dianaschnuth

Most of my borders look something like this one right now:

Mostly cleared out and ready for a long winter’s nap.

Our first hard freeze a few days ago (pretty late for Zone 6a / 6b) finally stopped the Cosmos in their tracks.

I’d kept deadheading them through the fall, just to see how long I could keep them blooming. They really put on a good show this year, with minimal fuss — they may be my new favorite annual.

In the front garden, though, the snapdragons and foxgloves are both keeping on, despite a night or two just below freezing.

I know I’d said that I probably wouldn’t grow the Potomac Apple Blossom snapdragons again, just because I can’t keep up with their need for staking… but this reblooming habit in late fall might just change my mind about them.

So ends another year of outdoor gardening in my NW Ohio home. The remainder of the fall and the winter will be spent indoors, enjoying the blooms of forced bulbs and houseplants, and making plans to extend the bloom season out-of-doors next year.

As always, many thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day on the 15th of each month, all year ’round.

I took photos of my blooms on October 1st, just because I expected them to fade by the time bloom day arrived. Surprisingly enough, all the blooms were still blooming — plus some more!

The red hardy hibiscus is still kicking out flowers! The white ones have long since been done.

Continue reading →