japanese anemone | The Last Krystallos

We’ve had a beautiful warm autumn, full of sunshine and blue skies, and a little rain…
So I’m sharing my favourite ten plants of the late season,
not all flowers, but still nature and its beauty!

Sunflowers: helianthus are a favourite in the family garden, and though they flower in August, you can still find them blooming well into autumn. I loved watching the children plant sunflower seeds and then plant them out in the garden and watch as they grow tall and bow their huge faces as they open. The colour of late September sunshine!

japanese anemone, pamina, the last krystallos,

Japanese Anemone: another late flowering beauty. I love the delicate petals and lime green centre, and doubles like Japonica Pamina look stunning waving about on top of wiry stems in the autumn breeze. Pure magic…

meadow flowers, poppies and cornflowers, poppies, fields of flowers, the last krystallos,

Poppies and Cornflowers: wild poppies are autumn’s way of remembering. ‘In Flanders Fields the poppies blow…’ a symbol to help us recall and honour the sacrifice of war – lest we forget. A scarlet field of poppies is still a breathtaking sight.
Meadows abounding in flowers, crimson poppies, sky-blue cornflowers and many more, just add to the delight of wandering in the warmth of late sun.

acer, acer palmatum, ornamental maple, red leaves, the last krystallos,

Acer Palmatum: the ornamental Japanese maple turns into a tree of red flame in the autumn and its lime green leaves turn red and burn with beauty. I have a small tree in the garden which delights me with its leaves every year. One of my favourite things in autumn is the turning of leaves from green to yellow, gold, bronze, brown, red and crimson. The flames of autumn brighten the darker days and match the blush that brushes our cheeks on a cold day.

acorns and oak tree, acorns, the last krystallos,

Acorns and Oak Trees: what can I say about oaks and acorns? A huge old oak provides the backbone of one of my books Beneath the Old Oak, inspired by a poem written by my mother-in-law. Oaks inspire me, I’ve written blog posts about the mysterious oak in Green Castle Woods and will write more about others. The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is just stunning in size and age, and my town Carmarthen has its own legendary oak.
A tree of strength and beauty and acorns…I appear to be a squirrel, as I collect acorns, acorn cups, and conkers…yep, just can’t resist them!

mushrooms and toadstools, the last krystallos,

Mushrooms: wild mushrooms growing in woodlands…fantastic photo opportunities…these are in Gelli Aur near Llandeilo.

Toadstools: these are growing in Brechfa Forest, just outside Carmarthen. I was astounded at how many varieties we found…though I couldn’t tell you what any of them are! Fungi just has a magical mysterious quality…and are probably the gateways to fairy groves…

pulsatilla, pasque flower, easter flower, the last krystallos,

Pulsatilla: the Pasque flower blooms around Easter, hence the name pasque meaning ‘like paschal’ of Easter…but the bearded seedheads that appear in autumn are another thing altogether. Gorgeous glossy beards similar to clematis seedheads. Just imagine them blowing in the wind… Another legend has it that these flowers spring from the blood of Viking Warriors and grows upon their graves. Just think – Viking beards!

Teasel: wildflowers and seedheads…more magical purple thistle-like flowers with seedheads that show great architecture in the autumn! Tall, and thorny, and great for bees.

red berries, wild shrubs, the last krystallos,

Berries: berries begin to appear everywhere in the autumn, in prelude to winter. Blood red berries on wild shrubs, Cotoneaster, fiery Pyracanther, purple berries adorning the Callicarpa and I have a pretty Pernettya shrub with white, red or pink berries.
The berries feed the birds, look pretty, and tell us that winter is on its way…

What autumn flowers do you love?

As Summer takes its leave let’s take in and delight in its legacy of beauty.

Despite a wet and cool British Summer the season still enchants
with a bountiful spread of flora, what have been your favourites?

nigella, love in a mist, the last krystallos,

Nigella © Lisa Shambrook

Nigella Damascena: Often known romantically as Love-in-a-mist, this is one of my most favourite cottage garden flowers. Easy to grow from scattered seed, and they self-seed beautifully, they can decorate your garden with pretty pastels. They’re often blue, but I have a penchant for the pure white, and their narrow, threadlike leaves just add to their feathery enchantment. I even love their bulbous seedheads which can look stunning in a vase amongst other summer flowers too!

