Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ October 2013 GBBD

The Hill Garden with Canna 'King Humbert', Echinacea purpurea, Berberis purpurea, and glorious yellow maples (Acer) leaves for autumn.

Welcome to my small town Pennsylvania garden in October!

I would be delighted to show you around our corner here in US zone 5. The foliage colors are intensifying this month, though they have not yet reached their climax. Our first frost is still on its way this year. Hurray for a few more weeks with tender plants in the garden! The begonias, cannas, dahlias and annuals are still adding their pretty bit to the mix. Come talk a walk around...

Phipps Conservatory in Fall

Dahlias at Phipps for fall.

My family took a little trip to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA last week. Phipps has some lovely outdoor gardens for this time of year! These photos were all taken in the Children's garden, which sits between two wings of the old glasshouses....

(They are actually embarking on the enormous effort of restoration in the old glasshouses this summer. I am glad not to be caring for those exposed, old palm trees as the temps plunge into the 40s at night!)

Dahlia 'Jean Marie'

Our first dahlia is blooming this week in the Front Walk Garden, Dahlia 'Jean Marie'.

As summer comes to our garden, the Front Walk continues its succession of blooms that started in early April with Anemone blanda 'White Splendour' and Tulipa 'Princess Irene'. Next was Tulip 'Cum Laude' and Allium 'Purple Sensation' in May, and Oriental Poppies (Papaver orientalis), more Allium and Catmint (Nepeta) in June. Dahlia 'Jen Marie' is next on stage, with the supporting cast of Cosmos and Ammi majus. We shall see how it goes as we move into August! So far, so good...

Pink Dahlias in the Front Walk Garden

My unnamed, pink dahlias have not been staked very well this year (...what has that gardener been up to anyway!...), but they are still blooming away this fall. 

These are the moments to savor in the garden in Pennsylvania before the coming frost. It looks like it might be a near miss here on this coming Sunday night as they are predicting a low of 34 degrees F (1.1 C). But who can think of that when looking at these summer beauties?  Not me.

See more of the Front Walk garden in all seasons here.

Kids' trip to Phipps Conservatory

Kids at Phipps Conservatory

We had a really fun trip to Phipps Conservatory with the kids last week. I called my friend and her three little ones to see if they would like to come play for the day with us, and they agreed. This was the first time we had been at Phipps together since the Spring Show years ago. Another friend was kind enough to come along to help us out.

Phipps has added on to their outdoor children's garden this year, making it easier for the kids to run and get their hands into real play. They were all excited to get to pot their own herb (yeah for more basil!), play with the log pieces and get wet, wet, wet! They were quite drippy by the end of the day. Bringing a change of clothing is advisable. And bringing it in with you makes it even easier because there are changing bathrooms outside by the kids garden.

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD Sept 2012

Pink Dahlia with Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' in our Front Walk Garden.

Welcome to Pennsylvania in September! My garden has definitely perked up for fall. We finally had a normal amount of rain for the month, which is the first month since last year. The plants are putting on new growth, looking greener and flowering a bit more. Here are some highlights from around our two-tenths of an acre at Gilmore Gardens.

Dahlia 'Peaches 'n Cream'

Dahlia 'Peaches 'n Cream'

 I could not let October go by without posting a few more of the photos I have from this garden beauty, Dahlia 'Peaches 'n Cream'.

She is situated in our Driveway Garden and has reached nearly 6 feet (her tag said to expect 48 inches). She just started blooming this month, so I am glad that our frost held off so that we could see some blooms! (Though I see today that it is expected on Oct 28th in our area... *sigh*. All good things must come to an end, until heaven.)

Dahlia 'Peaches 'n Cream' in her early days

Sited in our Driveway Garden by the sidewalk and strapped to the trellis

Catching the morning sun... you might remember this shot from GBBD October

I love all of the variation in her coloring.

Perfect coloring for October, especially in front of our yellow maples.

I started all my dahlias this year (also see D. 'Heat Wave') in pots in our basement in April. I placed them on my little pot rack, gave them a little water and brought them out into the ambient light from the window bit by bit as they started to send out shoots. They were over a foot tall by the time they went in the garden in June.

Hope you can enjoy a sunny day today wherever you are in the world!
It is rain for us, which is not all bad... perfect planting weather, if you can convince yourself you do not mind getting a little wet.

Glimpses of the Driveway Garden in October

Purple Aster 'Peter III' above our pumpkin and a nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) blossom from the Front Woodland.

Foliage contrast with Lavendula 'Munstead', Sedum 'Acre', Fescue 'Elijah Blue', pixie lilies and a dwarf arbor vitae.

Aster 'Peter III', salmon hardy mum Dendranthema 'Sheffield Pink' and dwarf miscanthus grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Dixieland').

