Bright leaves of a rockery plant at Dyffryn Gardens in September
That headline will mean nothing to you unless you are familiar with The Dubliners’ Rocky Road to Dublin song, but hey-ho…
In September we visited the National Trust’s Dyffryn Gardens again. This time I was mainly going to look at some absolutely splendid old trees I hope to blog about soon, but I was also sidetracked by the rockery area you can see from the house. So here are my pictures – and I am sorry there are quite a few flowers I haven’t identified yet.
The rockery is on a bank beneath conifer trees
I plan to do a conifer identification project in 2016, as I have taken many pictures on my travels and until now I have been pretty hopeless at naming anything but a cedar of Lebanon or a Scots pine.
This looks to me like a Sedum, although I usually expect them to be bright yellow. I think it might be Sedum spurium or Caucasian stonecrop. There is one variety called ‘Dragon’s Blood’…
This is the chrome yellow I expected the Sedum to be, but it’s not a stonecrop…
I think this is a cranesbill Geranium
This plant, growing in a big patch with very small flowers, was labelled as Zauschneria californica
Another big mass – this is Hyssopus officinalis in two subtle shades
These are easy to identify – “naked ladies” or Colchicum – autumn crocuses
I love these cottony seedheads, but I can’t name the plant
This is a Moroccan daisy called Rhodanthemum hosmariense – or so the label said!
Who’d have thought it? This is a spurge – Euphorbia myrsinites or myrtle spurge
A closer look
Berries like little rubies
This is another view of the neat-growing plant at the top of the post
And some more – shame I can’t name it…
There was still colour elsewhere in Dyffryn in September, too. The Dahlias were starting to look messy but the insects didn’t mind…
Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) on a Dahlia
Bee on a Dahlia…
…and up close
More Dahlias
A very bright spiky Dahlia…
…and a small red one, probably ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ by the dark foliage
And finally a fiery bush…
This one had a label saying Prunus nipponica var kurilensis…
…it’s a flowering cherry, but what autumn splendour, too!
Autumn is now fading into cold winter, but it’s pleasant to keep the fires of autumn alive for a little longer!
The Squirrelbasket 
Isn’t it a treat when plants in public gardens are labelled? Your bee and butterfly on dahlias are a delight!
We visited Dyffryn Gardens a few years ago before the NT took over running it.
We loved it, although it looked a little run down in places. Euphorbia myrsinites self seeds very easily in gravel and has an attractive yellow flower.
I love all Euphorbias, they are so different with their “cup of three” structure.
I think you would now find Dyffryn much improved. The NT are tackling a different part of the gardens every year and last time I was there the Roman garden area was sealed off for work to be done.
All the best đŸ™‚
Lovely update thank you for sharing have a blessed day
Though rather a late update!
Thank you for your comment and you have a blessed day, too, without too much snow…
Best wishes đŸ™‚
your red leaves might be this, or something related
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryophyllum_daigremontianum
Mmmm… don’t think it’s quite that, as the leaves don’t have little leaflets around the edges, but I think it’s on the right track, that it’s somewhere in the Sedum/saxifrage family.
I have googled again and the closest I have got is another Sedum spurium, or maybe something related to a Sedum adolphii. but that’s far too succulent. I think the dead flowers look a bit like a member of this family.
Please let me know if this gives you any other thoughts?
And thank you for helping – your knowledge of this kind of plant is far greater than mine!
All the best đŸ™‚
Really enjoyed all the color!
Thanks! It was one of those very bright blue-sky days of autumn when everything glows…
All the best đŸ™‚
What a delightful collection of little gems and a last shout of autumn colour.
Thanks. Yes, it does all seem a little drab here now the red has gone.
All the best đŸ™‚
I’ve come super-late to this conersaton, but could your red-leaved plant be this?
Kalanchoe sexangularis – goes red in cold weather!
I think it is!
I must go back and add that into the caption.
Thank you đŸ™‚