late season interest?

Sedum cauticola is well behaved, and blooms for me now.  Campanula rotundifolia seems to bloom off and on all season. Summer blooming Alliums, like our native Allium stellatum is still going strong.  Perhaps some Colchicum spp. are hardy for you?  C. agrippinum grows well here in zone 4a.  I expect that Scilla scilloides would be hardy for you, too.

CScott, welcome to the forum.  In what general geographical area do you garden?

Just starting to show its scarlet trumpets now, is Zauschneria garrettii (now Epilobium canum ssp. garrettii).
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=EPCAG

A bit tall and vigorously spreading for a small rock garden spot, but ideal with enough room to allow it to spread 5-6' or more, and about 12" tall, it provides brilliant color for late summer and early autumn.  I find it perfectly hardy here in USDA Zone 5, but not sure how it will do in your Zone 3 garden.  In one of the views below, you'll also see the large yellow flowers of Oenothera fremontii.  Since mine are just starting to show blooms, I post two photos from September of 2010.

Almost forgot about the genus Patrinia, until they start blooming late summer and fall.  Some are rather tall, but there are some short growing ones too.  The only one I currently grow is Patrinia rupestris, the yellow blooms starting late August and going into Sept-Oct are most welcome, and the plant has attractive dissected dark-veined leaves.  This species can be a bit large for the rock garden, but I do enjoy it... in this photo it has seeded into the edges of a garden path.  It comes from very cold places (Russia, Mongolia, Siberia) so might be a good addition to an Alberta climate.

More links on Patrinia rupestris.  I have never checked out whether my plants are correctly named, but after viewing plants shown in the wild, I do believe it looks right.

Patrinia rupestris, photographed in SE Transbaikalia, Siberia, Russia. 15th July 1997
ftp://193.166.3.2/pub/sci/bio/life/plants/magnoliophyta/magnoliophytina/...
Link to an image on a FTP site does not work in all cases, so in fair-use provision, I attach a copy of it below, the image titled with the photographer's name.

And a plant of P. rupestris photographed in Mongolia, photographed in the month of September.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stationalpinejosephfourier/5054250764/in/ph...

Flora of China entry; the species is found throughout much of china, from low to high elevations, and in Mongolia, Russia, Siberia).  Plant height is listed as 20-100 cm tall, quite a wide range:
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200022543

The best Patrinia species for dwarf habit, hardiness, and early late season of bloom, is probably Patrinia sibirica.  Here are some photo links:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/311783/
http://www.filuna.cz/picture/2009-Jaroleto/Patriniasibirica.JPG
http://www.plantarium.ru/page/image/id/103706.html
http://www.plantarium.ru/page/image/id/34581.html
http://www.plantarium.ru/page/image/id/34582.html
http://fitoapteka.org/images/foto/000112/587.jpg
http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/kazuhito/daisetsu/da-chisimakinreika.jpg

Lori wrote:

Another thought... many of the rock garden plants that bloom in mid-summer in warmer zones, would be "late season" plants for us here, given our short season.  Perhaps that will twig some more suggestions for far north late-bloomers?

My mistake, I made an assumption that all Patrinia are late bloomers (like the way most or all Solidago are late bloomers), but looking up Patrinia sibirica in Flora of China, it is indeed a spring bloomer, flowering May-June.

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200022546

It's funny that one of the image links was to your photo, I didn't realize  :)  It's a small gardening world ;)

it is very common here that early spring flowering plants have an autumn flowering period too. Most of them produce the flowerbuds early fall and are ready for an early blooming next spring. The rather long season and mild fall weather together with the short days make them flower unseasonally.

If you have space you can try this one: Inula racemosa 2-3m (7-10ft) tall!

. . . or this one: Erysimum (Cheiranthus) cheiri.

Thisone selfsow and the seeds that germinate in summer bloom in fall.

And now I'll bet you've just spent next spring's hellebore bloom, David...
-- Enjoy them while you can!

I don't know what to think about the pulsatilla, since there is just one (or two) blossoms...

You still have a lot of plants in flower, Lori! And the next week seems to be a good one for more flowers too ;)

Very few small plants flower here now - almost all are huge. Here is Lonicera henryi, an evergreen climber that flower all summer but sparsely and the spent flowers turn into black berries during fall and winter. it is strong growing, last summer I had to remove a shoot that had found its way behind the wall panel from the groundfloor to the top of the roof (8 meters in darkness) where it spread out and flowered.

