Yes, I’m often really slow to pick up on things, especially when I’m really determined to hold on to my optimism or ignorance, but eventually the wrecking balls roll in and the troops hit the streets and you realize there’s a change in the weather and the freedom of summer is dying. I’ll miss it. Most people saw it coming and warned me to be prepared, but a few sunny days can fool you into thinking no big deal, there’s time, it can’t turn on you so fast… until suddenly it does and it’s your turn to face a killing frost.
An autumn crop of lettuce likely won’t amount to anything significant, but it does make things look better than they really are. Someone will get a nice salad. Probably not me, but…
Monday morning we woke up to a frosty morning. It’s just a touch of ice and many of the natives are just fine, but tender stuff like dahlias and cannas from Mexico and points south got burnt, and will now need lifting and winter protection in order to make it through the approaching cold.
Aromatic aster, either ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ or ‘Bluebird’, I forget… is still in full bloom and will go on into November. It’s great doer.
Fortunately we’ve had plenty of rain to cover up all the stresses the garden faced this summer, and the asters and mums are as nice as ever and the fall color here in the lower elevations at least had enough time to color up rather than just give up. As far as autumns go it wasn’t too bad I guess, but summer is still my preferred season and these last few weeks were more of a long hanging-on than any real admission that fall is here.
A chrysanthemum seedling which a friend gave me a few years back. Hardy and reliable and an excellent flower which more than makes up for her floppy form.
So I guess I’m admitting that fall is here. The leaves have changed, the tender plants are under protective custody indoors and it’s moved on to all the little tasks which need doing before the cold and ice lock us all down for a winter.
Sunday foliage and flowers. By Monday the orange thunbergia was a wilted memory.
For a few weeks more it’s still nice though. The colors and light are superb, the lawn has recovered some of its spring lushness, and a shovel sinks into the soil rather than being rejected. Time for replanting, mulching, protecting, maybe some pruning… all those last minute things which are fine as long as the weather holds, but just not fun when a cold front rolls through.
This ‘Arnold’s Promise’ witch hazel always runs through rings of color as the leaves turn. Witch hazels are awesome.
Hmmm. Maybe I better end on a more cheerful note because the rain and Mellissa’s march through the Caribbean seem to have me in a gloomy mood. Here are some promises for a wonderful winter starting with the hardy cyclamen which are popping up here and there throughout the beds. Cyclamen hederifolium is probably the most varied and easiest and I’ll show just one picture with a few last flowers since there will be time all winter to show off the foliage on the rest of them.
A few last flowers wrapping up a month and a half of bloom on cyclamen hederifolium. I’m always tempted to pot a few dozen up so I can admire them one by one… but under my care that’s a likely death sentence so in the garden they stay.
Oh and do you know what else is on the way? Yeah, snowdrops. The earliest fall bloomers are opening and they look great this year.
The first fall bloomer in my garden is ‘Tilebarn Jamie’ and even at a later date this would be a beautiful and reliable snowdrop worth giving a try.
I know it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned snowdrops… maybe at least two weeks… but they’re on my mind again after what might have been overload this past spring. Perhaps preparing a sales table for the Gala made it work, and maybe that work made it less fun, but I think this year I can organize a little better and get back to the fun I usually have. Maybe I’m also itching to add a few new ones rather than faking “responsibility” and trying to say ‘no’ more than I’d like to. Maybe this spring I’ll be saying ‘why not?’ Maybe I’ll start this fall. More fall bloomers would be good and I know a guy and why not?
Have a great weekend 🙂
sorta like suburbia 
”I know a guy”
“that guy” has been very helpful. New plants have been added 🙂
What’s that white fluffy flower in the first photo? Probably a mum, but do you know the variety?
It is a mum, just a seedling and I’d offer some but it usually gets a foliar disease in the late summer, so probably not something you’d want.
The chrysanthemums are gorgeous — also the asters, the cyclamen, and the lovely snowdrops! If we didn’t have autumn, we wouldn’t have these beauties. But I always feel sad to say good-bye to summer. How long I feel sad depends on how much I can be outdoors in the fall. The more I’m out in the garden, the better I feel; but then, the weather has been pretty mild until now.
