Not sure if anyone's still interested in blooming things this time of year, but perhaps it still makes some sense for those farther south than me.

I'm in zone 6A, southwestern PA, and most things are still blooming, but some are looking tattered after the high winds, recent chilly nights and shortening days.

Zinnias
Tithonias--Looking bedraggled
Cuphea micropetala
Cuphea llavea
Cuphea 'David Verity'
Agastache 'Heatwave'
Canna indica (red)--still throwing out a few blooms
Canna patens--ditto
Salvia coccinea--Liking the cooler weather and looking rejuvenated
Manettia bicolor--non stop bloomer all year
Ipomoea hederifolia--in reddish orange, yellow, and bicolor yellow
Other Ipomoeas seem to be finishing up--Cardinal Climbers, Hearts and Honey, and Cypress Vines
Salvia guaranitica 'Kobolt'
Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt?'
Fuchsia 'Thalia'
Tricyrtis "Toad Lilies" Just began blooming maybe a week ago
Aconitum "Monkshood" Just began recently. I don't think this is a hummer flower.
Impatiens walleriana
Torenia fournierii
Lonicera sempervirens 'Alabama Crimson'--puts a few blooms out now and then. A very poor year for this one due to repeated aphid attacks.
Ruellia elegans--still blooming but would prefer some warmth
Ruellia brevifolia--Also blooming but could use some warmer temps.


Lots of other summer bloomers finished weeks ago. No more Mimulus cardinalis, Delphinium exaltatum, or Silene regia. Penstemons of various sorts are all done (eatonii, pinifolius, and smallii). I forgot to water my Callibrachoas through a dry spell, so they are also through. Also long done among my summer bloomers are my Monarda 'Jacob Kline,' and my Monarda 'Dark Ponticum.' I had hoped my Heuchera sanguinea would rebloom, but nothing. It was nice while it lasted. Even my peach colored Campsis radicans, which had been throwing out a few blooms here and there recently, seems to be done.

I'm probably forgetting something, but I think that's about it.

Kristin, how much have your hummers used the fuchsias and which one do they prefer(also, which do you prefer)? I have actually thought about trying both a gartenmeister and thalia next year. Do you think they would work in hanging baskets under the eave of my house? The downward-facing blooms would be good, but if the plants got taller than a couple feet it probably wouldn't work.

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

Dan, I like both, and so do the hummingbirds. I'm actually not totally sure the one is 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt.' I bought it this year at Lowe's on an impulse, and it was not labelled. The leaves on that one are reddish maroon on the undersides, and the flowers are a bit redder than the 'Thalia,' which has green leaves and flowers that are a bit lighter and more towards orange in tone.

I just went out and measured the height. The 'Thalia' is in a large pot with white impatiens, and it is about 23" tall. The presumed 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' is in the ground and is about 27" tall. I'm not sure if either one would look its best in a hanging basket. Although the flowers hang down, the plants themselves have a somewhat lax, but mostly upright growth pattern. You'll have to decide for yourself, but it doesn't sound like there'd be enough room from the pot to the eaves of your house.

I really do like both. I like the reddish leaves on the 'Gartenmeister,' but I also like the lighter, brighter flowers on the 'Thalia.' That shade just happens to stand out a little better against the rather dark, brownish red brick of our house.

This year, I saw hummingbirds on the 'Thalia' several times. I kept missing getting photos, and now the hummingbirds are gone. I don't remember seeing them very much on the 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' this year, but I did see them on a different one that I grew in a previous year. I'd have to say I'd give a slight edge to 'Thalia' with respect to hummingbird preference this year. However, it's also possible that they were on the 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' just as often and I didn't happen to be looking at the right time. I think it's safe to say that the 'Thalia' is at least as popular if not more so than the 'Gartenmeister.'

I hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for the great info, Kristin. I'll probably end up choosing only one fuchsia, but I have a while to think about it.

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

We have been blessed with some fair weather in the past week so some of our blooms are hanging in there.

In bloom this week:

Lantanas (red and yellow) 6
Verbena Homestead Purples 6
Mandevilla 1 (really never see the hummers visit this)
Tithonias (two short varieties~~Fiesta del Sol and ??~we gave the tall Torches the 'yank' because they were getting ugly)
Zinnias 'Benarys Giants' mostly red ones from Renee's Seeds but they are wilting fast
Salvia Black Y Blue
Hardy Geraniums seem to interest the hummers somewhat
Verbena Boanarienses
Toad Lilies (a large patch of them~~never gave them a second thought until I read a recent thread on this forum)
Snap Dragons (a few)
Buddlieas (3)
Asters 'New England' purples 8
Salvia Yvonee's red (just a few volunteer stalks)

And 4 feeders still up.

Today I saw 3 hummers buzzing around the garden.

I have 60 red tulip bulbs to plant next week (part of my spring time effort to attract the early migrators).

