October's Garden Glory

It is the peak of fall at Powell Gardens and there is still a bounty of flowers, foliage and produce throughout the gardens.

Closed or Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) is one of the true blue flowers we can grow and a must see in person each fall.  Who do you think pollinates such a unique flower?  The answer is big bumblebees that are strong enough to open the twisted shut end of the flower.  The bumblebee climbs into the flower and then there is a whole lot of shak'n going on!  Trick or treat?  Well the flower does reward the bumblebee with some wonderful nectar and gets pollinated in the process.  Look for a nice mass of this native gentian in the New Millennium border of the Perennial Garden.

Prairie Gentian (Gentiana puberulenta) is another locally native gentian but defies captivity.  It must have some relationship with some soil fungus, microfauna or whatever that is lost when a native prairie is plowed up.  Too bad because it would certainly be one of the most popular garden flowers and also a spectacular cut flower.  This one was photographed on a Friends Member's Ona Gieschen's private native prairie during a visit last week.  Trek out to a native prairie near you to see this beauty -- one of so many reasons to cherish, protect and manage our native prairie remnants

The Island Garden pools are still lush with flowers and foliage and surrounded by billowing flowers from Maximilian Sunflowers and Golden Asters in the prairie to Gauras, Verbena bonariensis and Autumn Sages in the garden beds.  This Powell Gardens centerpiece is the most flower and color filled location on the grounds right now (don't miss it!).  It's the last weekend for such a show as temperatures next week may flirt with Jack Frost and we will have to begin to remove the tropical water plants to their winter quarters.

Gorgeous cushions of Aromatic Aster (Aster oblongifolius) grace the east side of the Island Garden's living wall right now.  Watch for hoards of pollinators and butterflies imbibing their last nectar and pollen meals of the season from these flowers.  These particular flowers were grown from wild aromatic asters on the native prairie remnants on the property.

New England Asters (Aster novae-angliae) are also in bloom in wild areas of the garden but especially in the Perennial Garden.  Look for them in shades of purple to pink and some with some ruby-violet tones.  We let them self-sow to within reason and always remember why now, when they put on such a magical hurrah of flowers near the end of our growing season.

Helen's Flower or "Sneezeweed" (Helenium autumnale) is another native wildflower with many colorful selections that self-sows in the Perennial Garden and supplies gold to brick red flowers now.  This seedling is in the New Millennium border and was spared for its gorgeous bi-colored flowers.  Sneezeweed doesn't make you sneeze unless you do what the Native Americans allegedly did: make a snuff out of it to make you sneeze to rid your body of evil spirits.  I don't recommend that.

This colorful border of fall flowers in the Vineyard are a local seed strain of chrysanthemums donated to us by local Gardener Jackie Goetz.  We call them Jackie's Mums (Chrysanthemum x morifolium) and they are self-sow naturally into a myriad of colors from yellow to orange, rust, maroon, pink, and white.  They are companion plants to grapes and attract a myriad of beneficial insects and butterflies to the garden now. The flowers are allegedly edible too, just don't eat the base of the flower which is very bitter.

Here's a couple more images of Jackie's mums in the Vineyard.  We have tried to select some of the colors for propagation but they are relatively short-lived so it is best to let them be free to self-sow and show their true colors!

There is always some unusual plant that grabs my attention in the Heartland Harvest Garden and now it is the Huacatay Marigold (Tagetes minuta).  This is a great companion plant in edible landscapes to help protect plantings from nematodes, slugs and tough perennial weeds like bindweed.  Oil from this plant is used in commercial food flavorings but it also has many herbal uses.  This plant has a host of other names including Muster-John-Henry, Khaki Weed and Stinking Roger!!!!  Hmmmm...

Matt Bunch (Heartland Harvest Garden Horticulturist) has uncovered quite a catch!  A 14 pound 'Beauregard' sweet potato.  It is not even close the world record but quite a feast nonetheless.  There's a lot of sweet potato fries in this plant's tuber.  Come explore Powell Gardens this weekend and uncover your own special garden experiences.  From the Heartland Harvest Garden to the Perennial Garden and the Byron Shutz Nature Trail, there lies a phenomenal bounty of October's glory.



Unfamiliar Flowers and Fruit of Fall

The Seven Sons tree (Heptacodium miconioides) has been blooming and attracting a wide array of butterflies this fall.  A Viceroy, mimic of the Monarch butterfly, dines on the nectar-rich flowers.  Look for Sevens Sons near the Fountain Garden and in the Perennial Garden.

Colchicums are also in bloom with there large autumnal flowers.  This clump is Colchicum byzantinum aka Colchicum autumnale major.  These deer and squirrel resistant bulbs are expensive but worth it as one bulb will sport all the flowers shown.  The leaves are large in spring and go dormant by midsummer so plan accordingly in the garden.  We think blue-flowering Hardy Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) is the perfect companion plant.  As soon as all the flowers are done and lie flat, you can separate bulb masses to propagate the plant.  Look for Colchicums on the Island, Rock & Waterfall and Perennial Gardens.

This is the second day flower of the Amazon Victoria (Victoria amazonica).  They are white the first day and have this pink center on the second day -- it has to do with cross pollination as the pollen is ready on the first day and the stigma is ready to receive pollen and be fertilized on the second day.  Victorias are pollinated by beetles in their native Amazon rivers but must be hand pollinated here.  Look for them in the Island Garden pools.

These brown fruit may look unappealing but are a delight to eat!  This is a selection of the Jujube tree (Zizyphus jujuba) called 'Coco' and has very sweet, crisp fruit.  Jujubes are popular in China and were the inspiration for the candy as the fruit can be candied for long term use.  Jujubes have no shelf life or shipping life so are not found in grocery stores.

