The bell has struck October!

Hard to believe it's already October. Our usual signs of this time of year - much warmer weather, lots of wildfires, gardens still flush with late summer flowers - are all largely MIA this year. As to the fires, well that's obviously a good thing. Our gardens seem to march to their own drummer. I still have groups of plants in bloom, most notably Salvias, Mimulus and Agastache. My Epilobium is in full bloom, keeping the bees and hummers happy. While the Begonias didn't do as well this year, my small collection of Calibrachoas has.
Here are a few of the garden's treats, shot over the last three days.

Nerine humilis. It took 3 years for this bulb to bloom but I love the color and the spidery petals. 

One of my three Calibrachoas that's done well, this Holy Smokes has benefited from a sunny location and regular water.

Rhodocoma capensis. This lovely Restio has done well and it nicely softens this alcove between cement steps and stucco walls. 

Epilobium canum. Though I have to keep trimming it back, its nonstop flowering and bright colors make this the perfect plant to soften a wrought iron railing. 

This Teucrium aroanium and orange Snapdragon are compatible neighbors. Sun lovers situated at the front of our walkway, they take up the task of greeting visitors. 

Petchoa. This cross between a Petunia and a Calibrachoa has been a blooming miracle. To quote Michael Nesmith (shout out to you Monkees and/or alt-country fans) "And the hits keep comin'!"

Those orange tubular flowers belong to Aloe rooikappie. This new addition to my dry garden bed is sure to attract lots of hummers. 

My marmalade bush has bounced back from a severe pruning 18 months ago, back stronger and more floriferous than ever. Speaking of hummers, this is one of their favorite destinations. Maybe they're English hummers. (Marmalade ... England ... Oh, never mind).

My lovely Agastache Blue Fortune is just getting going on the blooming front. Here's a bee coming to check out the flowers.

Though Staghorn ferns get their common name from the antler-shaped fronds, for some - me included - the basal frond is just as interesting. Here it is on my still growing Staghorn.

Mossy soft shield fern. This guy bounced back from a bad case of thrips and is looking good.

Here are my two favorite non-flowering Begonias right now. That's a B. Gryphon on the left and a B. acetosa on the right. 

Here are two of my recent Billbergias. Though it's hard to tell from this photo, the one on the right is whiter than it looks, leading to its variety name Billbergia Casablanca.

I finally had some luck with seeds this year and one of them was this Mirabilis Marbles Mix. The close-up photo below gives a better view of its marbled colors. Pretty!

I cut my Hibiscus 'Cherie' back hard last year and it was slow to recover. Believe it or not this is its first flower of the year! In October! Hopefully it will make up for its late start. 

This Salvia leucantha 'Danielle's Dream' offers fuzzy white bracts, from which bright pink flowers eventually sprout.

Hibiscus Adonis Pearl. This is one of the first in the HibisQs series, which feature flowers that stay open much longer than traditional Hibiscus flowers. It returned nicely here in year two.

My Dwarf Conifers garden continues to prosper. 

This is a new Opuntia variety someone sold to our Ace nursery but then forgot to include hort info for. So I've put a word into our dry garden expert for the proper ID. I liked the chartreuse coloring.

Begonia Irene Nuss. Also late but now starting to flower.

The Rex begonias are all late this year (at least in my garden). This new B. rex Festive Celebration is perking up and has sprouted its first flowers.