Fall Bulbs
The garden comes alive with colorful blooming bulbs in September, which look exotic due to their southern hemisphere origin.
Some grow tall to create spectacular specimen plantings, like the blue bursts of lily of the Nile, the strange leafless flower clusters of belladonna lilies, or the six-foot-tall fire-red columns of cannas.
Others may not grow tall, but have interesting foliage, unique in its variegation, spiral shape, dark hues, and sophistication, as well as an abundance of brightly colored flowers.
The warm hues of freesias, begonias, cyclamens, crocosmias, colchicum, and Peruvian lilies are so fresh and bright you can almost forget it’s the end of the season.
The tuberose, which is known as the Queen of the Night, also blooms in September. Its pure white blossoms and intense, almost decadent fragrance are unmatched by any other flower.
If you live in a warm climate zone, treat yourself to the delight of Crinum lilies. They resemble enormous, tangled masses of white ribbons hovering in mid-air.
I left the best for last, the lovely toad lily, whose name is as unfair as the flower is beautiful.
The clusters of small, intricately detailed flowers that adorn the top of their stalks in mid to late September always remind me of orchids.
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