Rose OSO Easy Paprika

Dahlia 'Peaches 'n Cream' reaching up to 6 foot by the sidewalk.

...note my little garden pixie peeping out the window.

Just some photos to savor more of fall at Gilmore Gardens.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day ~ October 2011

Dahlia 'Peaches 'n Cream'

Some floriferous views from Gilmore Gardens!
Welcome to our Pennsylvania, USA garden (hardiness zone 5). We are fortunate not to have had our first frost yet this month. Sometimes the snow flies on October 1st! Most of the plantings are similar to those from September, but the asters are not to be missed this month. And my favorite are on the Shade Path garden, which lives between our home and the sidewalk...
 
The Shade Path:

Begonia 'Big Rex', white-flowered native aster (Doellingeria umbellata) and Digitalis grandiflora.

Our Shade Path is still stuffed with flowers. I know that its days are numbered, so I am trying to soak up the color so that it will last me until March. The native flat-topped aster (Doellingeria umbellata) floats like a cloud over the rest of the pink and yellow planting. The yellow perennial foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora) have been blooming strong since I first sighted them in September (see their first bloom in June).

Sedum 'Frosty Morn' under Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium).

Dark-leaved annual begonias with chartreuse Sedum 'Acre' and under hung by the white flat-topped aster.

Evening light through the trellises around the Circle Lawn, at the end of the Shade Path.

Cherry Corner & the Front Walk:

Reds and purples have been the themes in the annual plantings this year for these gardens in front of the house.

Dahlia 'Heat Wave' has over three dozen blooms in the Front Walk this weekend.

Canna 'King Humbert' and Dahlia 'Heat Wave' with pink cosmos at their feet.

Canna 'King Humbert' in the October morning light.

Catmint (Nepeta 'Walker's Low') re-blooming under the dahlias. (See it in June.)

The Hill Garden:

View of the Hill Garden from the driveway.

Our Hill Garden gets the "best transformation" award (see it before). I so enjoy walking all the way around it and appreciating how the plantings have filled in the past three years. The bushes have more substance, as well as the perennials I have divided and seeded here. It is amazing to remember that it all came from about a dozen pots!

Rosa 'The Fairy' is pop pink in front of Sedum 'Acre'. Last year it bloomed for Thanksgiving in the snow (see it here).

Purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) that I seeded here, in front of Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and Canna 'King Humbert'.

Another shot of the pink tapestry on the Hill. Purple barberry bushes behind Rosa 'The Fairy'.

Seed heads of Allium tuberosum leaning over the lamb's ears, Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and barberry bushes.

Stachys byzantina, Sedum 'Autumn Joy', purple barberry, Canna 'King Humbert'.

My giant patch of lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina) all came from one pot just two years ago. It is happy here... very well drained and sunny.

The Driveway Garden:

A brilliant yellow backdrop for the Driveway Garden.

I could not resist adding a foliage photo for this garden. All of the mature maples in our back yard turn a brilliant yellow in October, which makes the perfect setting for the flowers that are blooming.

Miscanthus 'Dixieland' in front of purple Aster 'Peter III'

Loving my last grass purchase! I can't appreciate enough the lightness added to this boarder by the white variegation of Miscanthus 'Dixieland'... especially in contrast to the vibrant purple of Aster hybrida 'Peter III'.

Dahlia 'Peaches 'n Cream' soaring over the Driveway Garden.

We have one more dahlia in the gardens this year, Dahlia 'Peaches 'n Cream'. My girls prefer calling it the "candy corn flower", as the color graduation on its petals matches that of the beloved fall candy. (The front of this flower can be seen in the opening photo for this post.)

Pumpkins brightening our walk to the car.

Thank you for joining us for the October garden walk!
We are really happy with the garden this fall and hope that you have enjoyed it too!

A big THANKS to Carol at May Dreams for hosting GBBD! Visit her to see more flowers from gardens around the world!

If you are interested in keeping up with Gilmore Gardens at Wife, Mother, Gardener, just take a look at the right-hand column. 
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Dahlia 'Heat Wave'

Like Tulip 'Red Shine' for the September garden, Dahlia 'Heat Wave' can be seen from a mile away... or at least all the way from the far stop sign across from our house.

Dahlia 'Heat Wave' with Canna 'King Humbert'; both float above the young pink Japanese Anemones.

 They are balanced by the deep red edges of Canna 'King Humbert' in our Front Walk. Red needs something to tie it down to the landscape a bit, in my opinion.

Just after a light autumn rain.

Dahlia 'Heat Wave' with Canna 'King Humbert' and Spirea 'Goldflame'.

 They began flowering in August (see GBBD August 2011) but are really driving strong through September.

 For more on their situation in the Front Walk at Gilmore Gardens, read the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day post for September 2011.