Thursday, October 14, 2010

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ~ October, 2010

Bring out yer dead: Dead Hollyhocks, that is.

Whenever I was use my goofy hand cart to harvest tall, scraggly monsters, like Mom's Heirloom Hollyhocks, my neighbor calls out over the fence: "Bring out yer dead!" To him, my hand cart looks like a throwback to the middle ages.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here it is... another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. For a reality check, that picture above is a full, sad view of what's not blooming. As in pretty much everything. Though I have enough hollyhock seeds to populate the entire planet so this is your lucky day!!! If you'd like me to send you a bucket of seeds, just say the word.

Zebrina French (Miniature) Hollyhock

Little bits of color, here and there, thanks mostly to Zebrina. She's under the delusion that it's still summertime. Her sistahs kicked the bucket about a month ago. This gal is a volunteer, seeding herself in the most inhospitable place. Now, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer... but I am picking up what she's putting down: Pahleez! Less frequent watering, thank you very much. This extra dry spot is heaven to me!

Pincushion Flowers (Scabiosa) in pink, blue and purple are still hard at work.

A few happy Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia aristata) adorn the brown mess that has become my autumn garden.

And, thus ends another glorious summer of sweet, lazy days, bright blossoms, muddy jeans, and happily ruined manicures in the ongoing battle with those pesky weeds.

* Pop over and say hello to Carol of May Dreams Gardens ~ the brainchild behind Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day held on the 15th of each month.

33 comments:

Wendy said...

I love that ornamental grass in the last photo!

Anonymous said...

I love your Halloween theme. So seasonal. You blooms are nice too. But your blog is so nicely laid out.It really made me stay awhile.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

Found you through Carol's site - lovely photos, really like the grasses, they add so much to the garden in Autumn.

Sherry Pitcock said...

I love this about hollyhocks. I can't resist snipping the seeds from every hollyhock I see along the road or elsewhere. I also live in the Wasatch mountains and have the worst clay soil ever. I used a screw driver to plant some ill-begotten booty the other day. Mine don't seem to thrive the way yours do. But hope springs eternal.

Should I plant seeds in the fall to give them time over the winter, or wait till spring (June) when they have less time to develop?

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Buh ha ha... the hollyhock seeds are ALIVE!

A Garden of Threads said...

My hollyhocks look just like yours. But you still have a few blooms showing. They still look happy to giving you their show. Take care and have a great weekend.

Unknown said...

I would love a bucket of seeds. The most fun I ever got into at my last job was making certain some hollyhock seed got spread for the following season. (The boss did not like the hollyhocks.) "Hmmm? They must have just re-seeded themselves..."

sweetbay said...

I love your new header and your garden cart! The garden is starting to wind down here too in spite of the lack of chill. Those Miscanthus seedheads are beautiful.

Noel Morata said...

aloha,

what a very nice tour of your garden this morning, i enjoyed the beautiful flowers especially the holly hocks.

btw - i love your post about gilwood? what a fun quirky place :)

thanks for sharing that with us

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Happy Bloom Day everyone! And, thanks for visiting!

For those of you asking about Holly seeds, I'd love to send you some. I'll swing by your blogs and get your email addresses.

Sherry - I'd be happy to send you some seeds, too. And, I can also send you some seeds of other flowering perennials that bust up that clay soil and make it palatable for other perennials. :)

Have a fab weekend!!

One said...

Hi Kate, Your hollies are beautiful but I don't think it will grow in this hot climate. That last shot is awesome!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Kate girl !! HAPPY BIRTHDAY for tomorrow : ) and your blog is looking FANTASTICALLY HALLOWEENY !!! Yippeee!
Yes your cart would summon the spine tingly call of 'bring out yer dead ..eh ?!" hahaha Canadian style ..plus they would ask for a Tim's coffee and doughnuts just to watch you ? LOL
I love my grasses bunches and bunches too ! They make me smile every time I see them : )
Have a good one girl .. drink something really mind blasting for me ?? LOL
Joy

Town Mouse said...

