Japanese maples are often the latest of the garden’s trees to display their glorious autumn foliage colors. Dogwoods are among the earliest, but there’s little leaf color this first week of October except drought induced yellows. Still, there’s lots of color.

A year ago, a number of the garden’s hollies lacked their typical profusion of berries (above). Evidently, bees were asleep on the job that spring, but they fulfilled their duties this year, and berries are plentiful, not only on hollies but on beautyberries (Callicarpa, below).

I have an unfortunate block on growing our native beautyberry (Callicarpa americana, below) that anyone with a lick of sense can grow with ease. I’ve lost it a few times, but I’ll pay more attention the next time since a garden should not be without this beauty. Too often, I depend on a plant’s resiliency and neglect its preferred conditions.

In case you missed it, I must again show the red-pink calyces of the Seven Son tree (Heptacodium miconioides, below). These closely follow clusters of small white flowers that are favored by bumblebees. This color will remain until frost, so the Seven Son provides its colorful display from August into October.

While salvias are splendid through the summer, their early autumn blooms stand out. I am a reluctant deadheader, but ‘Amistad’ and ‘Black and Blue’ (below) require minimal effort to extend flowering until frost.

Years ago, a pesky Rose of Sharon spread seedlings along the garden’s western border. Thankfully, this stopped as the tree canopy spread, and of course, I’ve been reluctant to plant another. But, as I look to cram more into the garden, a winter damaged and discounted ‘Purple Pillar’ (Hibiscus syriacus, below) caught my eye. Predictably, the columnar shrub has quickly grown beyond the freeze damaged stems, and in October, it displays the last of its months long flowering.

The last of the garden’s many toad lilies ( Tricyrtis, below) are flowering, with several that I neglectfully allowed to be overwhelmed by neighbors now poking their flowers through. Much of the garden’s flowering will cease the morning after a frost that could come quickly in October or possibly hold until November, as has happened in recent years. Scattered flowers will continue through  the winter months, but falling leaves on this breezy autumn afternoon remind me that it will be months until the garden’s peak flowering returns.