September in the Garden 2025

Hesperantha coccinea ‘Major’

In UBC Botanical Garden, it often feels like September is the beginning of the end of summer. This year in particular, autumn seems to be approaching more rapidly than usual (but then, what is usual?). September is more of a beginning at UBC. The start of classes for the university heralds much activity related to the welcoming back of students. The Shop in the Garden holds its annual Indoor Plant Sale starting in the last week of August to coincide with the influx of students. The Garden’s Horticulture Training Program (HTP) also gets the jump on September, with classes beginning the week before the Labour Day long weekend. Besides our HTP class members, who spend the majority of their time training in the Garden, a surprising number of students visit the Botanical Garden and Nitobe Memorial Garden this month. Who can blame them? Students aren’t the only ones that appreciate what the Garden has to offer.

Although flower numbers naturally decline after summer in the David C. Lam Asian Garden, there are still plenty to enjoy. Look for the hardy Begonia grandis ‘Heron’s Pirouette’ with its bright pink flowers just off Upper Asian Way on Farges Trail. The silvery-green begonia next to it is the amazingly robust and cold-hardy Begonia emeiensis (Mt. Emei begonia), which begins flowering with silvery-pink blooms in late September or October. Prominent patches of the purple-flowered cane head, Strobilanthes attenuata (Upper Asian Way at Stearn Trail, and in the Campbell Glade—also visible from the boardwalk) will continue to flower well into October if the weather allows. And while Kirengeshoma palmata are holding on to the last of their yellow wax bells, their weird, marble-sized Martian-helmet fruits are conspicuous atop the still leafy stems this month.

Definitely in flower, but with blooms somewhat less conspicuous than those previously mentioned, is Elaeagnus macrophylla (broad-leaved oleaster). Individually small, the white flowers nevertheless pack a powerful (and delicious) jasmine-and-orange-blossom punch. The shrub itself is a scandent climber, draping itself over and through Cotoneaster glabratus at the corner of Kingdon Ward Way and Lower Asian Way. September is the start (more or less) of pome fruits colouring in the Asian Garden, though the majority of cotoneasters will only start to display deeper hues in another month. The mountain ashes, on the other hand, are colouring fast. The aptly-named Sorbus splendens (splendid mountain ash) is worth seeking out. The clusters of scarlet pomes are ridiculously large and the branches that strain under their weight particularly stout for that reason. But the tree, atop a large stump at Maries and Farges Trails, is also worth keeping an eye on because voracious birds will strip the tree in a matter of days once the pomes are soft. Here today, gone tomorrow. The pome is the characteristic fruit type of cotoneasters and mountain ashes and their relatives—apples, pears, quinces, hawthorns and Asian whitebeams, among others. Perhaps the most remarked upon of our pome-fruited trees (besides the apple espaliers in the Food Garden) is Micromeles caloneura (bronze-fruited Asian whitebeam). The branches of the tree on Lower Asian Way at Farrer Trail have naturally created a low arch over the road. Equally fascinating, however, is the sheer number of bronzy pomes that adorn the upper sides of the branches.

The E. H. Lohbrunner Alpine Garden will have many treasures for visitors to see in September. For impressive flowers, it’s hard to beat the exquisite Watsonia fourcadei (African section, close to the service road). Even without its spires of hot pink flowers, the plant is worth a look, as its broad, iris-like leaves twist subtly upward, creating a delicate shadow-play that changes with the angle of the sun. Above the middle path is another stunner, Acanthus sennii (Ethiopian acanthus), which displays its outsized, shimmering-red, tongue-like flowers juxtaposed with thistle-like leaves. One of the more surprising fruits to see in the African section is the hardy Azores blueberry, Vaccinium cylindraceum—surprising both because it comes from islands that are essentially frost free, but also that the attractive berries don’t look much like blueberries. The Alpine Garden has many more delights worth investigating in September.

Take a few minutes to peruse the flowers in the front entrance plantings. In particular, Hesperantha coccinea ‘Major’ (river lily), with its lipstick red flowers, and the pink-flowered Hesperantha coccinea ‘November Cheer’, both of which are just beginning their famously extensive bloom period. Note also the balloon cottonbush, Gomphocarpus physocarpus, with its intricately structured little flowers and comically bristly inflated fruits. Always popular with students, they look as though they might just float away in a puff of wind. Lastly, the Reception Centre Plaza, a project undertaken by students in the Horticulture Training Program some years back, is a quiet place with plenty of interesting flowers. September standouts include the pastel tones of Zinnia elegans ‘Zinderella Peach’—zinnias have the most unexpectedly interesting flowers—the lanky South American, anise-scented sage, Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ (watch out for hummingbirds!) and the amazing, wonderfully fragrant Lilium formosanum (Formosa lily). Enjoy September!