Early November report

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —
November!

— Thomas Hood

It's the beginning of the first full week of November in my Z5 garden in southern Wisconsin and that poem is all wrong this year. This morning it's 56°F as I am writing this at 8 a.m. Yesterday in the garden birds were flocking to the water bowl. The last stems of Aconitum (monkshood) and Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield' were still flowering despite some frosty nights.

There are colorful leaves on the ground and the roof but lots of green leaves still on ferns, assorted perennials and trees. Our Paperbark Maple hasn't even begun to turn color. Here's a sampling of what the garden looks like right now.

Hamamelis virginiana (Witch Haze) is in full bloom and has dropped its leaves so you can actually see the flowers.

Of course, it's not easy to see the flowers without a nice Yew hedge behind this shrub.

Dawn redwoods are deciduous. This one, 'Ogon', is a bright chartreuse all summer before it turns its needle-like foliage a gorgeous cinnamon. I love it when it's in the middle of that change-over and there are bright gold tips at the ends of many of the autumn toned branches. 

I have three varieties of Hackonechloa in multiple locations in the garden. H. macra is shrinking up without ever putting out their inflorescence.

H. 'All Gold' has "flowered" like crazy.

I always wait for a few frosts to put an end to the Hostas. Once that happens it's easy to just pull the foliage off the plant rather than having to cut all those stems.

Hellebores, Geranium macrorrhizum, Vancouver and many ferns, like this Dryopteris crassirhizoma, are still bright green. 

Winter lasts such a seemingly long time that I am not going to complain about this unusually lovely weather. A little rain would make it perfect.

Comments

[Chavli]

Thomas Hood tried to inject humor into the poem and thinks like a city dweller. How could anyone not notice the gorgeousness in a November garden!
I try my hardest to let the Hosta decompose back into the soil. Not easy, as it gets Really ugly, but it's free nutrients, so I'm motivated :-D
I'm guessing Dawn redwood is the star of your Japanese garden. What a beauty!

[Linda Brazill]

CHAVLI — I always worry that the Hostas may spread disease if I leave them there. But if they were healthy when they collapsed that shouldn't be a problem, should it. After I posted I went into another part of the garden and discovered my winter blooming Hellebore is up, budded and beginning to open.

[danger garden]

That photo with the Dryopteris crassirhizoma is dreamy! Even if it seems all wrong for the season...

[Old Lady Gardener]

Indeed, yes, that fern is gorgeous. Is circular it's normal growth habit? Even though we've had a couple hard frosts, I still have a lot of green too. 74° today! I love how the Korean mums can take frost. I have Sheffield and Cambodian Queen. They really are great for the pollinators!

[Linda Brazill]

OLG — With a name like Sheffield I just assumed that mum was a UK introduction. I had no idea it had Korean parentage. I've been growing Korean maples for years as they look similar to Japanese but are much more hardy in my zone.