Happy Monday GPODers!
We’re starting the week with Robin Hess in Hampton Falls, NH. Robin has shared some fall close-ups in the past (Robin’s New Hampshire Garden), and she’s back to share what was blooming and unfurling this year.
Hello! Here’s my New Hampshire garden. All the photos were taken this fall, even the new fronds from the late blooming ostrich fern.
Even in the late season, Robin’s garden is providing blooms for pollinators that are still working hard. This bight pink ‘Hot Lips’ chelone (Chelone lyonii ‘Hot Lips’, Zones 3–8) is a bright pink beacon against a backdrop of fall foliage.
However, adding some more radiant orange to the landscape is never a bad idea either. Robin said this gorgeous mum is the variety ‘Amber Morning’ (Chrysanthemum ‘Amber Morning’, Zones 5–9).
The aforementioned fronds! Robin let us know that this is a ‘The King’ ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris ‘The King’, Zones 3–7), and even the fronds are quite stately. If you have the space, ‘The King’ is a great, bold clumper for woodland gardens, growing up to 50% larger than the straight species.
A perfect mound of ‘Daisy Rose’ mum (Chrysanthemum ‘Daisy Rose’, Zones 5–9) absolutely glows against the yellow foliage behind, while subtly matching with their yellow centers.
Robin had this plant labeled as Clematis paniculata, a species native to New Zealand. But it actually looks to be a sweet autumn clematis (C. terniflora, Zones 5–11) because the flowers have four sepals, while C. paniculata (known as puawānanga in New Zealand’s native language) has six. This is a very common mistake—not because of home gardeners—but because of many nurseries that frequently mislabel these plants. And these mistakes have huge impacts, because sweet autumn clematis is highly invasive in much of the US. However, it has not been reported as invasive in Robin’s area of New Hampshire, and it looks to be well-maintained, controlled, and simply stunning in this photo.
Just a friendly reminder that plant labels can sometimes be misleading or simply wrong. I obviously make my fair share of mistakes, too. I am only an enthusiast, and not a botanist. It’s never a bad idea to do some additional searching before adding any plant to your garden. I linked them above, but Invasive Plant Atlas is an incredible resource to utilize.
With that, I’ll get off my soapbox and thank Robin so much for sharing her stunning garden and photography with us again. Sometimes it is the seemingly simple flower photos that spark the most interesting rabbit holes!
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