 

Bonus 10-16-12 Owls

These little owls watch over the gnome garden rain or shine.

Flower for the Day 10-15-12 Aster

These tall asters grow in the sun in the wildflower garden. This is their time of the year.

Flower for the Day 10-15-12 Butterfly Bush

There are also several purple butterfly bushes. Both the white and the purple

bushes draw in butterflies and hummingbirds.

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Flower for the Day 10-11-12 Butterfly Bush

There is a second round of blooms for the large white butterfly bush (Buddleia) which obviously does not need much water.