Outstanding photograph gardengal48. I imagine this plant might be hardy to...zone 7 or so?

Aster Vivid Dome is in full glorious bloom and we've had several hard frosts including two nights with temps down to 17 and 18 degrees. Hardy geranium Dilys is still blooming as well as perennial verbena Annie.

I would love to see a picture hostaholic.

Rouge 21, yes, you should have said something about frost. The temp here was 90 today, and everything is in full swing and will be for a while longer. I've just planted zinnias, in fact, and I hope they will bloom before we get our first freeze.

When I lived in OH, I was always so sad and thrilled at the same time to see ironweed, joe pye and Asters putting on their roadside show. Breathtaking but then you know it's pretty much over for flowers for the year.

Seems I recall Hellebores with snow on them from my friend's yard but no mention of them here yet. Are they a real late bloomer, or early spring? Can't remember.

This far south, there is no time of the year when there's nothing blooming.

Pretty gardengal! We had a hard frost last week, so most of the perennials and annuals went bye-bye. I still have bits of blooms on some of the perennials, such as Phlox, Achillea, Veronica, Solidago, and Asters, and some hardy annuals such as sweet alyssum and petunias that are blooming away.

Aster lateriflorus 'Lady in Black' is a bit past full bloom, saw some bumblers on it this morning

Geranium Rozanne is still blooming quite a bit, such a long bloom season

Spiranthes odorata aka fragrant lady tresses is probably my latest bloomer, blooming now, and is fragrant on a mild day.

And don't forget the Stella D'Oro Daylily. To be sure, way over planted, but you can't beat it's tenacity. A hard frost a week ago, but there were several Stellas out there to greet me as I was begining the fall cleanup.

I'd have to agree with purple......it is impossible not to find something in bloom in my area any month of the year. One of the many advantages of living in a very mild climate :-)

I mentioned the Hesperantha only because I consider it the last of the "seasonal" plants to bloom. And it is pretty darn showy. I consider the hellebores the first of the "seasonals" to bloom even though they may start in early December. Weird distinction I know, but just the way I tend to organize my plantings.

And yes, rouge - the Hesperantha is a zone 7 plant. I still have lots of stuff going on in my garden - salvia, asters, abutilon, the hesperantha, erysimums, erodium, penstemon, hardy fuchsias, pelargoniums - even still have New Guinea impatiens going strong, although I'm rather sick of them and plan to rip them out this weekend and replant that container with a fall theme.

And my Grevillea is setting buds for a late autumn/early winter bloom. One of my extravagances just for the over-wintering hummers :-)

Company here right now but will try to get a pic up soon.

hello,
Great topic. I have been growing flowers for the past four years and still have a lot to learn. One thing I have been struggling with is late season bloom. I have the mums, asters, helenium, and some rebloom on delphenium, lupine and rudebeckia but it still seems pretty bare. Any advice on late blooming plants for zone 5/6 would be greatly appreciated. I am also always looking for self sowing annuals for my zone, so if you could list any that would be great too.

Thanks,
Gale

Aster tartaricus and Geranium dilys still in bloom here. A. tartaricus is so tall and stunning, but it does like to have PLENTY of room and keeps wanting more. Needs a big, tough bed with no weaklings.

Looking back through the responses here, I don't see thr fall blooming Montauk Daisy mentioned. A great fall bloomer with attractive deep green leathery foliage from late spring through summer. Large typical white daisies open here in zone 5 in mid September. They are still looking good now in late October. This perennial does take some diligent early summer pruning of its woody stems to keep it from flopping. The local deer population usually help me with that.

