Red candelabra Primroses shout across the garden to the blooms of Calycanthus raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine' which are even more intensely colored.
C. 'Hartlage Wine' was bred for large flowers. Alas, it lost its fragrance to achieve those big blooms.
To see what flowers other gardeners are featuring, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs who's hosting this meme.
Does spring get any better than the moment the Hellebores start to bloom? These are among my favorites for their unusual color.
H. torquata
H. 'Jade Tiger'
H. 'New York NIght'
To see what flowers other gardeners are sharing, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs who's hosting this meme.
The garden has never looked better in autumn than this year. This is the view from the spot I aways sit in our living room. Once I sit down, I've hardly been able do anything but look out the window at this glorious scene.
Of course, the above photo is one I intended to post when Typepad started acting up. In the intervening days, that green tree turned red and now all of them have lost most of their leaves.
Gorgeous warm weather today, followed by rain and temps dropping into the 30s — if the weather forecast is to be believed.
The trees in the front garden have rapidly turned color in the last week and one has already lost its leaves. Most plants are still very green making the red foliage pop. For the first time the leaves on our Burning Bush are an intense red — the result of much more sun without the old Sugar Maple tree that came down last winter. I'm standing with my back towards the street, directly under the burning bush, looking toward the house.
The orange leaves on the left belong to an Acer Manchuricum, while the gold ones on the right are from Acer tschonoskii. The small weeping yellow tree in the center is a 'Tina' crabapple.
The Burning Bush in all its autumn glory.
The Acer tschonoskii lost its leaves first which means this gorgeous moment was very fleeting.
'Tina' was bright yellow late last week and is already moving into less attractive brown tones.
This tall, narrow Acer triflorum is one of our favorite trees in the garden.
I particularly enjoy this low branch that drapes over the Japanese forest grass. The grassy backdrop is perfect to set off the tree's foliage . . .
no matter what stage of fall color it's showing.
The top of the tree in the sun is always brighter and often the leaves even look shinier than the more matte foliage down where I can easily see it. I think that is just the way it looks to me and not a true difference.
The orchard owner at the Wednesday Hilldale Market, here on the west side, has a beautiful and ever-changing selection of apples each week. I picked a mixed bag of crisp varieties out of his assorted baskets, not realizing what a stunning group I'd chosen until I opened my bag at home.
I snagged this impressive pumpkin (squash?) at the first stand I always visit at this outdoor market. Once I saw this beauty, I had to stop shopping and carry it back to my car. It was too heavy for me to haul around while I finished my shopping. I love the fact that the dark green color is a perfect match for our house color.
My hidden back garden is the one spot where I let myself go wild with flowers; trying out new plants and endless combinations. The space is divided with a curving path. One side has blue, white and yellow flowers for autumn. On the opposite side of the path I seem to have created a mostly pink fall garden. There are Anemones, late flowering Phlox, Angelica and Vernonia. It is so sweetly colored that I almost go into sugar shock ever time I look at it.
Then I saw this photo online. It suggests a great way to tame my excess of pink flowers with an equally dramatic run of red/orange. I already have Japanese blood grass growing elsewhere in the garden, so it should be easy enough to move a few pieces and test the theory out.
. . .
Alas, I did not identify either the photographer or source when I downloaded this image. If anyone recognizes it, let me know and I will add the proper credit.
These arrangements are from the last couple of weeks when I've been pulling out vases that haven't seen the light of day for a long time. This is a contemporary Chinese ceramic container, but it is not glazed inside. I stuffed a plastic bottle into the opening to hold water without leaking.
A number of years ago I fell in love with the seedheads of Hosta flowers when I saw them in a bouquet a friend had composed. Now I always let a number of the flowers get to this stage. In fact, these pods were the impetus for the display.
I like these Sedum flowers best before they open and turn pink.
I think I should have added a couple more stems of Sedum flowers at differing heights. This feels like a bouquet that is not quite finished. But I didn't want to denude the Sedum plant — which is in a very visible location — by cutting more flowers.
I moved this large wood fired stoneware pot to use the pedestal as a staging area for photographing the vase. Afterwards the vase went to the dining table where we could enjoy it with every meal. The painting is an old one of Mark's.
This Japanese bronze container is one I often use for bouquets with toad lilies (Tricyrtis). I had a stunning display of Tricyrtis hirta this year, but it was in the wrong location and needed to be divided and moved. So I clipped all the flowering stems to bring indoors.
I added clippings from an unknown Heuchera with pink flowers and some stems of Anemone hybrida 'Max Vogel.' The Anemone gave up the ghost in 24 hours, so I need to do some research to see if there is a way to make it last as a cut flower.
I cut a big stem of hardy Begonia, along with some of the beautiful foliage of this plant. This is another case where I needed a couple more large flowering Begonia stems but didn't have any. I added what was available but I was still unhappy with the hole on the left side of the bouquet (first photo).
The toad lilies go on and on and are one of my favorite flowers to bring indoors. Luckily I still have a number of them in bud and bloom to continue to enjoy indoors and out.
To see what others have put in a vase today, visit Rambling in the Garden who hosts this long-running meme.
The seedpods on Paeonia obvata var. Alba are starting to open. Red seeds are infertile. The blue-black seeds are fertile. Yes, this is the real color and they are this shiny.
'Mr. Poppins' has done his work as both my Winterberries (Ilex verticillata 'Berry Poppins') are covered with berries. Their color will continue to deepen as autumn progresses.