You have predicted my fall into winter! There’s been cold and snow and gloomy skies in the month since and I’m miserable. Pruning isn’t even pleasant and I don’t feel like slogging through the snow. But…. days start lengthening in less than two weeks so that always makes a difference to me. Plus the holidays are always nice. Hope you’re cruising through the cold!
Frosts have not threatened us yet here in southeast Ireland though we have had a few nights where the temperatures dipped significantly. We have taken in those tender plants we wish to keep – we have become more selective with advancing years and careful not to make the gardening too much of a burden. Cannas were the big job – to lift, pot and store in a frost-free glasshouse, not heated. This will keep them perfectly well with us as we don’t get especially cold winters. Autumn colour in trees and shrubs is appreciated here but regularly short lived as this is also the season of regular bouts of heavy rain and wind so the show is ruined very quickly. Our garden is very wet now following heavy rain this week so gardening is coming to an end for the year except for light tipping here and there. The snowdrops are out – G. elwesii ‘Barnes’ is the best show.
Well a month later here and things like ‘Barnes’ are finally up although locked in the snow for now. I wouldn’t mind the cold as much if the sun were out more but at least I have a warm spot to mope around in, gray skies be darned.
I left a hefty amount of cannas out but still managed to convince myself to dig a bunch more than I need ‘just in case someone wants a few’ next spring. Each year I wonder if it’s worth the trouble but so far it’s still manageable… even if it might be questionable.
We gave up on dahlias because they became too much bother. We lifted a large number of cannas and left as many in the ground where they will most likely survive but will be later into flower than those now in the glasshouse.
Beautiful autumn colours, Frank, isn’t autumn a gorgeous season allowing us to finally slow down and enjoy. Are the red trees maples? We’re also preparing for hibernation. I’m busy getting the last plants into the soil and planting winter veg. Our cyclamen have started to spread albeit slowly. I’m fascinated by their foliage. Recently I visited a château where they grow abundantly in the parc. I’d never seen anything like it, what a show. Every season has its magic. Already the first bulbs are popping up, there’s always something to look forward to at least in our gardens. Happy days!
A lovely comment Annette and here I am a month later finally acknowledging! The red maples are all leafless now, a nice tree for fall color but otherwise a greedy, rooty pest who steals light and water from everyone. I am supposed to be fine with that since it’s a native tree but….
I would love to see masses of cyclamen! What a sight. We just don’t have a tradition of parks and public estates here, it’s all either land for hiking, hunting, or lumber and older estates are bulldozed, cut up, and rebuilt into more profitable uses.
Still, there’s always good to be found. Enjoy your holidays!
Time is slipping by ever faster, it seems. Can’t believe tomorrow is Nov. 1, geesh. Solstice is a mere seven weeks away, then the days will start growing longer, then it’ll be March, snowdrop season! Enjoy the endless loop. 🙂
heh heh, and now solstice is just under two weeks away! It is moving along, and I’m excited about lengthening days. This December is annoying with its early cold but I won’t mind it at all in January. Actually I hope it is cold in January so the plants don’t all think winter gave up and it’s time to grow!
Enjoy the endless loop 🙂
You still have a lot going on! I wish I could grow hardy mums, but every time I’ve tried, they just become wildlife fodder.
I’m so happy that snowdrop season has already begun, and I hope you won’t forget to keep us updated on their progress frequently in the coming months!
You know I forgot about this request for frequent snowdrop updates. I shall try to get more up except right now they’re all just pictures of snow with drops buried.
Some lovely autumn colour in your garden, and there still is a lot to see even after the frost. That Chrysanthemum is very sweet – there are only a couple of hardy pink ones available around here and I do like pastels… they make me think it is still late summer! Your aromatic aster has done well to keep flowering so long. Enjoy the rest of the autumn delights (i.e. snowdrops!) and have a great week!
Ahhhh, the flowers of autumn. How quickly they become just a memory once the weather changes! I should go out to the frozen chrysanthemums and see if there’s any seed to collect.
I think that’s the prettiest colored mum I’ve ever seen! How nice. And your aster is still really full and lovely.
Thanks Tracy! That mum is such a clear pink and many of my other chrysanthemums are a little “messier” 😉