And speaking of the 'Montauk' Daisy. It appears this plant can be confused with the lovely 'cannabis' plant. See below for this recent 'key stone cops' story:

Here is a link that might be useful: whoops a daisy

'White Pearl' bugbane is one of the last things to bloom here - it's usually just starting to bloom nicely when we're raking up the last of the fallen leaves in early November. Other bugbanes started blooming this past week. The white corydalis blooms from early spring until the snow comes in late fall - it blooms most prolifically in spring but is still blooming out there now. Eupatorium 'Chocolate' is always a reliable late bloomer - it's looking nice out there in the north alley now:
{{gwi:278909}}

In the front garden, the biggest show at the moment is from some white mums that a neighbour gave me - they were not doing well for her but are doing great for me. They are one of those 'pass-along' plants that no one now knows exactly what they are re variety name! 'Pink Beauty' potentilla is still blooming out there, as are the seed-grown angel roses, which also have copious small, bright red hips. The asters here are just finishing blooming, as are the fall anemones. Phlox 'David' has a few final flowers and Henryi clematis also still keeps producing a flower or two every now and then. I'll have to do a walk-about to record what else is still putting on a bit of a show.

I completely forgot about the corydalis. They are by FAR the latest to keep blooming for me. Both lutea and ochroleuca are still going strong and will continue until a really, really, really hard freeze. In fact, it may take a snowfall to take them down completely.

Kevin

I just took a walk around the yard to check out what's blooming still. While this time of year is really about leaf color as the fall foliage comes on, by far the best late blooms + other interest is the seed grown roses and their hips:
{{gwi:278910}}

A closer view....:
{{gwi:193411}}

For me its Toad Lily...

{{gwi:278911}}

{{gwi:278912}}

Although there are a few blooms on my Rozanne geranium as well.

tj

Those are good pictures tsugajunkie of a hard to photograph flower (at least for me). I am in zone 5 as well but my TLilies were more or less felled by frost a bit back.

'Kevin' wrote: I completely forgot about the corydalis.

Me too. In fact I think spring and fall are the best time for these plants...very especially the blue variety as my 'Wildside' do much better in cooler, wetter weather.

Btw, I have a few month old 'Canary Feathers' corydalis. It is my understanding that it really is hard to have it overwinter in anything less than zone 6. Are there GW members who have got it to last in zone 5?

Aster Raydon's Favorite is one of the last here, though geranium Rozanne can be blooming near Thanksgiving. Here is Raydon's Favorite today:

Monkshoods is always my latest bloomer. Still waiting, often doesn't bloom until the last week of October.

I'd have to say the last perennials blooming here are Sedum,Helianthus and golden rod in mid-September.
Asters and fall foliage start the end of Sept. to the first week of Oct. Right now everything looks like early winter.

Mid-September's Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'

There isn't really a last plant here. Many summer flowerers struggle on until Christmas and the winter/spring bloomers overlap. I had this question in mind on my walk to work today and checked off roses, fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Geraniums, Asters, Campanula portenschlagiana, Anemone hybrids, Snapdragons, Chrysanthemums, Petunias, Lobelia, Erigerons, Autumn cyclamen, various Salvias but also winter jasmine, winter flowering heathers, Mahonia 'Charity', Prunus subhirtella and the first buds on Helleborus foetidus. At the moment it is damp and misty with temps in the 50s night and day. That is a big difference between a maritime and a continental climate. Much less variation between night and day this time of year.

flora_uk wrote: There isn't really a last plant here.

Lucky you!

If there is a reorganization of GW maybe there could be some separation by climate zone. If so I might have placed this thread in the zone 5/6 section.

Pic of Aster Vibrant Dome, taken Oct. 18th, still blooming, I mistakenly called it Vivid ?Dome in an earlier post.

Looks very healthy for Oct 18 'hosta'. What zone are you in?

I'm zone 4.

terrene, thx for teaching me about this plant>spiranthes. I'll hope leo blanchette sells it next yr.

Consistently for us here at the retum, corydalis lutea is the last to bite the dust, after being one of the earlest to begin. WHAT a producer, eh?!!
best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: spiranthes

Another late (but not the latest) plant to flower for me is Chelone lyonii. I have mine in average soil in bright shade. It is totally trouble free and a lovely rich pink. In the same bed I grow Jap. anemones Pamina (dbl dark rose pink) and Andrea Atkinson (tall single white).

ontnative, I too am so impressed with my Chelone ("Hot Lips"). It does well for me even in a good amount of shade.

Any chance ontnative you have a picture or two showing that wonderful combination of plants you describe?

