A Belated October Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

This past week was hectic with some family stuff going on and I didn't notice it was Bloom Day until the next morning. Even though I'm quite late at this point, I still wanted to document what is in bloom in my central Ohio zone 6a garden since I've only done so in October once before. We're still in a drought, but we have gotten over 2.5" of rain so far this month which is helping us avoid it getting worse at least.

The zinnias are still blooming although most of the ones planted in the ground have awful powdery mildew at this point. The peach one above and it's friends are planted in pots that I water daily if needed so they've held up much better.

These thumbalina zinnias are also growing in a pot and as their name suggests are much smaller than all the other zinnias I'm growing. I wasn't in love with them over most of the season because they're just a bit too dainty for me, but I appreciate anything that is still blooming at this point.

I was worried that I might might only have one or two blooms on my Otto's Thrill dahlia this year, but numbers three though six are all on this branch that unfortunately snapped in the wind today. That, however, gave me an excuse to bring them inside to enjoy. There are still several buds to go, if the frost continues to hold off.

This single dahlia, which is definitely not Penhill Dark Monarch as labeled, is also still blooming. It is pretty and the bees love it.

This anise hyssop (agastache foeniculum) is blooming and I'm really loving the little bluestem planted to the right last month (Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues'), which is getting some lovely purple tones.

The award for the longest blooming flower in my garden has to go to this clump of salvia farinacea. It is easy to grow from seed, needs no special care and survives drought without supplemental water.

This volunteer cleome planted itself in a bare spot where I'm still figuring out what I want to plant long-term. It also been blooming for quite awhile and I just love it. I'm going to try spreading the seed around to other parts of the garden this year to see if I can get it to grow elsewhere.

My other asters are long gone unfortunately, so I was thrilled to see this white one pop up that I don't remember planting.

This small snapdragon clump was another surprise I found growing in the front foundation bed.

The snapdragon is near this nasturtium that finally decided to bloom.

I also spotted a coneflower or two and I have some rudbeckia both grown in the ground and in a pot. That's it for what's growing in my garden this month and probably my last bloom post for this season. Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming in other gardens around the globe.

Six on Saturday: Early October

Our drought continues and my central Ohio 6b garden is looking decidedly crispy, plus most of the zinnias are covered in powdery mildew. But I managed to find six things to show.

This lantana that I've been growing in a pot since spring had stopped blooming some time ago, which made me sad. I moved it to a sunnier spot and it's blooming once again and bringing a much-needed pop of color.

My dahlias have taken a beating (teething more accurately) from the deer this year and most of them are currently in between blooms, but I found this single dahlia bloom, as did this bumble bee.

These rudbeckia are growing in a pot near the house so the deer have been leaving them alone and I really enjoy them.

More of these snapdragons I grew from seed are blooming now. I really like this mix.

These zinnias are also in a nearby pot and are still blooming and luckily powdery-mildew free unlike my zinnias that are in the ground.

The tomatoes I purchased and planted are very crispy and more than half dead at this point, but these volunteer tomatoes look great and the deer finally let a few ripen.

That's my six this week. Visit Garden Ruminations to see what's happening in other gardens around the world.