Lavender © Lisa Shambrook

Lavender: I can never decide which lavender is my favourite, either delicate British lavendula augustifolia or French lavendula stoechas with its crown of purple feathers! I’m not actually a fan of its fragrance, but its silver leaves and simple purple flowers brighten my summer borders.

roses, rhapsody in blue, Louis XIV, blue moon, audrey wilcox, peach, iceberg, red rose, the last krystallos,

Roses © Lisa Shambrook

Roses: What can I say about roses? They need no introduction. It’s perhaps the world’s most romantic flower renowned for both its beauty and its fragrance. My particular favourites are purple, pinks and whites, and can you ever talk about roses without including red ones? Those pictured here are: Blue Moon, Rhapsody in Blue, unnamed peach rose from my parents’ garden, Louis XIV, Audrey Wilcox and the traditional Iceberg.

mock orange, philadelphus, mock orange flowers, belle etoile, the last krystallos,

Mock Orange © Lisa Shambrook

Mock Orange: the gorgeous philadelphus ‘Belle Etoile’ has one of the most beautiful scents of summer. I adore this delicate white flower stained inside with deep red about its yellow stamens, and I look forward to watching my shrub blossom with buds. It’s sister ‘Virginal’ a double mock orange also claims the stunning scent and can quite easily steal the show in a bouquet.

paeony, paeonies, sarah bernhardt paeony, pink, the last krystallos,

Paeony © Lisa Shambrook and Caitlin Shambrook

Paeony: You can choose whether you spell them paeony or peony, I don’t think it matters. They are one of my husband’s favourites. We have an amazing red paeony which flowers early, and a beautifully subtle pink Sarah Bernhardt which flowers later. Paeonies like to be planted shallow so their bulbous roots can sunbathe just beneath the soil, plant them too deep and they won’t flower so prolifically. There are many varieties, from single, bowl-like, papery blooms to full doubles as big as your hand!

clematis flowers, Dr ruppel clematis, the last krystallos,

Clematis: another flower with a multitude of varieties. You can find a variety of clematis that will fill your garden with flowers pretty much all year round. I’ve had tiny white freckled clematis right through to huge Dr Ruppel, pale pink with bright pink stripes. Blues, purple, pinks, white and reds dominate, but you can even find delicate green clematis too, and bright yellow bell-shaped ones which leave bearded seedheads once they’re finished – I delighted in the silver seedheads when I was small!

blue hydrangea mophead flowers, the last krystallos,

Hydrangea: this is an odd choice for me, as I hated them with a passion as I grew up. I disliked the bog standard dusky pinks and dull blues, and saw no further than the dirty roadside shrubs in local gardens. When I finally got a garden which already contained a blue hydrangea, I began to appreciate them. They have large mopheads which blossom with tiny flowers and I noticed how my blue flowers began as tight green/white buds and opened into pale pink flowers and slowly changed to big lilac blue flowers. I learned that the colour you get is often dependent on your soil. Blue most common in acid soil, mauve in acid to neutral and pink in alkaline soil. I would love to have a white hydrangea.

geranium johnsons blue flowers, geranium johnsons blue bee, purple flower and bee, bumble bee and flower, the last krystallos,

Geranium: I don’t really like most greenhouse grown geraniums and prefer the hardy garden varieties, much like the bees do! When Johnsons Blue blooms it creates a cloud of purple and the buzz from bees is audible. The flowers are almost ultraviolet and they add a beautiful swathe of colour for the summer.

japanese anemone septembers charm flowers, japanese anemone, the last krystallos,

Japanese Anemone: definitely one of my favourite late summer flowers. I love the white varieties like Honorine Jobert best, but the dusky pinks, of which I have September Charm, are glorious too. Japanese anemones’ green button centres surrounded by tiny gold stamens are quite bewitching! They have long wiry stems which let the flowers dance in the breeze, and they finish with the strangest cotton wool seedheads which float away once they’re done.

rudbekia flower, yellow flower rain, the last krystallos,

Rudbekia: these are fun flowers that brighten up the end of the season. You can often find Rudbekia and Echinacea in the same gardens as they are both of the cone flower variety, offering late colour into the autumn. They’re often known as black-eyed susan and also come from the sunflower family. Guaranteed to brighten your garden!

So tell me, what have been your favourite summer blooms?
If you had to pick a favourite rose which would it be,
and what colours your summer garden?

If you’d like to see more of my flower photography please take a look at my
Flickr page and The Shutterworks Photoblog…