Happy bloom day Kate! Of course I love your little flowers, bravely hanging in there, but I'm just blown away by your blog background! What fun.

Carly said...

Hello! I've secretly enjoyed reading your blog all this past summer and spring. Especially since I've started tending my Mom's massive and (due to physical issues) sadly neglected flower beds. Maybe I'm interweb shy but I never felt I had anything to say and so this is my first time commenting. But I must say I love your blog's clean layout, all the pictures of flowers and your posts are a fun read :)

I live along the wasatch front myself and my mom and I tried to plant some hollyhock seeds she got from her father ages ago. Sadly they were to old and didn't grow. If you'd be willing to share some with a novice gardener I'd absolutely love to be able to plant some in the garden!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Why Joy, you Sweetie Pie!
All knowing gardener -- how, in the world, did you know it was me birthday???

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Dear, Zombie!
I am so delighted to hear that I have a blog stalker. :)) Just teasing. I read a lot of blogs and don't comment, as well. I, too, struggle with having something interesting to say. Yes, absolutely, you can have some hollyhock seeds. You can even pick your poison - I have separated them by color, black, wine red, peach, fuchsia and pale pink. I'll pop over to your blog and see if we can connect.

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

wow Kate - my favourite is those grasses - Miscanthus just hates my conditions. I've bought hollyhock seeds for next year so I hope I get some good results as I've never grown these for decades. Love that trug on wheels of yours :)

Rhonda said...

Hey there High-Altitude! Don't despair it still makes for an interesting GBBD blog post. Like your banner by the way. Nice photos too.

scottweberpdx said...

Hahaha...I love that cart! Those Zebrina....gotta love the plants that just keep going!

Rose said...

The last photo of the grass is stunning, Kate! We may have lots of brown in our gardens right now, but at least we do have blue skies. Two years ago I collected so many seeds from my hollyhocks, but this year I just decided to let them do their own thing:)

I see from your header, you're all ready for Halloween--hope you have a spooktacular birthday tomorrow!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Kate,
I enjoyed seeing your blooms. My volunteer zebrinas did not bloom this year. Maybe they will next year. I have taken some of my hollyhock stalks down, but not all of them yet.

Have a happy birthday tomorrow!

Kathy said...

We've had one freeze here (26F) but no frost before that. I still have a fair amount blooming. I think it helped that we finally got some rain in September. Do you have flowering tobacco, or asters, or violas? They are all valiant soldiers here.

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how picturesque you managed to make a photo of dead hollyhocks look! And it's funny that you live on Hell's Half Acre in Utah, because there's a wilderness area near me in nrthern California that's called Hell's Half Acre.

Garden Lily said...

It's fun that you have a neighbour like that. I once had my husband dig out the lawn to expand my garden by some 2' by 7' or so, and my neighbour called out for him to lay down and check if it was wide enough yet. Pretty funny.

my hesperidesgarden said...

Hi Kate, I found you, the address you left on my blog was incorrect. I love the Miscanthus in the last shot, do you leave it standing all winter or is it too wet with you. I have to admit Miscanthus are probably my most favourite of all the grasses. Thanks for sharing. Christina

Amy Farrier said...

That last photo is beautiful! I love when grasses do their feathery, tassel-y thing.

Amber said...

These are gorgeous photos from your high altitude garden! I know I am plowing up the ground and getting ready the first frost will be here any night.

troutbirder said...

Wonderful hollyhocks. My Seedsavers "Outhouse" hollyhocks did reall well this year. And everyone knew where to go! :)

debsgarden said...

French hollyhocks are my favorite! I like your cart and the imagery your neighbor presents of bringing out the dead - that's funny! I also love the photo of the grasses.

Carolyn ♥ said...

love this post, Kate, and I'm totally in love with your background.

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