Bloom Report October 2026
We find ourselves in a strange place: while the leaves of select trees (cherries, maples, and buckeyes to name a few) are tinged with color while winterberries are ripening, some of the flowering perennials are putting on a show evocative of spring. Or maybe it’s just all the autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale, that is giving that impression. I am especially charmed by the clump under the ‘Alba Superba’ Magnolia in the cottage. This dense clump just so happened to be planted by Dr. Benjamin Blackburn in 1978, making it quite a few years older than your author!
One plant you cannot miss is the obedient plant, Physostegia virginiana, that sits right at the start of the path to the Stone Barn. Its bubblegum-colored spires of flowers stand out in the part-shade conditions it thrives within. Nearby, past the arbor is the much demurer Salvia koyamae, an unusual slowly creeping Salvia endemic to Japan. I absolutely love its butter yellow flowers. Agastache are a cousin of Salvia, and ‘Blue Fortune’, as seen in the cottage, is a classic that pollinators relish. Although, I think the Liatris scariosa on the corner by the bench has both beat.
But despite the brief fantasy that flowers provide, autumn is coming, and the trees and gardens at Willowwood are preparing for a well-deserved nap. Paeonia obovata are decked out in their decorative fruit while Clematis virginiana, fluffy seeds attached, rambles over Symphyotrichum in the process of blooming.
Famously deciduous, our beloved Metasequoia is only showing a hint of color and is instead focused on dropping mature cones while creating both its “male” and “female” cones to be used in early spring. To me, the pollen structures almost resemble tinsel. Speaking of the Metasequoia, it was just remeasured for state and national champion status, and we are proud to say that it still holds both!
By Bonnie Semmling
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