Late Fall Blooms

12/24/16

zinnia
     Here it is Christmas Eve!  I am finally finished preparing our household for Christmas.  All the gifts are wrapped, and the cranberry sauce is made.  I have some time before the rest of the family arrives for Christmas Eve services and dinner. 
      I have been wanting to  post what was blooming in late fall in my gardens.  This zinnia was one of many I planted from seed around the side garden.  This photo was taken October 2.



rose
     This is the last rose of summer.  It is a Graham Thomas rose bush in the side garden.  This was taken in mid October.

hardy cyclamen

     There are three patches of this hardy cyclamen in the back yard garden.  They will bloom through November.  I chose this plant because I wanted something in bloom almost every month of the year, and this plant was one of the few that would be blooming in November.  This photo was taken on October 23.

black cohosh

     This is the one black cohosh out of four that I planted that bloomed.  It only got to about three feet tall.  The plants were on the hill in the back yard and probably did not get enough water or sun.  I did not find that it had a bad odor that were in some descriptions I read.

oak leaf hydrangea

     This oak leaf hydrangea has been in the garden for years, but we pulled it out last fall and put in a leather leaf viburnum which is out of this photo but just behind these plants.  I noticed these little green things emerging this summer, and when they got big enough we could finally identify them!  I will let them go and see how long it takes for them to reach a decent size. 

front of house garden

     I have been meaning to post about the front of the house garden.  Here is what it looked like on March 9 of this year.  Those are Japanese yew plum bushes that fit well in the narrow space between the walk and the porch.

front of house garden
      This is what the garden looked like in full bloom on September 9.  I planted zinnias from seed and put in red vinca from the garden center as well as a mum in the far right corner.






     Merry Christmas to all and peace, health and happiness in the New Year.