Late Walkabout

When it comes to hardy, these Emperor of China chrysanthemums can't be beat.  They don't even get started until it gets cooler in October.  When it gets cold the leaves change to dark red, but the flowers  continue to bloom.  So far the latest flower we have had has been in December! 

At this time of year our focus is on cleaning up another mess in preparation for the next gardening season.  We have found no time for a simple walk in the garden.  Daylight outlasted the chore tasks so we had time for a look around.  This is likely a Cardinal Flower from seed.  There is but a single plant here so new growth near a dying flowering stem is unlikely.  There is also no sign of the remains of a stem.  In the company of violets and clover this might have been seen as just another weed.  Its location in the south west corner inside of the stone square is marked here so that it can be found in the spring.  It is much larger than the plants growing at the base of flowering stems and we would like to try potting it up.

These are newly discovered buds on the Pinxter bush.  We knew that the buds formed in the fall and as luck would have it we found them today.  Last year the deer ate here so timely preventative action was taken today.  Wire cages were placed so that the Pinxters were surrounded by either wire or stone wall.  During this time we found an additional bush growing very near the larger plant.  We have known about this small plant for several years but have resisted trying to move it.  This coming spring perhaps we will try our luck at moving this plant for the third time.

As fall color photos go, this one is somewhat unusual.  The setting sun is lighting up these Goldenrod seed heads in an attractive manner.  Traditional fall colors meet the sky on the edge of the gravel bank hill.  Goldenrod presents a conflict to us.  It is a highly invasive weed that takes and holds ground at the expense of whatever plant grew there in the past.  For that reason it needs to be exterminated.  It is the last plant to flower in our meadows providing nearly the only food source for late appearing Monarch butterflies.  For that reason we must have this plant.  It takes a pry bar and a block of wood to lever out the root mass and some plants are removed in that manner.  Others are left in place to feed the next season's crop of butterflies.

Repeated frosts have caused the trumpet vine to drop its leaves.  Today it was bald enough to reveal the wren nest that we knew must be there.  When the vine was covered with its red trumpets this summer, wren vs. hummingbird activity was wonderful fun to watch.  It seemed like the birds enjoyed their competition.  I fully expect all of them to return next year!

Hardy Mums

Chrysanthemums, and the family member that introduced them to me, have been an enduring force in my need to garden.  At about thirteen years of age, I visited my great grandfather's home in south western Pennsylvania.  Carefully tended fruit trees, flowers and vegetables flourished across his home site.  He gave me a piece of one of his mums to take with me when I returned home.  The fate of that plant cannot be recalled but memories of his gardens are still with me.

This hardy mum is named Mammoth Pink.  Our harsh spring nearly ended this plant but it managed to survive in two places.  Located near the house, reflected winter sunlight and its warmth helped this plant survive.  Early growth was sparse and the plant is low to the ground but it may return again next year.  The other one is planted out in the garden and displayed similar growth.  That patch was huge but only a couple of plants remain alive now.  Bright pink color marks newly opened flowers.  Washed out white and broken petals identify older blossoms.

Clara Curtis grows here with a vigor that reminds one of dandelions.  These two clumps are on the south side of a stone wall and that favorable placement may have helped them survive.  We move these throughout the garden and the plant self seeds.

We have spring purchased small potted mums from Bluestone Perennials for several years.  Their mums are clearly labeled as hardy to zone 5 but we try and try again with mixed success.  At this moment only one of their traditional mums remains alive.  Small and showing only a single bud atop a solitary stem, the plant remains alive.  If the coming winter brings lasting snow cover, it may make a greater appearance next year.  We will order again intending to place the new arrivals in the area in front of the house.

This Emperor of China has been here for years.  In milder weather it spreads widely.  Late to open flowers, it is without question among the last to bloom.  It is possible that the buds must be frosted before they will open.  It too is shorter than usual this year.  We will watch to see if this gardening year ends with these pink blossoms.

It Will Be A Cold Day!

With all this talk about our frosts and freezes you might think that the garden was history.  It's true some of the plants like this butterfly  weed have gone to seed.  Other more tender plants have blackened and died.  But a walk through the garden shows that plants do not give up so easily.

These Debutante Mums have been frosted and even frozen several times and they still look fantastic.  How wonderful it would be if all the hardy mums you read about were as tough as this beauty!

Catchfly is a plant that self seeds abundantly and has to be weeded out in the spring.  It must be the warm days that have it blooming again now.  Of course the hummingbirds that love it so much early in the summer have headed South weeks ago.

This is the first pink bud on the Emperor of China chrysanthemums. This plant gives late blooming a whole new meaning.  Frequently the flowers appear after the cold has changed the leaves to a dark burgundy.  So far the leaves are still green.  It's nice to have these flowers to look for after most of the others have given in to the weather.

