My Gardens in November of 2015

I am determined to get caught up with my garden posts!

My Kitchen Garden in November of 2015

The gravel path gets covered in leaves by November. I swear it is under there somewhere.

Puss, one of my neighbor’s cats, was still enjoying sitting on the garden bench in November since it was a warm fall.

The Alaska Nasturtium crawled its way toward the garden bench, as well.

Despite the increasingly cold weather, the flowers of the red Gift Zinnias hung on!

Kale ‘Redbor,’ with its ruffled, dark purple leaves. This is an edible kale, however it requires massaging to get it to soften up a bit before cooking.

Leaks, Rainbow Chard, Merlot Lettuce, and Arugula still looking good in November?! Was true!

My Flower Garden in November of 2015

The garden chair was still a pleasant place to sit, even this late in fall.

In this shot, the hostas were devastated by the first frost.

Behind the chair, Mr. Gnome guzzled down some fall cider outside his house.

The flower garden was a mix of browns, greens, and yellows.

Those roses, oh those roses. They just weren’t willing to give up quite yet.

The wisteria leaves put on their fall color on top of the shed.

The grass was surprisingly green for this time of the year, again due to it being warmer than usual. The silver of the sage shows we were still able to enjoy some herbs even this late in the year.

The leaves coated most of the moss in the Secret Garden.

The angel slept in a blanket of leaves in this same area.

Also in the Secret Garden, the flowers on this hydrangea turned a bright pinkish red.

Colorful leaves in front of the shed / workshop in November.

My Gardens in October of 2015

I am so behind with my garden posts that I debated on whether or not I should just leave out the rest of my photos from the end of last year. I decided that since I use this blog as a garden journal, I wanted to include them, even though they are months old at this point. So here goes it...

My Kitchen Garden in October of 2015

The garden was definitely winding down in October. The Gift Zinnias were still blooming their glorious red color, though, in the kitchen garden. I started to loose hope on my Brussels Sprouts, but I still thought the sweet potatoes might turn out ok.

I did manage to get a few Garden Salsa Peppers.

Indigo Ruby Tomatoes, at last!

A few nasturtiums hanging on.

A fall bounty of asters, Gift Zinnias, mint, Rainbow Chard, yellow Tumbling Tom Tomatoes, Doe Peppers, and Garden Salsa peppers.

The grass in the kitchen garden took on a fall glow.

Fall colors in the kitchen garden.

 My Flower Garden in October of 2015

Roses were hanging on in October. Colorblaze Lime Time Coleus added a pop of brightness to the increasingly drab-colored garden this time of the year.

Bright magenta roses with Joe Pye Weed and white Butterfly Bush.

More roses put on a last minute show.

 Sedum with dried Purple Coneflower seed-heads.

Dried Joe Pye Weed with Purple Coneflower seed-heads and the white-blooming Butterfly Bush a few weeks later.

Winnie was framed by dried Joe Pye Weed.

Pretty Aster.

These hydrangea flowers take on a pink hue in the fall.

This variety does, too.

A few weeks later they were drying up.

The other side of the back yard, basking in the warm glow of the fall sun.

The Secret Garden area in the fall.

Herbs were still at the ready by the back door - Sage and Thyme.

My bog pots, which contain my carnivorous Pitcher Plants, always look great just as it is getting too cold to leave them outside.

When I heard of our first chance of frost, I brought in all of the exposed potted plants. This is always a bit of a chore. I put them on the screened-in back porch, then have to trek them all through the house into the greenhouse, since there is no outside access to it.

My Front Porch in October of 2015

The front porch plants lasted much longer than usual last year, due to warmer weather. I still had some blooms when I decorated for Christmas! I had moved my Dragon Wing Begonias to the fern stand because they got so leggy in the hanging baskets. I replaced the baskets with yellow mums.

The giant-leafed plants are Gryphon Begonias. They got so big and dramatic by fall.

In the basket above the Gryphons – Silverdust and a red-blooming Begonia.

 No fall decorations are complete without mums.

