What’s Blooming in Mid-Fall?
‘Limelight’ hydrangea, native blue wood aster, and native brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) shine through October.
For me, fall has three seasons, early, middle, and late, and they do not conform to the calendar definition of fall. Early fall plants perform in September, a month that is technically summer until the equinox. Mid-fall plants peak in October, and late fall plants grace November. As far as I am concerned, December is winter no matter what the calendar says. The first post in this series covered September bloomers, for details click here. This post features perennials and shrubs that make a daily walk through my garden worthwhile in October, even as the weather cools. The next post will feature plants for November.
Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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As the weather cools in October, ‘Limelight’ hydrangea’s flowers take on this lovely pink hue.
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Some of my other favorite Japanese anemones like ‘September Charm’ and ‘Pamina’ may extend into October, but ‘Honorine Joubert’ is the queen, blooming throughout the month. It also has the best habit and most flowers of any Japanese anemone that I grow.
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Berries are very important in October, and none is more eye-catching than beautyberry, here ‘Early Amethyst’, an Asian variety.
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The unusual purple berries are elegantly set off by the lime green leaves. When the leaves drop in November, the berries persist.
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I actually prefer the cluster form and color of native callicarpa berries, but Callicarpa americana may have hardiness issues in our zone. I lost two of my three established plants last winter. The third is huge and vigorous though.
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My ‘Red Dragon’ fleece flower bloomed beautifully this year, and the purple leaves still look great in October.
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October is the month for fall-blooming hardy cyclamen and the wonderful leaves remain gorgeous all winter (photo taken at Chanticleer).
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‘Album’ is a white-blooming form of hardy cyclamen.
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‘Sinonome’ toad-lily is another outstanding October plant and continues full strength until the first frost. This photo was taken October 23, and plenty of unopened buds remain.
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A close up of ‘Sinonome’s orchid like flowers.
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Another toad-lily with a beautiful habit blooming in October at Welkinweir Estate Garden in Pottstown. There was no sign, but it may be Tricyrtis hirta ‘Variegata’.
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Native threadleaf bluestar shines again in October when it turns this gorgeous yellow-orange, here at Chanticleer.
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Cimicifuga’s (actaea) soaring, beautifully scented candelabras are dramatic in October, here at the Scott Arboretum.
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Tartarian aster takes over when all the other asters except native blue wood aster (see first photo) are done.
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Yellow corydalis blooms all season and continues on into November, while the blue flowers of autumn leadwort start in June and peak in September and October.
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Mid-October marks the start of the snowdrop and camellia season, two plants that carry me through the depths of winter and into spring. Although the variety broadens considerably in November, I want to show you the snowdrops and camellias that start the show:
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The fall-blooming snowdrop species, Galanthus reginae-olgae, sometimes called Queen Olga’s snowdrop because it was named for the Queen of Greece, always blooms by October 15. Shown here with my favorite lamium, ‘Shell Pink’, which flowers all season.
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Galanthus reginae-olgae ‘Tilebarn Jamie’ is an improvement on the straight species with bigger, rounded flowers and two flower stems per plant.
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I am so thrilled that this spring, I finally found ‘Snow Flurry’ fall-blooming camellia to plant in my garden. It starts the camellia season off with a glorious show in mid-October.
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‘Lu Shan Snow’ is my oldest camellia and starts the third week of October.
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‘Long Island Pink’ is another early fall-blooming camellia starting in mid-October. I planted it last fall, and it sailed through our terrible winter to produce a large crop of flowers this fall.
Carolyn
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CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS 
November 9, 2014 at 5:50 pm
I think the people who have been successfully working with camellia cold hardiness need to get a medal of some kind. It is not an issue here, but I am so glad their zone limits are being expanded.
November 11, 2014 at 10:11 am
Les, I agree, I love them especially the fall blooming cultivars. I think Dr. Ackerman who started it all died this year. Carolyn
November 9, 2014 at 8:49 pm
Carolyn, Thank you for this lovely post. We, too, have enjoyed a very LONG Fall season… what with our first real frost happening this past week. I want to ask you about Honorine Jobert Japanese anemone. I had an anemone in my flower garden until a year ago. I had to rebuild the bed. They don’t seem to transplant well… at least not for me. However, this pink variety became very “vigorous,” encroaching on many other plants. Does your featured variety spread, also?
November 11, 2014 at 10:10 am
SG, We still have not had a real frost although one is coming this week. My Honorine Joubert has not done that but I haven’t had it long enough or in enough quantity to really know. Japanese anemones often spread like crazy. Some of the pinks are closer to the species and spread more quickly. They are hard to transplant because they don’t have much of a root system, just some woody stalks. Carolyn
November 9, 2014 at 9:05 pm
You have quite a few beautiful blooming plants in the fall, and the foliage on some is spectacular! I have a non-hardy Cyclamen that I brought inside recently. It goes dormant in the summer and springs back to life in the fall. One of these days, I’m going to add Amsonia to my garden. I’ve been noticing it at the arboretums and on blogs this fall–it’s beautiful! I don’t know why I didn’t notice it much before. Sometimes plants appeal to us more at different stages of life, I guess. Great post!
