It is always a delight to have some colourful blooms in October as the days get shorter and cooler, it helps make the winter feel shorter.
Justt a few minutes walking around the garden on a sunny morning in late October can really lift the spirits, and the spirits are raised higher with beautiful blooms to admire.
Hedychium forrestii
This hardy ginger I planted in June, so this is the first summer season and has not been tested over winter, but I am not worried, it is reputedly hardy to -10°C or lower. Even without the flowers, the plant looks great, big tropical looking foliage. This morning the sun shining through the delicate looking white blooms was a joy.
Nipponanthemum nipponicum
I love this plant! It is a hardy perennial that acts like a shrub. I cut back the stems in Spring and it quickly regrows to form a dense rounded mound of branches covered in fresh green leaves.
Then, in October the buds open into glorious large white daisies with yellow centres.
Grevillea juniperina ‘New Blood’
This is a hardy evergreen shrub with a low growing habit. Since I planted it in early summer it has been producing blooms, and there is no sign of it stopping.
Grevillea are often said to be lime haters, but I have grown a couple of others in our alkaline soil and they are showing no signs of discomfort.
Ciaran The Gardener 