I too have my Corydalis "Lutea" still blooming as they have since the spring. And now that the weather is cool and damp the Corydalis "Wildside" is flowering again.

chrythanthemums (sp sorry) sheffield pink just opening. Every year there are enough fresh ones for the thannksgiving table.
c.bolero would still be fresh and floriferous if not for the hard frost a week ago
c.mei kyo
and a pink, with an inner circle of white, with a yellow eye. I've never seen anything like it. It might be Will's Wonderful.
All of these and more are at Lazy S.
Marie

This clematis "Angela" had flowered lots earlier in the season but it was cool to see this one bud develop and then open just this past weekend with all the rain and wind and colder temps.

sorry, rouge21, no picture. These three have almost finished flowering for this year.
Another very late one for me (and still flowering well!) is Physostegia 'Vivid', a very bright rose pink, about 15" high. It only spreads a little, and always flowers in October. It's colour is much deeper than all of the other physostegia (obedient plant) I've seen.

ontnative, interesting about Physostegia 'Vivid'. When did it start flowering for you? Has it been going non stop sine...early summer? Does it need staking?

Absolutely no staking, since it's quite short, just over a foot high. It starts to bloom in mid October, and still looks great now (Oct.31).

I have no Physostegia but I am surprised that 'Vivid' only begins to bloom in October? Is that par for the course for 'Obedient' plants?

I have an unidentified variety ( it was here when we moved in 22 years ago) of physotegia and it starts blooming the last half of August here in zone 4 MN.

rouge21, most obedient plants bloom in late August or September. 'Vivid' is the exception, at least for me. It has bloomed at this time every year since I've grown it.

Thanks ontnative. I see obedient plants all the time at the nursery but have never purchased one.

My new Salvia guaranitica 'Purple Majesty' has finally bloomed!

Reportedly a late summer bloomer & used to feed hummingbirds during fall migration, hardy in about zones 7-10. Mine is very late to bloom because it was a new plant that came in a 2.5 inch pot at the end of July. Bought directly from Rich Dufresne, the well known hybridizer called the 'Sultan of Salvias.' My first time to buy directly from Rich and a very positive experience.

I liked the $5 plants in 2.5 inch pots with roots bigger than plants from other nurseries. And he helped me find the right perennial salvia guaraniticas for my zone and for a certain area, Purple Majesty and Van Remsen, both famous as hummingbird magnets - I'm hopeful! ÃÂ Purple Majesty, 11/4/12 (avg first frost date here 11/20/12):

Here is a link that might be useful: Rich Dufresne's World of Salvias website

The Fuchsias just keep going. The 'empty' pots alongside contain daffodils. The first shoots are just beginning to show. Never really any complete shut down in a damp maritime climate.

Thanks ontnative, I had given up on physostegia,I liked the bloom but too invasive, but I will try "Vivid".
My last blooms were eupatorium "Chocolate", echinacea "Sunrise" and "Woods Purple" aster..a beautiful combination! The echinacea seemed to bloom all summer.
Heather

I really like my Eupatorium Chocolate, for it's late bloom and ability to look good in part shade and dry soil.

One of my "Sheffield" mums is currently in full flower, the other has about half its buds open.

My seed-grown "angel rose" (R. chinensis minima) is doing its usual end-of-season bloom flush.

As of today we still have some blooms on our first year Knautia 'thunder and lightning'.

Despite several nights into the mid 20s I still have 4 roses (names not known except for the "flower carpet" and "green ice") with buds and blooms, my aster "Wonder of Staffa", and my toad lily which seemed very late this year. The coreopsis, mums and dahlias bit the dust with last week's freeze.

I still HAD a couple of annuals blooming, calendula and some petunias that were snuggled up against the side of the garage but 12 degrees last night laid even those to rest. Only frost blooms here now.

My two pink mums are still blooming, light pink Sheffield, and small rose-pink Mei-Kyo. So is an unknown variety of double gold mum, and the dwarf obedient plant 'Vivid'. I think that's pretty good for zone 4/5.

Well done ontnative. But as another one who is in the same zone as you I am convinced that for all intents and purposese we are essentially a zone 6 (Canada) now.