Deep Into Fall

12/8/13

dwarf Alberta spruce

     There are signs we are heading deep into fall here.  As I was returning from my walk with the dog one afternoon I noticed branches had been torn out of one of the three dwarf Alberta spruces that line the front of the house.  I have seen a young buck come through the yard many times this fall.  I assume this buck did this with his antlers.  I have read that as the antlers harden, the antler velvet dries, and deer like to remove the dried velvet. And as breeding season approaches bucks spar with the trees and make high visibility rubs.  Of course the damage had to be in the front of the house instead of out back where there are many more trees and bushes.  I will wait till spring and probably replace this and the other two spruces with something else.  I heard a fox cry for the first time since last fall about two weeks ago.  A few days ago I finally saw two red foxes in the woods at the back of the house, but they were too quick for me to catch with my camera.

mums

     In the garden, after sub-freezing night temperatures for the last two weeks, plants are all but gone.  The mums in the patio pot are looking very bedraggled.

sweet alyssum

     In the back yard garden, the sweet alyssum have given up.

brunnera

     And the brunnera plants are fading fast.

hellebores

       The only plants looking good are the hellebores under the dogwood tree.  I hope they bloom in January or February.

white alyssum

     In the garden at the front of the house, the white alyssum are done.

ornamental cabbages

     But the ornamental cabbages  in between the white alyssum are in their prime and will look good until March.

daffodil shoot

     Even with the snow and ice storm forecasted for us today, the hope of spring is visible in a shoot in the front garden.

Brave Plants

11/23/13

mums

     In the last three weeks we have had some cold night temperatures.  The temperatures have not just gone below freezing, but have been in the mid-twenties.  Yet I have some flowers that are still hanging on with a few blooms.  The mums, of course, are still blooming.

Carolina Jessamine vine

     The Carolina Jessamine vine has a few blooms.  I did not know whether it would bloom this fall, since it was so recently planted.  But it did surprise me with several blooms.

begonia

     I have one begonia that is still blooming.

petunia

     Everything around my one petunia in the back yard garden succumbed to the cold.  But it is still holding on.

gaillardia

     The gaillardia in the side garden is still trying to put out blooms.

back yard garden

     My back yard garden is cleaned out for winter except for some sweet alyssum that still has flowers.

bare trees

     Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees in our neighborhood.  So everything is looking kind of bare outside now.

rhododendron

       But surprise!  As I was doing final cleanup in the gardens yesterday I saw a flash of pink in the rhododendron bush.  I looked inside and found three blooms.  So even though we are supposed to have wind chills in the teens tomorrow, these blossoms reminded me to think about the coming spring.

Growing Season Over

11/3/13

     The freeze we had last weekend killed all my annuals and put a halt to perennial blooming.  This photo shows some of the vinca and hardy begonias in my backyard garden that succumbed to the freeze.

     Similarly, the annuals in my deck planters, like these wax begonias took a hit.

     Although the calibrachoa in one planter is still fine.  It may last until December.

     The deer, which never bothered my jumbo begonias along the front of the house, one night ate all the top blossoms off of them just before the freeze. 

     After the freeze, I planted ornamental cabbages in their place

     Peak color on the trees suddenly appeared this week after the freeze.

     I saw a stray violet blooming this week on my daily walk with the dog.  When I went back to photograph it, I couldn't find it.  Too many leaves covered the area where I saw it.  But there is the promise of spring as we head into winter in the buds of my rhododendron.

Fall Happenings

10/24/13

     Signs of fall are all around.  There is an abundance of pumpkins in all the farmer's markets and groceries.  Daylight savings time will soon be gone.  And we have a freeze warning tonight over all the DC metro area.

  
     The leaves on the trees are slowly changing color here and are starting to fall.

       

     The Yoshino cherry trees are already completely bare.

 
     The marigolds in the side yard garden have almost completely died out, and the zinnias are starting to fade.

