Snow is becoming a regular occurrence around here now after an amazingly mild and warm October and early November – and I think I’m okay with it. For now. If you ask me in March of next year, I will most definitely have a different answer. 😉
These peacock gladiolus (aka Abyssinian gladiolus – Gladiolus murielae, syn. G. callianthus, G. acidantheria) that one of the ladies planted in our new “bulb bed” at the community garden got heaps of admiring comments when they splashed out in late summer and into autumn. They’re pretty common elsewhere, but I don’t see them too often here – I guess no one enjoys lifting those bulbs in the fall! I think new bulbs are very reasonably priced, however, and everyone at the garden agreed that this is a plant we will definitely try again in the future. It’s easy to see why!
What new plants have you tried in your garden this past growing season? Are they keepers? Did you see a plant on a garden tour or in a friend’s garden that totally wowed you and made you want to try it yourself?
Flowery Prose 
What a beauty! Definitely worth repeating.
I totally agree! This is one we were all really impressed with!
Never heard of this flower – it’s a beauty! I’m glad snow still seems a long way off around here, though other years it has fallen by now.
Hope the snow holds off a bit more for you! We still don’t have much in the way of accumulation but it sounds like that will change very soon. It’s been an exceptionally dry autumn so far!
We’ve been getting more rain lately.
It is very pretty Sheryl. I grow a hardy Gladioli – Gladiolus communis byzantinus – but it is pink. This year I grew Thithonia as an annual for the first time after seeing it on Jason’s blog Garden in a City. I loved it and will grow it again most definitely!
Ah, yes, I recall Jason’s mention of the Tithonia – so attractive!
Flowers lite up my day .Great photo
Thank you! The light was great that morning and there were some daffodils planted behind these glads, so the background is interesting.
Lovely – well everything except the snow part. 🙂 I worked on our annual MG plant sale committee plus the day of the sale and was rewarded with two, not one but two, Jack in the Pulpets from the chairwoman. I was one happy gardener. 🙂
I bet! What a wonderful treat! 🙂
What a beautiful flower. It looks, in many ways like the Alpine Willy clematis. Except for the colouring. Take a peek at my post and you’ll see what I mean.
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It really does look quite a bit like the ‘Alpine Willy’ – particularly the shape of the flowers. Very exotic looking. Your clematis is absolutely beautiful – did it bloom late this year, or is that it’s regular habit? So many plants bloomed late here – I think the heat of mid-summer just totally stressed them out.
I love this flower and used to grow them in a former garden and will get around eventually to planting some in my present garden. The only problem I had with it was it needed a lot of warm summer days and lots of sunshine before it eventually flowered in the late summer/early autumn. If we had a cool or dull summer they didn’t flower at all. I love their scent – beautiful!
Interesting! I didn’t know that about them – maybe they performed so well for us because we had an exceptionally hot, dry summer. We don’t typically get this kind of prolonged heat wave.
You’re right – they have a gorgeous fragrance, which I forgot to mention in my post. Just lovely!
what a beauty! I had a low key garden this year, with all our traveling. I am on th elook out for plants thta are mildew resistent though. xo Johanna
Oh mildew can be such a problem, can’t it? I end up with it on my columbines and squash nearly every year – this year was one exception. Breeders are coming up with more and more resistant plants, though, which is good!
Hope you’re having a wonderful week! I’m still behind on reading blog posts and I have a few of yours in the queue; looking forward to them…. 🙂
That’s lovely!
I planted succulents this year, inside and out. Just a few in pots to add some green to an otherwise dry, brown summer. They really perked things up. I gave them a drink of water once a month. You can’t beat that.
They are some of the best plants going, aren’t they? Perfect for your climate and so versatile! Calgarians tend to grow a lot of succulents as well, because we have such dry, arid conditions in the summer – they really perform well here! Only trouble is, many aren’t hardy enough for our winters so they all need to be brought indoors in the fall….
Sheryl, I wondered about that. That takes commitment to bring them inside each year. Do you have enough room to do that?
Our friends are heading to Calgary this weekend for their nephew’s wedding. They live down the street and have shared what we call our “Canadian Thanksgiving” with us each year. Since they’re originally from Calgary and I’m originally from Ontario, and I’m a vegetarian, we have a non-traditional but enjoyable time on the day of the American Thanksgiving. We’ll really miss them this year.
I have more houseplants than I probably should, lol, so I don’t bring much in for the winter. I have a bit of an African violet addiction! 😉
Your non-traditional Thanksgiving sounds so fun – it will definitely be different for you if your friends can’t be there this year, but I hope you enjoy a wonderful day with your family anyway!
Thanks for your well wishes, Sheryl. I’m fond of African Violets and had the same three for years. After we moved to this house, the plants were burned in the sun before we could move everything inside. They never full recovered. It might be time to buy some new ones.
It’s hard when you love plants not to fill every corner with them. I totally understand.
beautiful, I have never had much luck with gladiolus! your photo is inspiring, we live in a townhouse with only a small garden spot, I am wondering if I can grow them in a pot, and I could start them early in the garage? something to look into.
I actually think they’d be fabulous in a pot – you could leave them in there all summer, and they would look amazing! These aren’t hardy bulbs so they can’t stay all winter in the ground, anyway.
That is a lovely plant…not any new plants in my garden as I am reassessing my garden….our November has been very warm.
You’ve had a balmy autumn there, too – it truly feels like an extended summer, doesn’t it? It’s been so wonderful to spend time outdoors enjoying it!
Beautiful flower – I have not done much with bulbs in my garden. I love dahlias and planted them a few years but did not dig them up one year and lost them. We’ve had a mild Fall except for today when we are expecting some snow.