By V J Matthew/ Shutterstock
01.08.2023 - 14:57 / gardenerstips.co.uk / hortoris
Every colour has its day and for blue that is often in Autumn. This is a selection of our blue to purple plants showing off during mid to late October.
There are not too many plants that form a blue leaf or needles in this case. Eventually this Firs young needles will turn green. Some Hostas are said to have blue leaves or blue/green.
Michaelmas daisies are one of our favourites on Gardeners Tips as you may have noticed.
Blue is a tough colour to get right in the garden. Roses, Dahlia and Narcissus are renown for not having blue varieties. I have cheated with this hard Geranium that was in flower earlier in the year.
By V J Matthew/ Shutterstock
‘Autumn Joy’ or ‘Herbstfreude’ sedum is a reliable and attractive perennial known for its ability to emerge in spring as if winter never happened, unscathed and still beloved by all. Its fleshy, green foliage fills in quickly and behaves well, rare
Following my summer post Fine and Fantastic Fruiting Fungus I have been out in the local woods seeking these new pictures.
Get your bulb catalogues out and select your planting scheme for a glorious display next spring. Plant some bulbs just to cut for indoor flowers – the bunches will be superior to those you will pay na fortune for in the shops next year and you have the fun of growing your own.
Seed collecting can be addictive. You may quickly discover you are surrounded by drying stems and paper bags but all you need is enough seeds for your immediate needs.
This fleshy leaved Sedum Telephium Matrona is just colouring and clumping up in my garden. It is not as vigorous as Sedum spectabile Autumn Joy which can be come a bit of a thug if left unchecked.
From obenson flickr
Rumour that Bees are in terminal decline is not borne out in my garden this year. The Bees seem very happy on the blue flowers and I am happy as it gives me an excuse to show some more blue photographs (of flowers!).
The Japanese poetic work, ‘Manyoshu’ published in 759 AD but written 300-400 years prior selected 7 flowers for Autumn. This corresponds to the 7 Herbs of spring reported on an earlier post.
I took this photo in Autumn last year, outside Merton College, Oxford near to Christchurch Meadow. The natural sunlight highlights the colours of the changing leaves. The sugars in the old leaves can create wonderful colours ni autumn
Blue is not the colour you associate with foliage but if you can bend your eyes just a little around the silver – grey through to green spectrum there may be some surprises.