     Over in the electric garden, the milkweed follicles have started splitting and inside you can see the brown seeds with their white, silky filament hairs being blown by the wind.

     A week ago I bought some hellebores and loriope for the back yard garden.

     I planted the hellebores under the dogwood tree.

     The loriope was put along the edge of the garden.

     The rest of the back yard garden still looks lovely with the lacy cosmos and New Guinea impatiens in full bloom.  I am anxious to see what the garden looks like in the morning after the freeze tonight.                

Rain, Rain, Go Away

10/13/13
              

     It has been gray and rainy here for several days.  Each day we have had rain, drizzle, rain, and more rain.  We have had 7 inches of rain in six days.  The ground is like a wet sponge.  I'm really craving sunshine.  The weatherman says we will see the sun sometime tomorrow.  This photo shows the back yard garden with the cosmos beaten down by the rain.  When it stops raining, I will get out and stake them.

 
    
     A sign of autumn here is the falling nuts from our black walnut tree (Juglans nigra).  Commercially, the wood of the tree is used to make furniture and flooring.  And the walnuts are used in cookies, cakes and other bakery goods, and ice cream.

    
     This is a photo of the green hulls that have the walnuts inside.  You have to be careful around the tree now, as you have a good chance of being hit with the falling nuts.

    
     Here half the green hull is torn away, and you can see the shell of the nut inside.  It is extremely hard to remove the hull and crack the shell of the nut.  Some suggestions I've read say to run over the walnuts with a car,  stomp the nuts underfoot, or pound them with a hammer.

     The squirrels have been busy gathering and burying these nuts.  I found holes being dug in my deck pots and the walnuts being deposited there.  To keep the squirrels out of my pots and the dirt they dig up off my deck, I covered the soil in the pots with pea gravel.  The squirrels don't like to dig in the pea gravel, and so will leave my pots alone.

       The jumbo begonias along the front walk seem to like the cool, wet weather.  I've had enough of it.  I hope we see the sun tomorrow.

 

Changes in the Back Yard Garden

10/6/13

center of back yard garden

     I made some changes to the center of the back yard garden.  This photo shows what it used to look like with five boxwood bushes and three nandina bushes.  These shrubs were here when we moved in.  The garden surrounds three sides of the patio, and these bushes stood in the center and divided the east and west sides of the garden.  The boxwood bushes were removed.

     My husband dug the boxwoods up and transplanted them along the outside of the back yard fence.

      This is the Carolina Jessamine vine I planted on the other side of the gate across from the boxwoods.

     This is what the center of the back yard garden looks like now.  The nandina bushes were left in the garden.

     I put in five brunnera plants that will be covered with tiny, lacy, blue flowers in the spring.

Behind the brunnera plants I put in yellow astilbe plants.    In the spring I'll fill in with some annuals along the front of the brunnera. 

Fall in the Garden

9/24/13

Yoshino cherry tree

    

     Although the garden is still full of summer blooming flowers, fall has definitely arrived with its colder temperatures.  After a relatively cooler-than-normal summer, this area has had cool temps since September 1st.  It was 42 degrees here last night, and we turned the heat on a few days ago since it has been in the 40's at night for a week.  The Yoshino cherry trees in the front yard started dropping their leaves around September 1st. They are beginning to look a little bare.

     My fall flowers started blooming at the end of August and are doing well.  Here are a few photos of them.     

hardy begonias

Japanese anemones

I planted some mums in my patio pots

New Guinea impatiens are still going strong

purple alyssum seems to like the cooler weather

the late-planted cosmos started blooming three weeks ago

in the side yard garden the goldenrod just bloomed

the oriental fountain grass Karley Rose is at its fullest bloom

the zinnias are doing well

     I am reluctant to let go of summer.  I am missing the light of the long summer days.  But fall here is usually dry and sunny, and we have had many beautifully sunny days.  But come winter I may need to go to Florida.