Fall bloomers 

I love the Fall bloomers. Not only do they herald cooler temperatures but all have unique flowers!

Colchicum: like a giant Fall crocus

Lycoris: often called Hurricane Lilies in The South as they bloom during the season.

Hidden ginger – Curcuma petiolata

Blue mist flower: Conoclinium coelestinum

Pampas grass: these sharped leaves grasses can reach eight feet in a moist location.

Blood lilies

Crinum

And visitors to the patio from the garden.

And my favorite, passionflower Incense

Clematis seed heads

Autumn clematis – very fragrant but a heavy vine. This is a six-foot metal lamp post. The vines are cut back to two leaf-nodes in November and grow through the winter such that they are five to six feet in length by spring. The reseed around the garden to the point of weediness.

I have had problems with my Black Dragon crossvine. A large limb fell last January in a snow and ice storm and pulled the 40 foot vines from the Loblolly pine. I cut them back expecting the rapid growth replace them in one season. Something has eaten them to the ground each time they have reached a few feet up the tree. I wrapped hardware mesh around the tree to protect the vines.

The cooler nights are perfect for walking around downtown Raleigh.

And the seasons change.