This Euonymus planipes has very nice "flowers" in the fall from a young age.

Was away most of August and couldn't wait to get back to check for damage from Irene.  Thankfully, all OK here.
The Cyclamen fatrense is now in bloom.  It's the only cyclamen that has done well here and came form Dick Redfield.
Dick told me some people insist that this is really Cyclamen purparescens, but that never succeeded here and this one does.  Usually the leaves show some marbling but not this year.

It is a very pretty plant regardless what you call it ;)

Lori, that's a very good looking clump of Allium sikkimense (worthy of 2 pictures!).  The second Allium you posted is surely a form of Allium senescens var. glaucum; plants in cultivation are very variable as it hybridizes readily with other forms of senescens (and other alliums too if present and flowering at the same late season).  I'm still envious of the Dalea purpurea, it's the only seed variety that you sent me for which I received no germination :'(

Trond, I love the Euonymus planipes, such beautiful and distinctive red fruits, reminds me of gals from The Red Hat Society:
http://www.google.com/search?q=red+hat+society&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=782&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=QmRpTs7DMobe0QGfmKXjBA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQ_AUoAQ
How tall does it grow?  Can it be classified as a "small tree"?

One that I planted about 10 years ago continues to provide a long season of interest and fruiting spectacle, Euonymus sachalinensis.  Here's two photos from a number of years ago, it needs a bit of pruning to best reveal the dangling fruits (red pods with orange "berries" or seeds), and this year I never got around to trimming it up, but it is still quite a show right now.  There are a bunch of "Spindle Tree" Euonymus species that have similar fruiting appeal.  I first encountered E. sachalinensis at The Case Estates, an "extension" of Arnold Arboretum in Wayland, Massachusetts, where it was espaliered to show off in spectacular fashion the bounty of dangling fruits.

Boy, that feathery whatever it is at the base of the petals on that cyanthanthus is really cool!

Lori wrote:

Rick, have you grown either Euonymus planipes or Euonymus sachalinensis?

Mark sent me some E. planipes sachalinensis seedlings last fall. (Thanks, Mark!)  They weathered the winter just fine in pots and in the ground.  (Remember that rabbits love anything euonymus, though.)  I've not grown E. sachalinensis, but E. hamitonianus var. sieboldianus, E. nanus var. turkestanicus, E. bungeana and E. verrucosus all do well here.  I have a friend in zone 3 that grows E. bungeana.  Though all of these a very nice in their own right, none are like planipes or sachalinensis, in my opinion.

RickR wrote:

Mark sent me some E. planipes seedlings last fall. (Thanks, Mark!)  They weathered the winter just fine in pots and in the ground.  (Remember that rabbits love anything euonymus, though.)  I've not grown E. sachalinensis, but E. hamitonianus var. sieboldianus, E. nanus var. turkestanicus, E. bungeana and E. verrucosus all do well here.  I have a friend in zone 3 that grows E. bungeana.  Though all of these a very nice in their own right, none are like planipes or sachalinensis, in my opinion.

I do not have E. planipes; Rick, what I sent you was E. sachalinensis.

Oops!  I guess I might have discovered my naming error many years from now....
Thanks again, Mark.

I also occasionally see a late flowering Pulsatilla in my damp climate.

Re-Patrinias: Having discovered that these are/were commonly wild foraged food plants in Japan and elsewhere in the far east, I've been eagerly trying to make a collection, although they aren't that easy to get hold of. Most successful so far has been this one which I received as Patrinia triloba but I believe it's P. gibbosa (a small plant). P. scabiosifolia seems to have died on me, but P. triloba v. takeucheuma survived the last very hard winter here as small plants, so there's hope. I would be very pleased if anyone can offer seed of other Patrinias....

The P. gibbosa flowers late July early August here.

How very timely, Stephen: just yesterday I was going through the "P" section of leftover seeds from the 2010-2011 Nargs seed ex that our Chapter received.  There is a packet of Patrinia scabiosifolia.  Would you like it?

By the way, there are always really good seed selections in the leftover packets of past seed exchanges.  If your chapter doesn't elect to receive a bunch of them, you are missing out!

I have Patrinia ruprestris, and typically get seeds on it, I'll be on the look out for seed for you.

Thank you both and a yes please, but no hurry!

Lori wrote:

Hoy wrote:

it is very common here that early spring flowering plants have an autumn flowering period too.

