November Colors

November colors in my back yard.

Many leaves have fallen, but there's still a lot of color in the woods in back of my house: the oaks have reached their peak. Soon my neighbor's farm buildings will become visible through the woods, after the leaves have come down.

On the east side of the house, the Japanese maples are still holding on to most of their leaves, despite heavy hoarfrost on several mornings. I've fenced off my Rhododendron, azaleas, and other young trees for winter protection from the marauding deer. I still have a couple of new plants--last minute purchases on sale--to get in the ground.

East yard in mid-November

The ornamental kale looked particularly lovely with frost on its leaves. So did the bed on the west front by the garage.

 

Morning frost on ornamental kale.

Hoarfrost on the western front.

 

As the temperature begins to drop in earnest, and it becomes less comfortable being outside, it's time to finish my chores and put the garden to sleep. This week I harvested all the romaine lettuce except for two small heads, protected overnight by frost-proof cloth. All of the tender houseplants have been brought inside for the winter.

Plants in the bathroom.

Meanwhile, one of my orchids around the bathtub is blooming once more, along with some African violets. I haven't been able to coax any flowers from the Cattleya mounted above yet, although it seems to be happy there. Perhaps a clip-on light would help?

Now that I'm spending more time indoors, I've been working on new project--a perpetual Nature Journal. Started last month, the idea is to do a few sketches every week on two pages of the journal on year one. Then, on subsequent years, add a few more sketches on those weeks until the journal is all filled up.

 Some weeks I have interesting material to work with on hand, collected from my wanderings; other weeks, I struggle to find something of interest to bring home from my walks around the area. Here are some pages from my journal.

 

The small set of half-pans holding open some of the pages is brand-new set of some very expensive hand-made watercolor paints from Greenleaf and Blueberry, which I've been using on the journal, along with my Faber Castell watercolor pencils and waterbrush. I love this tiny new set--I can carry it in one pocket with the waterbrush and a 5" x 7" sketchpad when I go out on my walks to Blandy Farm or other places nearby, eliminating the need for a tote bag or backpack. Traveling light is essential!

 

Plant material collection.

Sunrise over our neighborhood.

The sunrise on a recent morning was spectacular--the sky was on fire, the mountains veiled in fog. Sailors take warning!

Frosty Morning

Full-moon Japanese maple 'Shirasawanum'.

Japanese maple

Last night the thermometer dipped into the twenties. When I got up in the morning and looked out the window, I saw that Jack Frost had painted a scene of fantastic beauty outside! Looking out over the east side of the house, the tops of the three Japanese maples shimmered in the early morning sun, making such a lovely sight, I couldn't resist going out to record it with my camera before it all vanished!

The hoarfrost had outlined every leaf and blade of grass, turning each tree and shrub into a work of art: the Japanese maples, the hollies, the grasses, even the mulch!

 

Berry Poppins hollies.

Japanese maple 'Bloodgood'

Going into the back yard, in the Little Indians bed, the 'Bartzella' peony and the purple Chrysanthemums, with the catmint behind, created a beautiful array of subdued colors and shapes.

Peony 'Bartzella' with mums.

Dried flowerheads of Swamp sunflowers.

Even the seedheads of the Swamp sunflowers were artistic, outlined with ice crystals. The Bottlebrush Buckeye tree with its yellowing leaves was a wondrous sight, as was the Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' with its small purple berry clusters.

Bottlebrush Buckeye

Beautyberry shrub

 

The just-planted lamb's ear's furry leaves were heavily coated with ice. The Fothergilla's leaves, just starting to turn, next to the frozen aromatic asters, were another study in subtle shades.

 

Lamb's ears leaves.

Fothergilla with aromatic asters in front.

Walking around toward the west side of the house, the berries of Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy' looked like they might be special seasonal decorations. The Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost' and even the fallen leaves on the grass were gorgeous!

 

Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy'

Fallen leaves

Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost'

In the front yard, the dainty leaves of the 'Princess' holly looked like another classic winter decoration. The sprigs of red barberry 'Admiral,' next to the gray-blue foliage of lavender, another work of art! I could go on, but I'm repeating myself, so I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

'Princess' holly

Barberry 'Admiral'

Diervilla 'Kodiak Black' and oat grass.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and Itea 'Little Henry'

Before the First Frost

Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy' with witchhazel.

The back yard from the west side.

 

On Halloween day the fall foliage was at its most colorful. We haven't had our first frost yet, though it's announced for tonight, so I took the opportunity to take these photos of my garden just before the plants get cut back by the frost. We've had a few storms with a lot of wind lately--the most recent casualty was the iron hoop arbor that held up the honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler,' which blew down.

 

Fallen arbor with 'Major Wheeler' honeysuckle

The structure had been weakened earlier; I noticed that the vine's expanding trunk had pulled out one of the bolts during the early summer, and the storm that brought down our old oak bent it further. The storm last week was the final straw. It's such a tangle, I'll have to prune back most of the honeysuckle vine to remove the iron armature, and then figure out some way of propping up the vine to let it grow once again. This is one of the hummingbird's favorites, so I hope the drastic pruning won't affect next year's blooms.

Viburnum 'Brandywine'

 

Both of my cultivar Viburnums have showy berries and fall foliage: the berries of 'Brandywine' have changed from the soft pink of early fall to blue-black, as its leaves turn a lovely red-orange. My Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy,' which bloomed for the first time this year, is covered with red berries. I wonder what color the foliage will be when it starts to turn?

White lilac blooming

The unseasonably warm and wet weather has fooled the white lilac into blooming--I purchased this one as a named cultivar 'Primrose' and it has turned out to be a rather odd white-blooming one, rather than the pale yellow I was supposed to get. I wonder if the unseasonable blooms are part of this plant's mixed genetic make-up or just a fluke?

Salvia 'Windwalker Royal Red'

The perennial red Salvia I planted this past spring didn't start blooming until very late in the year, and is only now reaching its peak of bloom. It's a bit floppy, but what a gorgeous flower color! I should prune it back before blooming time next year, to see if the flowers will stay more upright.

 

Back corner of the yard from Herb's bed.

 

The northeast corner of the back yard is looking very colorful right now, with the Amsonia leaves turning my flower bed gold, to match the hickories and oaks in the woods. The Kousa dogwood is showing beautiful colors too.

Kousa dogwood.

The Front garden, west side.

Of course, this posting wouldn't be complete without this year's jack o'lantern: Happy Halloween!