Raydon's Favorite Aster

Aster oblongifolia, aromatic aster, is a dependable herbaceous perennial that displays a wonderful fall flower show. If you depend on pots of mums and pansies to color your perennial garden in the fall, you're missing out on a great show of color that this aster will provide. It is just reaching peak bloom in our Linnaeus Boulder Garden and it is simply magnificent. One can hardly see any foliage for the massive coverage of rich blue flowers and the leaves have a pleasant minty fragrance when crushed.

If you want to mimic this look for your landscape, most medium to large growing asters should have their succulent spring growth pinched or sheared back several times before July 4th. Pinching off lush early growth will cause asters to branch and produce thick, stout branching and maximum fall blooms.

Tatarian Aster

Aster tataricus, the goliath of the asters, is an upright growing variety that can easily reach five to six feet in height and three feet wide. One of the latest bloomers, this aster explodes with lavender-blue, yellow eyed blossoms in flat clusters, each flower the size of a half dollar which is easily supported by its stiff upright growth. Asters are good nectar plants attracting butterflies and bees. This aster can also be found in the Linneaus Boulder Garden.

Prostrate Heath Aster

This ground hugging little guy gives new meaning to the word "cute." It typically grows to 4 - 5 inches tall and spreads along the ground to form a dense foliage mat. Small, single asters with white rays and yellow centers cover the foliage in a profuse late summer bloom. It's a fascinating, easy-to-grow perennial for the edge of a border, container or rock garden. It can be found at the Linnaeus Boulder Garden.

Most Aster's prefer sunny, well-drained locations and should be fertilized in April with a slow release product such as Osmocote. Asters tend to be healthier and fuller when divided every two to three years.

Camellias

Cold hardy camellias (zone 6) easily withstand winters in Tulsa gardens, and given proper growing conditions, produce lots of radiant flowers during November and December. The seven new cold hardy camellias in the Linnaeus Entry Garden are just starting to bud, and judging from the large flower buds should be blooming well into December. Since this is a time of year when most shrubs are brown and dormant, they are a welcome addition to any garden. The camellias thrive in dapple light beneath large trees or perform well in locations that receive direct morning light and afternoon shade such as the east side of a home. They prefer an acidic, well-drained soil which is spaded with several inches of peat or well-rotted compost and then covered with several inches of mulch.

Rose Creek Abelia

Here is a wonderful perennial with lustrous leaves that emerge with a pinkish cast on crimson stems. It matures to dark green, then turns purple-green in winter. Small fragrant white trumpet flowers bloom spring through summer and continue to have an interest into fall with pink modified leaves at the base of each flower that remain once the bloom fades. It is an excellent foundation plant for continuous seasonal change beneath windows, or to use with a mixed shrub border, or try as a low hedge. Plant in full to partial sun. This plant can be found across from the greenhouse in our Linneaus Garden.

Adagio Maiden Grass

Miscanthus sinensis Adagio, is an early flowering beauty with reddish/white pendulous plumes that move in the slightest breeze. Nothing can compare to the beauty of ornamental grasses in our Tulsa landscapes. They can withstand our hot summers and provide so much interest in the fall and winter when our perennials have gone dormant. Grasses that flower after mid-summer are warm-season grasses, because they wait until the warmth of summer before starting into growth, then grow rapidly and come into flower between mid and late summer. The flowers turn to seed heads and remain showy for many months. They are normally planted where they can fill the ground once spring flowering bulbs or perennials are past their best. Adagio is a year-round grass that remains standing even through heavy snowfalls. The combination of the tan foliage with spring flowering bulbs is a nice contrast. In Tulsa it should be cut back to about 5 inches from the crown of the plant when new growth begins to appear. Miscanthus is easy to grow and is a good choice for busy homeowners. It will grow in almost any soil, and does not require good drainage. Grow this grass in full sun and fertilization is not necessary. We have this grass in a number of areas throughout the garden.

Mexican feather grass

Nassella tenuissima, is a cute little mounding plant worth trying in the garden, especially if you want an easy-to-grow planting that will do the wave all by itself every time the wind blows. This 1 to 2 foot tall perennial bunchgrass grows like a cascading fountain. The wiry, slender, hair-like leaves are green and silky in the spring and buff-colored during winter and our Tulsa summer heat. Once fall arrives it begins growing again when temperatures cool and rains return. It is a wonderful filler in your sun garden to help soften a rocky area or an area where plants are hard to grow. Check it out in the garden throughout the entry and boulder areas.

Ornamental Peppers

Capsicum annuum, are early-maturing peppers that point straight up on this miniature ornamental. It is perfect for fall containers, or a delightful front-of-the-border standout. If you want some color in your fall landscape, this is truly an eye catcher. You will find these plants placed throughout the garden and in container plants - you won't have to look too hard because their colorful display makes them a standout.

Encore Azaleas - Still Blooming

There is nothing more eye catching then seeing Azalea blooms in October.

Yes, that is right, Encore Azalea's have three major blooming cycles during the growing season - spring, summer, and fall.

In between their major blooming cycles they continually show their funnel-shaped flower peeking around their beautiful leaves.

Right now in the garden they are in their final blooming cycle for the season and they are really showing their stuff.

A Butterfly Magnet - Mexican Sage Salvia

Mexican Sage is without a doubt one of the most loved fall-flowering plants by butterfly's and hummingbirds.

The velvety purple flowers form on elongated stems from tall, bushy plants in late summer or early fall and continue until frost.

It is in full bloom right now in our garden.

Pansy - A Traditional Favorite

The fall garden has been drenched with color from the planting of pansies throughout the Entry Garden and tucked into all the hidden areas of the Pavilion Garden.

No other plant performs as well as pansy in the cool-season flower beds.

These cold-hardy annuals thrive in the fall, routinely overwinter for most of Oklahoma and provide unmatched early season color.

Color assortment and intensity help bring life to a typically drab time of year.

Flower size ranges from small to large.