Interesting... and enviable.  I was going to attribute the general absence of such behavior here (or, at least, in my yard) to a very short season, but I guess you have a darned short season too.   Maybe the difference is related to climate then?  The end of our season is certainly very final, when everything is frozen off.

A short season? It depends on the weather ;D

Usually the first flowers emerge February and the last ones in December .. .. .. Except the last two years when we had rather cold winters (mid November to mid February).

It is too late for seeds of E planipes, Lori, but I can save some next fall if you want.

By the way, here are some blooming now: Phygelius capesis blooms the whole summer and autumn too while Clematis heracleifolia starts blooming in September and keep going for a moth or two.

The Anemone is a common fall flowering one but the Impatiens is an annual similar to I balsamina but more compact (1m) and branched (it is weedy though!) The Daphne is from seed and unknown (it is not what the label said).  However it flowers sparingly all summer and autumn.

Phuopsis stylosa still stays put.

Trond, nice pics of late blooming stuff; I've always admired Phygelius capesis but don't believe it is hardy here.  Clematis heracleifolia is attractive and looks like something to add to my list.  Good photo of Phuopsis, a genus name that I like saying aloud :D  My phone-camera takes terrible photos in the rain, and its supposed to rain for the next 4 days, so might not get many photogenic scenes to add here.  With all of the rain, I saw a slug today ;)

The native asters are in full force (and I still call them Aster instead of Symphyotrichum), in the following view of a weedy strip in front of a stone wall along the street, is Aster pilosus (the main white-flowered aster), and on the left is Aster ericoides (denser clusters of tiny white flowers arranged in spires), and blue Aster laevis.  All are native here.

Aster laevis is one of the better larger-flowered purple-blue asters; a fairly tall grower it often reclines and with smaller lateral branches gives the illusion of being a smaller growing species. One of the first and last to bloom, with an extended blue time.  They contrast nicely with the brilliant red of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) which turns color early.

Two views of Aster linariifolius (Ionactis linariifolius), which is seeding around a bit too much, but I do love this species with low twiggy stems, bright green bristly needle-like foliage, and typically light powder blue flowers, but I also have lots of white flowered ones, descendants of white forms I found growing at the town dump many years ago.

I have a love/hate relationship with Hemerocallis.  I dislike many of the overbred cultivars one sees today, with thick lemon-peel petals that are ultra ruffled and heavily frilled, many with gross early-senescent course foliage.  There are of course exceptions; here's one called Hemerocallis 'Autumn Prince' with narrow basal foliage, and a long slender stem and a few small, simple, yellow trumpets, elegant in its simplicity and certainly welcome for its Sept-October bloom period.

All the rain seems to be putting the garden to bed exceptionally early this year.  There are daphnes reblooming, but that's not that unusual.  After the heat and drought, the excessive rain has forced a lot of plants into growth - hopefully they'll have a chance to harden off before winter.

And I just got online to post a pic of C. weyrichii !

Not a nice specimen like yours, though, Ann.  No, this pic is to show the tenacity of the species.  I rooted some cuttings of C. weyrichii 'Pink Bomb' back in 2009 in a mix of 3/4 perlite, 1/4 peat.  Some I grew on, but these were left in the original rooting pot.  They have been sitting forgotten in my menagerie of potted plants,in the shade of a Dwarf ninebark.

And even then, they still put on happy faces outside my kitchen window.

I have that pink form too. Rick.  Here it blooms first by a week or so.  C. weyrichii just sat and did nothing for a couple of years and then it took off, seeding itself in delightful places.  So nice to have something to look at this time of year.

Leibnitzia anandra anandria has very dark leaves this fall.  
Phemeranthus (Talinum) spp. have nice autumn color.

Rick, when I googled Leibnitzia anandra anandria  I got a lot of hits - in Russian! But when I googled Leibnitzia anandria I got a lot of "normal" hits!?

Anyway, the plant looks good and so does the Phemeranthus. The last one, is it a succulent?

I grew Leibnitzia anandria many years ago when I lived in Seattle, Washington, an oddity to be sure, that's able to create non-flowering flowers in summer that go directly to seed (analogous to cleistogamous seed production in Viola species).  I barely remember the spring flowers, so googled to see what they looked like again.

The Phemeranthus in fall color look like upsidedown squiddies ;D

Anandria, yes, a slip on my part.  I never have gotten a good close up of the real flower, but here is a blown up one:

Hoy wrote:

The last one [Phemeranthus], is it a succulent?

Yes. and deciduous.

Phemeranthus looks nice, is it possible from seed?