Each Little World

A day in December

My girlfriends and I visited on the deck for more than an hour yesterday afternoon. We sat in our summer chairs, in full sun, with no wind and the temperature hit 53°F. when we broke up our gathering. It is liable to be our last in-person meeting for the year, judging by the weather forecast. Afterwards I walked around the garden to see what I could see. Plants I photographed in October are still looking good; a few, in fact, look better than ever. 

Arum italicum 'Ghost' has improved in size and appearance as the weather has gotten colder. Some of its leaves are almost all white. 

Autumn fern looks its best early and late in the season. It is standing tall with little or no damage from the snow we had briefly.

Helleborus foetidus 'Red Silver' has a flower stem forming. 

I first photographed this Helleborus niger on November 4th. Every time it warms ups a bit, I've gone out and cut more flower stems. It's finally starting to fade. 

Bulbs put to bed

I ordered a limited number of fall-planted bulbs this year. Just enough to let me experiment and have that sense of surprise next year when things appear. The lily bulbs, in particular, were expensive enough that I did not want to take any chances of them being dug up and eaten by garden critters. So I put milk cartons over the spots where I planted important bulbs. Looks awful but no one has gone near them as far as I can tell — other than me checking on them multiple times. 

I still have a few of these plastic cartons that are so old I don't remember how or where I got them. Mark is always after me to get rid of them because they take up space in the garage, even though they stack. But I am always finding a new use for them, so I continue to politely ignore him. 

IVOM: A Thanksgiving arrangement

I posted a version of this foliage display on October 26th, noting I had actually put it together on October 14th. It's now more than a month later and it's still looking good enough to use on our Thanksgiving dinner table — with a bit of sprucing up. 

I added a number of Bergenia leaves which had started to get burnished bronze and red out in the garden. The rabbits tend to munch these during the summer, but they return in the fall and are untouched now.

I decided to make one last foray around the garden as the bouquet still looked a bit blah even with the Bergeinia foliage. The addition of variegated Arum italicum foliage and yellow Epimedium leaves definitely brightened things up, along with an 'Autumn Brilliance' fern frond. 

Epimedium 'Waterfall' is the only one of my many Epimediums to turn this wonderful buttery color with dark edges. 

I clipped this Maidenhair fern frond when it was a flat fan. In the house everything has delicately curled up.

I only grow Arum italicum 'Ghost,' a plant that appears in the autumn when the weather cools down and pops up again when the snow melts. There are other varieties with different degrees of patterning that I continue to lust after. I've never been able to buy one as they are always sold out as soon as I seem to discover them in on-line nurseries. 

The wonky flowers on star fruit (Penthorum seloides) get better and better as the days go by.

Hope you have a pleasant and safe holiday.

Late November walkabout

November has brought us days that got up into the 60°'s and a lot of nights, like last night, that hit the low 20°'s. That means last weekend was the perfect time to stroll through the chilly garden to see what is still looking good.

The pond froze on Saturday night but it was warm enough Sunday that it melted again. 

The mossy rocks are always a thrill for me to discover. The densely weedy shoreline less so.

I moved and divided Pulmonaria 'David Ward' rather rudely midsummer. I was worried that I lost it by my thoughtless behavior in hot weather since it is not a plant that I see to buy anymore. This is the only Pulmonaria that I intentionally grow, so I am thrilled to see it again.

False Rue Anemone (Isopyrum biternatum) is one of the treasures of the cool garden in early spring and late autumn. It has white flowers in the spring but I grow it for that lovely foliage.

Some of my Hepaticas are looking good while others have disappeared. 

A lot of gardeners consider Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum') weedy, but I love it. The tiniest seedlings are recognizable and easy to pull. I appreciate the note of bright green it adds whenever and wherever it appears, and the tiny daisy-like flowers are perfect additions to any bouquet.

Epimedium 'Waterfall' has been one of the stars of the autumn garden. None of my other Epimediums have this thrilling mix of color in their leaves. 

Who doesn't love Hellebore foliage? It is dramatic at any season, but especially now when it has a lot less foliar competition.

Whatever the weather

We've had a week with overnight frost, high winds, rain and just plain November days. I went out midmorning today to check the rain gauge (only .36") and to look for fallen branches from the winds that began yesterday. No big branches were down, though I found some lovely pieces of bark. I left this one on the bench by the front door to dry out a bit before I bring it indoors. 

Despite the miserably cold weather I found a lot that caught my attention no matter where I went in the garden. The beds, paths and upper pool in the back garden were absolutely covered with needles from the lone Austrian pine of the original three trees planted in the mid-1950s.

Some things, like this Himalayan maidenhair fern, seem to take the change in the weather in stride. It looks green and gorgeous until it gets buried by snow. 

Big healthy Foxglove seedlings are such a hopeful sign. But I probably should have moved them out of the path when they were tiny. I am going to have to tread  carefully next year. 

Late last fall I planted a pair of dwarf Hydrangeas. They came through the winter and grew this year with no problems. I need to put larger cages around them so they are protected from critters this winter and next spring when they put out new growth. Love their deep purple foliage. 