November 11, 2014 at 10:05 am
Beth, I think the best season for the amsonia is the fall. It looks great paired with a decidous tree that turns golden in fall or a deciduous conifer. Carolyn
November 10, 2014 at 7:33 am
So many beauties Carolyn. Some of the plants in your garden have passed in mine. I guess because I am colder? Will you be offering Tilebarn Jamie this year in your snowdrop offerings for 2015? I was also on Facebook and there were a few snowdrops for fall posted in the American snowdrop group. I am traveling but have to search my garden because I know I bought Reginae-olgae and I think potter’s prelude from you but I had not seen them. Your cyclamen look beautiful. Is that first photo one plant?
November 11, 2014 at 10:03 am
Terry, Tilebarn Jamie is something for the future if it does well here. That first photo is probably one plant. Is it at Chanticleer. They grow from a corm, and it becomes huge over time. They also self sow in my garden like crazy. Carolyn
November 13, 2014 at 6:46 pm
Terry, I looked at my records and you never bought G. reginae-olgae or Potter’s Prelude from me. Maybe you got them somewhere else. Carolyn
November 10, 2014 at 9:25 am
Are you selling snowdrops now? Thank you, Shauna
November 11, 2014 at 10:00 am
Shauna, I sell snowdrops in starting in January when I post the catalogue. If you would like to get notice, email your full name and phone number for back up to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Carolyn
November 11, 2014 at 5:48 am
Carolyn, your seasons line up pretty much the same as ours. Very interesting plants you show us. Plenty Snowdrops in this neighbourhood, never seen the Autumn flowering ones though.
November 11, 2014 at 9:58 am
Alistair, The fall-blooming snowdrops are some of my favorites, I guess because they have so little competition. I like to be able to appreciate plants individually which is hard if there is a lot going on. Carolyn
November 11, 2014 at 6:43 pm
I am quite taken by your ‘Lu Shan Snow’, and I love how your Red Dragon persicaria is sited to drape over the rock wall. Fall has so much to offer! I truly love this season, and I hate to see it ending. Our temps here are going to dip into the 20’s in a couple of days and will probably put an end to the gorgeous fall colors we have now.
November 11, 2014 at 7:45 pm
Deb, WE are headed into the 20s on Friday night, and I am sad. ‘Lu Shan Snow’s’ flowers are beautiful. It is a tree form and has lovely cinnamon colored bark. This is the first time that Red Dragon has draped and it may be the first time it has bloomed. I have had it for years and was quite pleased. Carolyn
November 12, 2014 at 7:55 pm
You had so much coming into bloom in your October garden, Carolyn. Mine finishes so much earlier than yours. Fall blooming snowdrops are new to me. I must put them on my wish list. P. x
November 13, 2014 at 9:36 am
Pam, It is usually still quite warm here in October and even November. However, we are about to go into a cold snap with temperatures suitable for December. Carolyn
November 13, 2014 at 6:30 pm
Your opening sentence pretty much sums up how I feel about all seasons. In our area, all four seasons can be broken down into vastly differing beginnings to end. Sometimes, even the seasons get confused having what should be one acting like another. That or having what is how one should begin present as how it usually ends.
November 13, 2014 at 6:44 pm
Donna, Yes, the next ten days will have temperatures typical of mid-December averages, 10 degrees lower than normal. I am not looking forward to it. Carolyn
November 14, 2014 at 12:55 pm
HI Carolyn
Not raking all of the leaves is very appealing to me. What happens in the spring- do you end up raking most of the leaves then, or have some composted ?
November 14, 2014 at 1:05 pm
Hedy, Any leaves that are on the lawn get mowed into the lawn during the final fall mowing or the first spring mowing. You can mow up to 18″ into the lawn, and it is actually good for it so there is never a need to remove leaves from the lawn unless you want to grind them for mulch for your beds. The only beds that I clean out are immediately around the house for a more refined look. I do this in the fall and mulch then with ground leaves. I do not touch them again until the following fall. The beds that are not cleaned out keep their leaves in the spring. I never clean them out—the whole leaves are the mulch. Carolyn
November 17, 2014 at 8:28 pm
I love beautyberry. It’s such an unusual looking plant, but so pretty. I’ve seen a pink berried variety before too that I really like (one of these years!) I had no idea that there were snowdrops that bloom in fall! Beautiful! I am very interested in your next post – not too much blooms here in November! We’ve already had freezing temperatures and snow, though, as I’m in zone 6a, so winter is already settling in.
November 18, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Indie, I have only seen purple and white berried beautyberries. There is evidently an American beautyberry with pink berries called ‘Welch’s Pink’. I will have to look for that. Carolyn
November 18, 2014 at 8:57 am
I see purple and white as the main bloom colors in your fall garden, Carolyn! Japanese anemone is new in my garden, and I love it! Many people warn me about their ability to spread. Is it a concern in your garden?
Stay warm!
November 18, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Tatyana, I have heard this many times too. Unfortunately, Japanese anemones do not spread aggressively in my garden although I wish they would. I think you are safe if you stick with the more refined cultivars like Honorine Joubert, Whirlwind, Margarete, and Pamina. They are also pretty easy to dig up since they don’t have much of a root system. Carolyn
November 21, 2014 at 6:40 pm
It’s amazing since I cut down so much of the garden, I found a small Beautyberry, Limelight hydrangea and one toad-lily…now they need to have better homes so they can thrive…and look at all the other fabulous blooms for fall in your garden!
November 21, 2014 at 7:39 pm
Donna, You are in for some beautiful fall berries and flowers with your newly discovered treasures. What fun. Carolyn
May 11, 2018 at 12:45 am
Your work just shows how much you can do with shade! It’s lovely, cheers.