And I have made a big space in my garage to house the potted 'tender' perennials for the winter--lantanas, verbenas, salvia b & b, etc. I expect a frost any time now~~Our days in the garden are numbered! )-:

Judy




Judy in Zone 6a
Cincinnati (Anderson Twp.)
Southwest Ohio

There are just too many things to mention. Finally a week or so ago the Tree Tobacco started to bloom. All the salvias are in extremely heavy bloom right now, particularly the greggii and microphylla. A four year old cross between microphylla San Carlos Festival and probably Raspberry Delight is now more than 6 feet across. Yvonnes and all the other annual sages are blooming well, and all day because of the cooler temps. Salvia involucrata is into its secondary bloom when the side shoots also set flowers. It makes me wonder what it would be like if I was down south and could see it in November or even December. A potted Salvia leucantha will open up its first flowers shortly. It is always the last along with a pale pink single mum. I love the garden at this time of year, more so because I know it can't last.

A lot blooming here as well. But a new plant is blooming that I planted in the spring. Trailing Bauhinia. I used to have an Orchid tree and lost it in the hurricane, so I thought this would be a good addition. I just noticed the blooms this morning and a hummer checked it out several times during the day.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

We had our first frost overnight. I did lose all my Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph' out back (about 10 or 12). I may have lost my Black and blue but most everything else seems to be ok including my cannas, Salvia darcyii, Salvia greggiis, Subrotundas and Salvia coccinea 'Forest Fire'. The south facing front and side beds seem to have escaped the frost including the one bed out in the middle of the front yard with C. schumanii, David Verity, Salvia 'Scarlet Spires', Dicliptera suberecta, Salvia reptans and a couple of S. coccineas.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Salvias B&B, coccinea, leucantha and a rangy pink bush sage
Bouvardia
Abutilon
Crocosmia masonorum - the second round of bloom is on really short stalks
Cleome
Little red morning glories
Asters, coneflower and goldenrod

Lisa
Central NJ/ z6b
Heat zone 5/6

As of October 10th, the only blooms that have survived the snowstorm and the hard freeze are a few blooms left on the honeysuckle vines...which are currently filled ripe berries that flocks of Robins, Blue Jays and Starlings had been enjoying up until the snowstorm.
Since then, we've had only 4 birds in our back yard in 3-4 days...weird! Even after blizzards, our year round birds would still be around and come back to enjoy the birdbath and seeds in our feeders and gardens...
It's as if a nuclear bomb went off here!

Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

Our average temps should still be in the 60's during the day but it looks like our highs will only reach themid to high 40's for the next 7 days so I am enjoying what is left out in the yard. Our current temps as of this posting is 35 degrees.

This is what is blooming outside after our first frost on Monday
Coral Honeysuckle
Salvia greggiis
Cuphea ignea David Verity as well as the species
reseeders of Petunia intergritfolia
half a dozen salvia coccineas still hanging on
Butterfly bushes
Salvia Darcyii
Salvia reptans W. Texas form
a few Salvia subrotunda
Cannas
Verbena bonariensis
Rose of Sharon Shrub
Tall gardden Phlox
some new blooms on Salvia SL411
and a couple of unknown agastaches including the new coral cross.
Oh and two Gartenmeister bonstedt Fucshias and skullcap


Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Hurray!!!! Cuphea Micropetala FINALLY bloomed! I can't beleive it did with all the cold nights we are having. For weeks I have had buds on the plant (what I hoped were buds) and I finally have some cuphea's! I took one plant in and that one is happy in the window and starting to bloom. But it was the bigger plant outside that has some blooms on it now, just in time for frost!! These plants were started from seed and won't be benefiting any birds/bees this season, just me. The bigger plant will be brought inside if I can squeeze it some window space, than if it continues to grow some cuttings. But no more growing from seed for this one for me, the anticipation it is just too slow in my zone.

Besides I have a bunch of VERY Teeny Tiny Sinningia Lineata seedlings started in the basement. That alone will drive me nuts waiting for them to become adults.


Pam NJ 6B

Pam,
My cuphea schumanii from seed that are planted in the ground are just now blooming also...just in time from the freezing winter cold. Luckily I have enough plants inside in pots to hold over for next spring and hopefully a lot earlier blooms.

My micropetala bloomed about a month ago and I have already sown a few seeds just for fun they are about an inch tall already.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Some of us are still waiting to become adults and it has been way way more than a single growing season.

Speaking of late, the darned Tree Tobacco finally started to bloom a few weeks ago. Any of you northerners get earlier blooms than what I am seeing. I am considering bringing the monster onto the porch this weekend but won't do so if this late bloom date is the average. I don't need a 9 foot tall tobacco that blooms as late as pineapple sage.

can't help you with this one Ward. I have a nicotiana but I can recall which one it its but it didn't bloom.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Inspite of the fact that we have had frost a couple of nights now and most everything is dust, my Salvia reptans and Cuphea schumanii are hanging in there. The plants out back are pretty much all dust except for the greggiis. On the east side of the house, the tall garden phlox still have blooms along with a couple of S. coccineas. and in front the greggiis a couple of S. coccineas and Scarlet Spires are still blooming and in good shape along with all three butterfly bushes.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39