Other Begonias and a Maindenhair Fern. I wish I could find the tag for the green Begonia with the dark red marks in the center because that one is still thriving in my greenhouse right now.

My Flower Garden in September 2015

After months of living in a Philadelphia Flower Show bubble, I am finally coming up for air. I will post my reflections on my first year working as a PHS employee at the show, but in the meantime, I will try to catch up a bit on reflections of my garden from last year. September in the flower garden, for instance...

My flower garden is at it’s best in spring and summer, but not so much as fall approaches. However, here are some of the highlights.

I love anemone. Given that, you would think I would have tons of it in my garden, yet I don’t. I never seem to be able to find the room for more. This one is Anemone tomentosa Robustissima. I love the dark, almost black, stems with the pink flowers and fluffy-looking, yellow centers. Unfortunately, this anemone is fairly hidden in a corner of what I call my “secret garden,” so it is not often seen.  

Purple Morning Glory vines cover the arbor in late summer. The hummingbirds enjoy the flowers before they migrate away.

The pink roses in the flower garden were still hanging in there off and on until winter came. Same with the bright red Cardinal Climber vine, another hummingbird favorite.

A new addition to the late summer / early fall garden in 2015 was Ironweed. I wish I could remember if this was Vernonia noveboracensis or Vernonia gigantea, though. I can't seem to find the tag. Nevertheless, Ironweed is a native plant and a favorite of our valuable pollinators. I planted it specifically for all of my bumble bee and butterfly friends who visit my garden on a regular basis spring through fall.

Blooming in September near the Ironweed was Phlox paniculata 'David's Lavender' (which actually looks more pink here), and light pink Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana).

The white Phlox paniculata David was still blooming, as well, in September.

I don’t buy a lot of annuals for the flower garden, but when I do, they have to be long-lasting, solid performers. These two fit the bill – Melampodium Million Gold with its yellow flowers and Colorblaze Lime Time Coleus. I plant Melampodium every year. It starts out slow, but by late summer it looks full and fantastic. The key is to make sure it gets enough water. This is my first year planting the Lime Time Coleus and it flourished in this hot, sunny spot. I love the combination of these two plants together. Don’t be surprised if you see this combination pop up again in my garden.

Next to this planting was lavender and another small annual with lavender, aster-like flowers called 'Toucan Tango' Brachyscome. Toucan Tango flowered all season, however it never got very full-looking. I had temporarily moved my strainer of succulents to this pot in the garden and ended up liking it there.

Sedums are a staple of the fall garden. I have a few varieties that I planted years ago and can’t recall all of the names.

Sedums are a favorite of the bumble bees in September.

Blue Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) is a reliable ground cover that gets pretty blue flowers in the late summer and fall.

 

Winding down in September is this white hydrangea that borders the kitchen garden. It has arching branches. I inherited this from the previous owner, but it seems to be some sort of Hydrangea paniculata. The flowers turn pinkish before they brown up for the winter.

Another highlight of the late summer garden is...hey, wait a minute, that's not a plant, it’s a cat. Yes, another one of my neighbor’s cats. This one is Puss. Puss loves to find different areas of the garden to nap.

Mr. Thaddeous Gnome was still tending to his sheep under the Christmas Ferns in the flower garden in September. I took some of the rotting wood with moss from my cedar trash bin and put it on Thaddeous’ roof. Never met a gnome named Thaddeous? Well there’s a first time for everything.

Not actually IN the flower garden, but near it, were my bog pots. The carnivorous Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia leucophylla) always seem happiest in September. They are still thriving when the air gets crisp and I have to bring in the pots to protect the Venus Flytraps that also call these pots home.

Many, many birds inhabit my garden. These doves decided perching on the bird feeder was a good idea during a rain shower. I personally can’t see how that was a good idea.

In order to watch the birds of the garden more closely, I moved some of the feeders to be next to the screened-in back porch. Hummingbirds and goldfinches came to visit, but only after they realized that me and my two kitties were no threat to them in our screened room. I look forward to seeing these feathery friends again this year.