There were unusually many plants still flowering in the garden in October this year as we experienced a bit of an Indian summer. We’ve now had our first frost, so time to publish this album of 116 pictures of over 100 species. Most but not all are edible / edimentals and, yes, I should have made a salad.
Tradescantia ohiensis
Monarda didyma “Pink Lace” flowering through Aralia cordata “Sun King”
Ligularia fischeri “Cheju Charmer” – I’m not sure if this really is a late flowerer (my other fischeris are in seed) or just an aberration
Alcea rosea #1
Alcea rosea #2
Aquilegia chrysantha
Origanum spp.
Tradescantia
Allium tuberosum
A pretty Heracleum sphondylium or hybrid
Oxalis tuberosa (Oca)
Borago officinalis “Alba”
Leek (Allium porrum)…no chance for seed here!
Campanula lactiflora “Loddon Anna” has been in flower most of the summer and is popular with pollinators
Sedum “Carl””
Cirsium japonicum
Campanula persicifolia
Fuchsia magellanica “Alba”
The last Tigridia pavonia
Scabiosa japonica alpina
Papaver somniferum
Dystaenia takesimana (see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=24998) has produced seed and is still flowering
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)
Tanacetum parthenium (feverfew) (medicinal)
Lactuca sativa (lettuce)
A pink flowered perennial chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Korean clematis (Clematis serratifolia): the youg shoots have been reported eaten in Korea (not edible flowers)
Clematis vitalba (Old man’s beard) has been flowering like made for a couple of months and is very popular with pollinators (edible young shoots cooked, not edible flowers)
Prunella vulgaris
Parasenecio farfarifolius var bulbifera flowering very late
The bulbils of Parasenecio farfarifolius var bulbifera
Brassica nigra (black mustard)
Saponaria officinalis (soapwort; not edible)
Campanula trachelium “Alba”
Campanula rapunculoides
Meconopsis cambrica (not edible)
Micromeria dalmatica
Hosta “Red October”
Hylotelephium spectabile
Tulbaghia violacea (society garlic)
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) trying to flower again
Gentiana sino-ornata, a survivor from the time I also grew pure ornamentals
Dianthus knappii
Second flowering (perennialisation) on honesty (Lunaria annua)
Another nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
Another nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
Salvia officinalis
Hyssopus officinalis
Cryptotaenia japonica “Atropurpurea”
Allium hookeri “Zorami”
Lycopus asper
Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia) flowering for the first time outside in the garden…the tubers are overwintered indoors
Yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia) flowering for the first time outside in the garden…the tubers are overwintered indoors
A double form of Silphium integrifolium (wholeleaf rosinweed) from seed
Unlike me, my oldest Udo (Aralia cordata) is showing no signs of ageing….well, it’s only 18 years old!
My tallest vegetable is a herbaceous perennial!
Thanks to Maria Hammarsten from Jönköping University who visited today for the pictures!
No frost thus far in October and it looks like it could be a frost free month! That and record high temperatures and there are a lot of plants still flowering or reflowering! Most but not all are edible!
I love chicories, a huge diversity of vegetable and wild forms, some perennial, hearting types, dandelion like types, various colour forms often like this one splashed with colour, varieties used as root vegetables, coffee surrogate types, forms for winter forcing, hardy, tasty, healthy, beautiful when flowering (both white, red, blue and pink forms are available) and there are no pests or diseases here…what isn’t there to like about them?
I harvested them for storing in my cold cellar and forcing later on in the season. This one was used in an Indian curry with barley “rice”.
A hardy perennial bean has been a wish amongst permaculturists for some years, and one of the most interesting species is Phaseolus polystachios. Jonathan Bates of Paradise Lot fame (with Eric Toensmeier) kindly sent me seed last year. The 2-3 plants sadly all died. This year one of my remaining seed germinated and the resultant plant has grown well, kept indoors all summer.. It is now in full flower in the living room, but has been invaded by aphids. Is it self-fertile?
Congratulations to my dear Mum and Dad on their 66th wedding anniversary today!!
And 66 has a special significance in my family, as heard at 0:58 in this video, which is even older… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYApJtsyd0
Harvested roots of Jack-go-to-bed-by-noon (Tragopogon pratensis), an introduced weed in my garden. It is related to salsify and scorzonera – I eat the roots and force a few for early spring greens; Madeira vine is in the Basellaceae and isn’t everybody’s cup-of-tea as they are rather mucilaginous – they can also be forced in winter for the equally mucilaginous greens! I LIKE THEM, but always mixed with other veg. Finally, I harvested my long neglected chorogi which were surprisingly good yielding despite the fact that they were completely overgrown by weeds..
All are now stored in the cellar.
Allium paradoxum (Few-flowered leek)
