Nature Study Idea: Blooms

 WHAT'S BLOOMING

I challenge you to find at least five things blooming in your October yard and garden.  If you live on a very small property, next time you walk to the corner store or library take the challenge.

These are the things I found yesterday:

sedum

hydrangea

lavender

hosta

geraniums

FIND OUT MORE

I have had these wonderful plants in my gardens for years and have enjoyed the colors of the blooms and shapes of leaves. My second challenge for you is to find out some thing more about one of the flowers you have loved for years in your own garden.  I chose the clematis that I recently replanted and was rewarded with some blooms.

clematis

Clematis (KLEM-a-tis) is a member of the Ranunculaceae (buttercup) family. The word is from the Greek and means "vine." This genus includes approximately 250 species and numerous garden hybrids. It is a varied genus, made up of mostly woody, deciduous climbing plants, though a few are evergreen and a few herbaceous. There is great variety in flower form, color, bloom season, foliage effect and plant height. Leaves are opposite on the stem and mostly compound with three to five leaflets. The leaf stalk twines like a tendril and is responsible for giving the plant support. The flowers are showy, having four (sometimes five to eight) petal-like sepals (no true petals) in numerous colors and shades. There are three general flower forms: small white flowers in panicles or loose and irregular spreading clusters; bell or urn-shaped flowers; and flat or open flowers. The fruit is often showy as well, being a ball shaped, "feathered" structure. Clematis are hardy plants (many are hardy to USDA zone 3) and can survive for 25 years or more. The large-flowered hybrids may have blooms ranging from four to ten inches in diameter and as many as 100 blooms per plant in a season. The species types have blooms ranging from one-half to three inches in diameter with diverse shapes and habit; many of the species have fragrant blooms, which is not true of most hybrids. The one fault of clematis is that they are not attractive during winter, when they are a tangle of bare stems. 

I never really thought of a plants life time. There was a large hosta in our garden when we moved in 24 years ago. I have split, separated and replanted and split those and replanted more hosta to the point that I give them away. It could be the everlasting plant.

I would love for you to tell me what is blooming in your garden this month.