Sunday, October 11, 2009

Fall Color, Deep South Style

You probably think of red, yellow and orange leaves when you think of Fall color. Well, in Mississippi most of our trees haven't even started changing color yet. Prime raking season here is around Thanksgiving. Fall color here means lots of flowers, and not just mums and pansies!

This begonia is at its peak now that it's not quite so hot and dry:
The Gallo Peach Blanketflower continues to bloom:
Butterfly-weed isn't very impressive from afar, but amazingly brilliant in color up close:
I didn't notice the ants until uploading the picture:
I have a few of these flowering shrubs (camellias, perhaps?):
This one is decades old; the others are younger and not so full:
Pineapple sage is just starting to bloom:
These hardy mums, which I got from my mom, are very common in our neighborhood:
They bloom twice a year. Here is a close-up:
Aster and Mexican Bush Sage help conceal an ugly downspout:

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

9 comments:

Dirt Princess said...

My mom had the butterfly weed, and the caterpillars (the ones that turn into monarch butterflies...whatever their "proper" name is) ate them down to the bare stems! It was insane! Of course everytime I went up there...I never had my camera. She had 5 or 6 bushes and each one had ATLEAST 30 caterpillars on it eating their hearts out. Then she started noticing the chyrsallis (sp) on patio furniture etc.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

I am pea green with envy for your Camellia. How great to have such a mature shrub.
Like your Gaillardia-- interesting bloom color.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

That camellia is so pretty! The kind I have bloom in early spring. I just love the butterfly weed, the colors are really pretty, it matches your Blanketflower perfectly.

Susie said...

Hey Ginger, hello to another wet Monday morning. My pineapple sage is just beginning to bloom too.

That's a pretty camellia bloom. I don't have any camellias. Maybe I should get some.

Have a good day.

Ginger said...

Dirt Princess - I'm enjoying the pretty flowers while they last! I figure monarch breeding is a pretty good cause to sacrifice a plant for :)

Janet - I have a multitude of decades-old shrubs! Luckily, camellias still look good at that age.

Catherine - It's a weird time for a camellia to bloom, isn't it? My other camellias bloom in late winter.

Susie - Camellias are great evergreen shrubs in our area. Can you believe it's still raining?!

Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog said...

Ginger, if you have a camellia blooming now it actually might be a sasanqua. I think. I'm still learning about them. I'm quite envious of your birthday gift rain barrel. I want one badly!

Phillip Oliver said...

Our leaves are just beginning to turn. I think they are late this year.

Phillip Oliver said...

That is a sasanqua camellia you have there. It looks like 'Cleopatra' - you might google my blog for some photos of it and compare.

Becca's Dirt said...

I love camellia's and yours are beautiful. Love the halloween deco.