The autumn continues to surprise me with the number of pink blooms that decorate the harvest season.

This year the Lavatera (Mallow) was blooming by July; it’s still happily doing its thing through September.  When trimmed to 6 inches in early spring, it shot up to 5-6 feet & provides a nice border barrier through the summer.  The deer leave it alone, so it’ll be a fixture in our garden for a long, long time.

Note:  the bright pink Lychnis behind it was a great combo but petered out by Labor Day, so it doesn’t really count for this list of fall pink.

With waist-height blooms twirling in the breeze, Japanese Anemone caught my eye shortly after we moved into Richmond House. Initially, a good patch grew close to the house foundations, but it had to go because of the drain tile project.  Happily, Japanese Anemone transplant like a dream.  Their roots run along just under the soil and don’t seem bothered about being split up a bit.

The deer seemed to leave the Japanese Anemone alone, so last year, I moved some up top of our ‘mountain,’ an area of deer congregation.  There were a couple of flowers this year, but mostly the plants were grazed down to about 8 inches high.  Bummer.   Once the rains come, I’ll move the roots down off the mountain.  No use wasting them up there.

With the Hardy Fuchsia, the experience is different.  Originally this shrubby plant was a gift from KC, who said the deer in Sooke were keeping it trimmed back to less than 3 feet tall.  I divided the clump into many smaller bits  – and they grew with great success.  Perhaps Victoria deer have different pallets?  The shrubs grow to about 6 feet and don’t show signs of being nibbled.  The bright pink blooms show up in mid to late summer & continue until Christmas!

Sedum Autumn Joy is a reputed garden workhorse.  SM gave me a clump of it from her backyard a couple of years ago.  As usual, I divided into smaller bits & started testing them in several spots around the yard.  It turns out the deer think they’re swell. Elsewhere I’ve seen robust Autumn Joy blooming happily in a pudgy 2-foot clump.  This poor specimen in our garden is hidden from the deer, but also from enough sun to keep it happy.  It’s only about 8 inches high.  I’m just thrilled it bloomed.

To top the list is Nerine Lily.  Last fall, after identifying the gorgeous blooms in a nearby yard, I knew  I’d somehow make room for some in our garden.  I’ve planted several bulbs in with the daylilies, thinking it will be cool to have a bed that blooms different colours in different seasons.  Cross your fingers for me that the varieties play nicely together.  In the meantime, I admire the mature patch up the street.

The list could go on a bit more.  For one, the delicate fall cyclamen hasn’t really got going yet.  And there have to be other pink bloomers that I haven’t enjoyed.  What else is missing?

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Here are some other pink autumn bloomers:

• 

  Pink as a Fall Color? – Colchicum

• Horray for Naked Ladies – Nerine
• November’s Pink: Hesperantha
• Back From the Dead – Amaryllis belladonna
• Apple Blossom Camellia

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