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<\/a><\/p>\nI haven\u2019t done a good job of keeping the streptocarpus tidied up, but they keep blooming despite the mess!\u00a0 The flowers are especially cheerful as the days turn darker and colder.<\/p>\n
These are the cottage garden mix\u00a0Verbascums that I started from seed this spring.\u00a0 They suffered through too much sun and poor drainage all summer and still they grew.\u00a0 I planted them out at the edges of the orchard garden.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n These are the mail-ordered asters that got planted at the worst time of the year.\u00a0 And somehow, they survived and bloomed.\u00a0 I think they are a great choice for the Doug fir bed.\u00a0\u00a0With luck\u00a0they will spread their autumn charm all through that bed.<\/p>\n Malva \u201cMystic Merlin\u201d volunteer that came up in the gravel bed next to the house.\u00a0 Amazing flowers on a rather coarse plant.\u00a0 These came from sister Cate years and years ago and they pop up in surprising places every year\u2013never weedy, though, but tough to relocate, what with their taproots.<\/p>\n Wonderberries (Solanum burbankii) getting ripe\u2013and they do taste good!\u00a0 My biggest worry is that most of them won\u2019t mature, since only the very earliest berries are ripe so far.\u00a0 They are juicy, full\u00a0of seeds, but they are easy to eat.\u00a0\u00a0I likely will try these again next year, but start them earlier.<\/p>\n Ceratostigma plumbaginoides \u00a0blooming near the orchard garden.\u00a0 I have had this plant for close to 20 years and it just keeps trying.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t placed in the best spot and it doesn\u2019t get any care because it pops up so late\u00a0I ignored it until October.<\/p>\n Another lovely strep showing some fall color.<\/p>\n Acanthus spinosus\u2013looked so sick when I planted it out after struggling for a year pot bound in the greenhouse\u2013 but look at it now!\u00a0 Amazing foliage and I expect it may bloom next year.\u00a0 Spinosus is supposed to be more bloomiferous than the more usual Acanthus mollis.\u00a0 And I like the leaves better, too.<\/p>\n I planted other things in the Doug fir bed, including four of the Clematis columbiana that I grew from seed two years ago.\u00a0 They had to go somewhere, and this bed seemed like the best choice.<\/p>\n You have to love the fall colors against a blue sky!\u00a0 These maples never disappoint.\u00a0 The best one is the coral bark.\u00a0 No one talks about the beautiful foliage\u2013but the leaves far outshine the bark.<\/p>\n Asters from Tim\u2019s friend, the late Bette Higgins.\u00a0 Brother Tim brought me a start or two 15 years ago.\u00a0 The poor things are surrounded by raspberries and other thugs, so they chase the sun all around the bed!<\/p>\n Abutilon \u201cBella Series\u201d\u00a0 I haven\u2019t figured out how to prune these shrubs in the greenhouse, soI have ugly plants with beautiful flowers.<\/p>\n Wonderberries growing well in the dry raised bed under the Doug fir.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how these aren\u2019t more popular\u2013they are very vigorous and taste good.<\/p>\n Voodoo Lily \u201cberries\u201d.\u00a0 There were a lot of them this year and I\u2019ve thrown them all over the Doug fir bed in the hopes of seedlings next year.\u00a0 They are more invasive than some, but because of their season and growth habit, they don\u2019t do any harm.\u00a0 Keeping them in this challenging raised bed will control too much spreading.<\/p>\n The garden is seriously lacking in flowers, but some of the foliage helps make up for it\u2013an Aucuba japonica here.\u00a0 This shrub plays shy through the summer with showier plants taking the spotlight.\u00a0 But in the autumn light, no flowers can outshine these amazing leaves.\u00a0 And unbelievably easy and tolerant\u2013it is in dry shade next to a 100-foot Douglas fir!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Fuchsia \u201cCardinal\u201d still blooming with fall foliage.\u00a0 This is one plant that is thrilled with the cooler, wetter weather the last few weeks!\u00a0 It will still be in bloom when I move it into the greenhouse next month.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n