October can be so much more

With the right plant choices, October is as important as summer

Now that it’s half dead, our garden is looking the best it’s looked all summer. Wait, what?

Stems and grasses glowing in autumn sun. I guess it should’ve come as no surprise, after all, I did plan for the garden to have autumn and winter structure. Yet it did come as a surprise this week because for us, it’s been a challenging year on all counts. Especially with a lack of colourful flowers due to summer’s low light levels causing many plants, such as dahlias and althaea, to grow well but not flower enough.

But let’s pause for a second and discuss the plants that are flowering right now, looking as good as anything from earlier in the year. It strikes me that with the right choices, while October undoubtedly is the end of the main growing season, it can easily be every bit as good as any month from March to September.

Persicaria, agastache, salvia, asters, anemone. If you have a garden full of these and nothing else, October would be your peak of the year. And it would be spectacular!

In our garden of course, I’m aiming for ‘something’ to happen in every month of the year. Which means a mix and mingle of different plants. Our October colour champions are still quite small as I let them grow enough to divide and spread around, rather than buy everything in. A process that is taking longer than I had expected for some plants. Eventually though, they will flow in and around our big autumn structural plants like the grasses.

Despite our lack of colour this October, why I’m saying our garden is looking the best it’s looked since probably the alliums in May, is for shape and texture. I was out this week spinning in circles on the path looking at it all. It caught me off guard after a lacklustre summer.

I suppose the surprise of this happening came because I considered it a bad year for the garden, when it was just a bad year for colourful flowers. The plants didn’t care, they were quietly getting on with what they wanted to do. If I’d have paid more attention to them, and less to the pressures of having something to share on social media, I’d have realised 2024 has been a fantastic year for establishing the main perennial structure.

Giving me a chance now to decide where to divide and spread some of the colourful flowers I shared above, and to now see how they will work with the autumn dieback of other plants.

So, thank you garden for doing what you do, bringing me so much joy and happiness, and sorry I wasn’t paying attention to right places - you know what is best.

p.s. learn more about one of the most important plants for October colour, asters, in part one of my new aster trial, available for paid subscribers...