What's Flowering Now - October

A quick whip-round with the camera to see what's flowering in my garden at the moment. Flowering plants are not only pretty, but essential for attracting and feeding bees and other beneficial insects.

Last month was bee awareness month, with people counting bees, being encouraged to plant wildflowers and so on. Bees and other pollinators are very important for good production; some crops will not produce without them. My garden has been very neglected for most of this year, due to a multitude of things going on, I'm just starting to work on it once again.

So, anything that is flowering now is either a perennial, a weed, a vegetable that's gone to seed, or self-sown! Let's take a look at what's out there....

Dead-nettle; a common weed with herbal uses, the bees love it.

Flowering early in the spring, ornamental quince is pretty but unproductive. This one grows wild in the hedgerow bordering our section.

My blueberries are just starting to flower - I saw a bumblebee visit this flower just before I snapped the pic.

Broccoli - after harvesting the main heads and eating lots of side shoots, I left later shoots to flower for the bees - they LOVE brassica flowers! Small birds also love the dried seed pods, if you leave them that long. There have been a series of flowers since about June, always buzzing with bees.

Self-sown calendula in various shades are dotted around the garden.

Spring onions - all onion family flowers are great for bees.

Common thyme

My trellised Banksia rose is just starting to bloom. The fragrance is delicate but wonderful!

White alyssum - I actually just hauled out a couple of wheelbarrow loads of this as it was swamping my carpet roses, but it will grow back. Very vigorous.

This camellia is in full flower, though my other two aren't even close.

Buddleia - aka Butterfly bush - we have a long row of these trees with lots of Monarchs visiting

Arum lillies

This unidentified native (?) tree is flowering

The pears are just about to burst into flower, and the apples won't be far behind. Meanwhile, I have a number of flower seedlings growing in the greenhouse.

If I keep on top of the garden for the next year, it will be interesting to see what is flowering next October and compare!

Dandelion, Catsears and the like. A gorgeous finch is taking advantage of the seeds. Dandelions are a valuable source of pollen for bees early in the season

*Real* quince - this large tree is now covered in blossoms and bears loads of fruit each year.

Self-sown borage

Self-sown broad beans. Flowers are very popular with bees from about Sept onwards.

White alpine strawberries seem to flower year-round

Mizuna in a pot is flowering.

Rosemary - in need of a prune, but providing flowers for the bees most of the year. I have three rosemary plants.

Stella cherry

Lavender - due for a prune!

Polyanthus

Petunias

An ancient kowhai in the paddock

Buttercup - boo-hiss!

Damson plum, grown from a sucker. Hoping for fruit this year

What flowers are in your garden now? What are you planting? To see some pics of 10 flowering plants that were attracting lots of bees and beneficials in my garden one January, as well as a list of what else was flowering, click HERE. It might give you some ideas of what to plant now for summer flowers!