I've been growing this Paeonia lutea for four years. I moved it last year after deciding it was in too much shade to flower. I've never noticed pink stems on it before. Now I am going to have to make a note to see what it looks like next spring when it reappears. 

This ornamental cabbage was looking so sad that I almost tossed it. Yesterday's rain suggests it was lack of water, not the cold, that was its problem.

I discovered this Hellebore, that typically tries to flower at Thanksgiving, up and beginning to bloom ten days ago. I cut a few blossoms to enjoy inside and assumed it had succumbed to the cold weather by now. What a trooper!

Its twin, planted across the path, was budded and buried deeply in autumn leaves. I left it that way, hoping that would preserve the buds to flower in the spring. But it was ready and did not want to wait. 

Though I think winter is on its way, clearly my garden is not yet convinced.

The big bang!

My gardening friends and I have all been thrilled with the blast of color and warm weather that we've been enjoying here in southern Wisconsin. I took this photo Sunday afternoon when I came around a corner and was stopped in my tracks. That's Epimedium 'Lilac Fairy' foliage down low in front, Bowman's Root on the left, Berberis 'Orange Rocket' and Japanese Blood Grass. Just realized there's a small 'Rhinegold' Arborviate behind the grass adding to the glow. 

Alas, this morning it was clear that the weather is changing back to a typical chilly November.

IVOM: It's official

Now that it's November it's time to acknowledge that there is little left in the garden to bring indoors. That means it's time to bring out the old favorites to highlight this season. The temperatures in the last week have hit 70°F. or above every day; so it looks like November but definitely does not feel like it at all.  

Though I would never grow this plant as it's invasive, I love it for autumn decorating. Someone at my local farmers market always has some stems each fall. 

This tiny teapot is too small to actually use but too sweet to keep hidden away. We use the tiny cups now and again for sake.

One of the real joys for me this autumn has been the lack of pods on our honey locust trees. Last year I filled a number of big bags with them in an endless cleanup process that went right into spring. 

I hate picking up the pods but I love the look and texture of them, ranging from lacquered to velvet. I saved the biggest and best of them a few years ago and just bring out this wooden bowl filled with them when I want a hit of rich autumn color.

The color keeps coming

It has been a fabulous year for fall color. Despite a lot of windy days and cold temperatures, there is still plenty of color to enjoy in the garden. This week's rise in daytime temperatures up into the low 70°F. means that finishing our fall cleanup has become a pleasure rather than a chilly chore. Plus working outside has kept me calmer while the election results continue to unfold. 

Acer pennsylvanicum aka Moosewood maple has huge leaves that always turn a buttery yellow.

The foliage on this Larch (Larix laricina) looks evergreen in the summer but it is a deciduous tree and loses its needles in the fall. I took this photo yesterday. Compare its color to the image below taken two days earlier. 

The Larch with Acer Tegmentosum 'White Tigress' in the background. 

Acer Tegmentosum 'White Tigress' is a stripe bark maple. Underneath the tree are big bags of chopped leaves ready to be used as mulch. We got about a dozen bags of leaves just from the trees in the front garden.  

Hosta leaves melting like butter. 

Carex siderosticha 'Lemon Zest' is not so fussy as C. 'Banana Boat' when it comes to both light and moisture.

Stephanandra incisa 'Crispa' is a quiet green presence in the landscape until autumn arrives.

I bought two Orixa japonica from Song Sparrow last fall. They came as 4 foot tall plants and settled in nicely. Their glossy green leaves have turned this beautiful shade.

My Epimediums range from this pale yellow to bronze fall color. 

One of our many Korean maples; the color continues to change drawing me out into the garden to check on it almost hourly. 

Euphorbia palustris is a knockout in any season. 

Another Korean maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum). This one is in a lot of shade and has colored up as the others are losing their leaves.

Fothergilla gardenii

Our neighbor's Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) has turned its autumn color, a warm cinnamon. This tree inspired us to plant two of our own. 

IVOM: Outside in

I brought most to the plants that have been outdoors in the garden into the front hall not long ago. They stayed in the hall a few days while I made space for these stalwarts in the living room: a Boston fern, rosemary, Begonia and Orchids. Once they were taken care of I could play with this lovely little ornamental cabbage. It makes a perfectly sized partner for the quirky pumpkin I got at one of the local farmers markets.  

Nothing fancy but I am smitten with the colors and textures of this impromptu grouping. 

I picked this pumpkin thinking it would echo the peeling paint of the big Lohan statue at the other end of this table. 

Alas, the vendor wrote the weight and price on top of the pumpkin. So I put it where we would be able to enjoy the display but not close enough to note that distraction. 

Every time I look at this little cabbage, I remind myself that I need to start growing these kind of ornamentals in the garden all season, rather than picking them up late in the game. 

The Ginkgo gives in

The big Ginkgo biloba finally acknowledged that it was cold enough and windy enough for it to bow to the weather and release its foliage. Love these pale yellow leaves against the silver blue spikes of Juniper 'Blue Star.'

The ground directly under the Ginkgo is thick with fallen leaves. Note the foliage of the Itoh Peony on the left. It is still almost perfect; the only Peony that never has fungal problems. 

The surface of the pond has so many leaves floating on it that you can't distinguish it as water.