Each Little World

Pods and more pods

The last year or two we had fewer Honeylocust pods; meaning fall cleanup was much easier. This summer's hot dry weather sent the trees into overdrive producing record numbers of seedpods. We've filled bags full of them to take to the dump; usually working while the wind continued to knock them down on top of us.

They've carpeted the ground under the 'Golden Shadows' Dogwood and everywhere else you look. We've managed to get them off the pond, the paths and the area around the Tea House. There's still going to be an awful lot to clean up in the spring, and the weather's turned nasty enough that I'm not tempted to do any more work outdoors at the moment. 

December delights

Despite overnight lows down into the teens and snow flurries a number of times last month, my garden is surprisingly green for December 1st. Of course, my conifers are the green mainstay once serious snow arrives. For now, however, quite a few plants are still providing bursts of greenery.

Many of  my Carexes retain their color, but none looks better than C. plantaginea. I have it growing in ground cover swaths as well as specimen plants like this one along the stone steps up into the front garden. 

At the top of the steps is one of many Christmas ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides), all looking good. This fern takes a while to attain a decent size; but once there, it is an instant garden treasure. 

Not far from the Christmas fern is this big patch of Epimedium perralchicum 'Weihenstephan'. This is one variety that retains good looking green foliage longer than any other Epimedium variety in my garden. 

This Helleborus foetidus functions as a shrub in the back garden. 

Luzula sylvatica 'Solar Flare' is interspersed among Hellebores and spring snowdrops. It keeps its bright yellow green color until the snow covers it. 

Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' is a Zone 6 plant that has survived for three years in my Z5 garden. It always looks good but the plant is shrinking rather than growing. 

Last spring I moved and divided my Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'). It has taken a long time for me to finally find the right home for this fern but all of them settled in beautifully and are still looking sprightly. 

I keep adding interesting ferns when I see them. Polystichum makinoi is from a PNW nursery but has done well here. 

The deceptively delicate-looking Adiantum venustum aka the Himalayan maidenhair fern. When this fern is happy it can be a bit of a monster. Another clump of it is currently eating an Epimedium that may not survive the process. 

There are a number of Digitalis seedlings in the garden which make it look like spring is almost here!

IVOM: November bouquets

I always have some kind of arrangement by the kitchen sink and in the bathrooms year-round. Given we were having one or two people over on Thanksgiving and on the weekend, I made sure those highly visible locations all had something in place. The Hellebore niger flowers that I cut and brought in on Nov. 11 are finally starting to fade. At the opposite end of the space is an antique jug with seedheads of Begonia grandiflora.

I have had good luck with the hardy Begonia and love the papery quality of the seedheads. 

My bathroom has a dried arrangement in a Delores Fortuna vase. 

The Lotus pod was purchased but the pale Hosta leaf and dark Bergenia leaf are from the garden as is the stem of seedheads. They look familiar but I can't remember which plant they came from.

I splurged and bought an assortment of foliage and blooms from the cooler at my favorite local grocery store to use on the table Thanksgiving Day. 

The pale peach Hyacinth has just the right amount of scent that it was not a problem at the table. The stems that look like Astilbe were labeled Solidago. If that is what they really are, I'd love to grow them. They are a beautiful rusty orange with tiny flowers opening to the same peachy color as the Hyacinth. 

I'm putting out Christmas items next so things will look quite different next Monday. 

Leafy behavior

The fallen leaves from Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' are such a beautiful mix of colors that I don't always rush to rake them up. 

That's how I discovered that they must have some kind of coating on the back of the leaf causing the moisture from recent snow showers to bead up on them. The same thing did not happen on the front of the leaves or on any other fallen leaves. 

In the back garden, the same behavior was exhibited on the underside of the Paperbark maple leaves on the deck.

I haven't a clue what it means. Do you?

GBBD: Nov. 15. 2021

It is rare that there are flowers blooming in my garden in November. But these three are reliable performers as late autumn turns cold. 

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Calamintha nepeta subsp. nepeta changes color from white blossoms to soft lavender as the temperatures cool. 

I started watching this clump of Helleborus niger on Nov. 6. The weather was nice enough that I pulled off the leaves that were hiding the buds. 

By last Thursday (Nov. 11), it was obvious the weather was about to get much colder. So I piled fallen leaves back on the plant to protect it until spring. But first I cut a few buds that were starting to open along with foliage from Vancouveria hexandra, Geranium phaeum and the Hellebore. 

Overnight the Vancouveria foliage faded as the Hellebore flowers fully opened. It's always a thrill to have a little bouquet from the garden indoors this late in the year. 

The warm weather we'd been having kept the leaves on the Hamamelis virginiana, hiding most of the flowers. 

The chill overnight on Thursday and Friday's snow showers got rid of the yellow leaves, letting the flowers shine.

I don't know when this shrub has looked so good in November.

More fall color

Despite the Ginkgo losing its leaves before they'd turned yellow, it's been a spectacular year for fall color in the garden. My fall blooming witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, insisted on keeping its leaves, making it hard to see its fall-blooming flowers. 

The larch along the back fence, Larix laracina, is so bright we can see it across the width of the garden from inside the house. That's a Dawn Redwood with its deciduous needles turning cinnamon color in front. 

I love the subtle coloration of the fallen redbud leaves, Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy', with the Carex siderosticha 'Lemon Zest.

This Korean Maple, Acer pseudosieboldianum, has been unable to make up its mind. From day to day the color changes dramatically with no one tone dominant.

Every day I walk to the back garden to see what's happened overnight. 

Another Korean maple, across the path from the one above.

I love the fact that the leaves are right down to the ground on this tree; making it a perfect partner to the Toadlilies. 

Wordless Wednesday

The Ginkgoes give up

We'd been watching our Ginkgo trees to see if the leaves were going to manage to turn their lovely buttery yellow color before they came down. The answer again is NO! One of the dwarf trees was just about there but the big tree and the other dwarf were just an acid green on their way to yellow. Last Tuesday night the temperature went below 25°F. In the morning we looked out and the leaves were all on the ground and draped over every shrub and object nearly.

IVOM: Pumpkin decor

I am not a big fan of Halloween decor, but I decided it was time to change the objects on the Chinese wine tables in the living room. 

My autumnal display includes "Pumpkin Mine" by artist Chuck Bauer. The dried pumpkin is covered in sculpt metal with rifle bullets glued on. I got it at an annual art weekend this summer. Not my usual type of purchase but I was instantly smitten with it; I suppose because I knew I had other not-quite-the-usual-pumpkin objects.

We found this gorgeously illustrated squash at the Farmers Market in Milwaukee a number of years ago. 

A metal container and an incense burner that both seemed to fit in with the others. Alas, that is all I know about them. 

Hanging above this display are three new photos by Mark of autumnal fall color — printed in black and white. 

I think they tell the story in a surprisingly subtle, yet strong, manner. (Ignore the lampshade in the lower left!)

A little Halloween spirit

My youngest sister, who is an artist, gave us this little ceramic "studio god" many years ago. Rather than guarding our creative work areas, we put him in this empty space next to the back door of our house to watch over our entire residence. 

Once upon a time, there was some kind of walkie-talkie by the front and back doors, but only the space remains. Locust leaves, caught in cobwebs, perfectly define this as an end of October moment. 

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My sister, Pat, currently makes beautiful silver jewelry based on medieval chain mail.