Jujubes come in various shapes and sizes and this larger, pear-shaped variety is 'Black Sea' from the Ukraine.  Look for several varieties of Jujube trees in the Heartland Harvest Garden. 

The Starfruit tree (Averrhoa carambola) has been blooming and is setting some fruit.  This tropical tree comes from the Malay region and can be seen at Powell Gardens in the Heartland Harvest Garden's greenhouse.  Though this fruit is at many local grocery stores, many have not sampled this crisp fruit with a star-shape when sliced and a sweet-sour taste like rhubarb.

Make a date to visit Powell Gardens and find this sample of unfamiliar flowers and fruit -- there are many more than this!  We are in moderate going into a worse category of drought but the gardens are irrigated so cultivated plants are blooming and fruiting well.  Fall color is going to peak early because of the drought and already there are many beautiful native trees in gold to purples.  Come see the tractors on display this weekend (October 1 &2) but don't forget to take a walk through the gardens.

September's Garden Charms

September may have the most beautiful weather of any month at Powell Gardens. Here's a bit of the serene scene and the floral rainbow captured this week, starting with a view of some visitors taking in the scene from the Island Garden. I have to site a Rutger's study: "flowers register an INSTANT impact on happiness, with lasting effects of boosting mood, enjoyment and life satisfaction." Come experience this September charm at Powell Gardens.

Gorgeous gaillardias blooming in a groundcover of contrasting hardy plumbago can be seen on the Island Garden.

The Island Garden's living wall is full of late summer beauties including this Orange Carpet California-Fuchsia (Zauschneria garrettii). This western mountain native is pollinated by hummingbirds (like so many tubular, red flowers).

Encore Azalea Autumn Sundance(TM) has the richest pink of any of these hardy repeat-blooming azaleas. Look for the 10 hardiest on trial between the Rock & Waterfall and Perennial Gardens.

Like a pink "baby's breath" Palafoxia (Palafoxia callosus) thrives in the space between the living wall and the path on the Island Garden. This annual wildflower thrives in rocky glades, railroad ballast and other challenging sites!

The double-flowering Japanese Kerria (Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora') is full of bloom. Many of us like the singe variety but it does not have the repeat bloom flower power of 'Pleniflora.' Look for this plant on the Island Garden and just off the dogwood walk.

Donkey Tail (Euphorbia myrsinites) is drawing a lot of attention on the Island Garden with its beautiful blue-green foliage. It is invasive in the West (cannot be planted in Colorado or Oregon) but is a behaved garden plant here.

The native Hardy Ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum) is an invasive wildflower that has its place for tough, wet, low-maintenance areas. It is NOT a plant for a refined garden where it self-sows and runs. Use a native plant like this to your advantage and admire its blue late summer blooms that are very rich in nectar and attract lots of beneficial insects, pollinators and butterflies.

Just this week the Colchicums appeared like magic through the beds of hardy plumbago. This fall-flowering bulb has some of the most beautiful flowers but remember it has big foliage in the springtime so hardy plumbago is a great companion as it is slow to emerge in spring and by the time the colchicum foliage starts to wither it is in full swing to replace it!

The Missouri native Eastern or Savanna Blazingstar (Liatris scariosa) is also in bloom. This wildflower moves around in the Perennial Garden. Some years we can have large masses and then few the next. It's corm is a favorite food of Woodland Voles which were in abundance last winter. We always allow this beauty to self-sow in the garden to stay one step ahead of the voles. It is a fantastic nectar source for Monarchs which are now in full swing of fall migration.

Ouchita Ironweed (Vernonia lettermanii) is a wildflower from the Ouchita Mountains of Arkansas and the most refined and gardenworthy of the ironweeds just now becoming available to gardeners. It has fine, narrow leaves and only grows around 2 feet tall. Look for this beauty on the east side of the Island Garden.

The first fall color is starting to appear in the woodlands around Powell Gardens: the White Ash (Fraxinus americana) turns pumpkin oranges to purples this time of year.

The prairie grasses are also starting to put on their fall show. This is a magnificent clump of Cloud Nine Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) on the Island Garden.

The Canada Red Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) also appears in purple fall color but this tree starts out green then turns purple through the summer, deepening until the leaves turn yellow to orange and drop next month.

A gray treefrog can't match the foliage of this Sanguineus Castor Bean outside the Visitor Center. This frog can be blends and marbling of green to gray but it cannot master purples of this leaf for camouflage!

The autumn fruit and cone crop is pretty low after the harsh summer but the Baldcypress trees (Taxodium distichum) are heavily loaded with their unique spherical cones.

The orange fruit of the Redleaf Rose (Rosa glauca) on the Island Garden captures attention. Look for the best display of rose hips in the Heartland Harvest Garden as they are edible and make great preserves rich in vitamin C.

The Red Sunset Trumpetvine (Campsis radicans) is in bloom over the wall outside Cafe Thyme. This native woody vine is another garden thug but can be grown where its runners can readily be removed or mowed off. Some of its cultivars like 'Flava' and this red-flowered one appear to be better behaved in the garden. We grow it because it is a favorite nectar source for our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

Here's a 45 second clip looking at one of our three hummingbird feeding stations in the Hummingbird Garden outside Cafe Thyme. It has been a joy this fall to dine on the terrace and watch these little miracles of life twitter and chase each other. There have never been so many hummingbirds in the garden as this year. The video is from the camera phone so not a closeup but captures the little birds, some butterflies and the background buzz of a cicada.