 

Perhaps this pink gladiola flower is not a perfect specimen, but it was the most  surprising and exciting flower I found in the garden. It may not be hardy, but it is stubborn. These are not expected to withstand cold weather. Others in the same bed have gone limp and mushy.  A few days have passed since I took these pictures.   Perhaps a day or two later, some of the fragrant gladioli plants sent up flower stalks.  They looked kind of sickly and were kind of pale grey-green.  I cut them and brought them into the warm house.

Here they are today.  I don't know if these flowers will bloom , but their attempt is beautiful.  We are having a few days of warm windy and rainy weather.  Ed is stubborn too.  He stayed out there this morning doing his garden thing in the light rain.  When it seemed like the rain was serious, he put away his tools and came inside.  Later if the rain stops he will likely return  outside.  It will be a cold day when he gives up on the garden!  When the plants have gone dormant, he still has his stones.

Fall Back

It's time for change.  The clock has been turned back.  It seems like the garden gets a new and colder chill every night.  Yesterday just a short time in the afternoon was really comfortable to be in the garden and darkness came quickly.  Only a few flowers are still hanging on.  My pink sedum  looks great and still has a sweet subtle fragrance despite the chill.

Today it was cold.  Ed worked outside through the middle of the day, but I ventured out only to empty the compost, to use the hydrant to wash the garden soil off the potatoes that I wanted to cook for dinner and to take a few pictures.  Even our hardiest flower of them all, my Emperor of China chrysanthemums are starting to droop.

This is a picture of my Frostweed.  I got my seeds from Gail of Clay and Limestone.  I don't know if this is how the plant should look now or not.  I had to shoot the picture through the cage because it was firmly frozen in place.  I would so love to have frost flowers of my own.  Who knows maybe one of these mornings when the sun finally makes an appearance,  I'll have a pleasant surprise out there in the garden cold .

Last Mums

Our local weather forecast calls for overnight low temperatures to drop into the twenties.  We have had light scattered frost several recent mornings but this one could end the flowers.  Emperor of China is the last of our chrysanthemums  to bloom.  We now have more buds than flowers and will see what tomorrow brings.

Debutante has proven to be a genuine stunner.  We are located one zone outside of its comfort zone but this is the second year that it has been with us.  The setting sun brightens the colors in the red end of the spectrum so these flowers look their best now.

White daisy is both the name and a description of this flower.  Look alike flowers are common during the heat of summer.  These bring a connection with the glory that was summer.  The spent blossoms take on a purple hue.  This one is a clear keeper.

Helen Mae shows an unusual combination of pink and orange.  As the flower matures it will become a solid striking pink.  The plant remains rather small in its second year here.  We will excitedly look for signs of new growth when the snows leave.

A bright clear yellow is what we were looking for when we selected this mail order plant.  This Yellow Daisy is all of that.  Here for only one year, sited against a south facing stone wall should increase the chances that this plant will be back.

We have two goals with these plants.  Fall flowers means chrysanthemums and we want them in great number.   Permanent garden residents is what we are looking for.  Next will be a timely loose mulch of stems to help carry these plants to Spring.

It's Dreary But At Least It's Not Snow!

I was all set to moan and groan about our lack of sunshine.   It is true that we have been getting a lot of rainy days.  On days like today when the sun was supposed to shine, the morning fog has been thick hanging there for what seems like forever.  I thought I remembered warm sunny days in the garden at the end of  October.  When I searched through past years' October blog posts, instead of warm sunny days I found posts about snow.  The earliest was on the 16th in 2009, but every year since I started the blog we have had snow in October.  Maybe gray and dreary isn't so bad after all.
 We still have a little fall color in places.  Here a few red blueberry leaves still hang tightly onto their branches.  They have been joined  by  needles falling from a nearby white pine.

There is no doubt the sky is a dreary gray.  The plant you see outlined against the darkened sky is my passion flower vine.  It totally surprised me by still being green.  I thought our first spell of freezing weather would kill this vine like it did the moon flower and the jasmine.  I am pleasantly surprised.  Perhaps it will survive the winter planted so close to Ed's stone wall.

The emperor of China mum leaves are turning bright pink with color to rival the flowers.   I guess October rainy days are not so bad, but I'm still wishing for just a few more sunny days.  Tomorrow would be a great start!

It Ain't Over Till It's Over!

Looking  from a distance, it appears that the garden season is over. I headed out with the camera to look for a few remaining flowers to photograph. This still green vine caught my immediate attention.  Sheltered  by the stone wall, this determined moon flower  clings to life even though it's already way too late for it here.  The frost that has visited here has been light.  The stream of cold that pours downhill across our garden is deflected by the stone wall.  Warmth radiated by the wall has kept these leaves from freezing.  The vine above the wall was frozen dead some weeks ago.

Of the plants that are usually gone by now  many still have one or two flowers  blooming. I chose this photograph of a somewhat less than perfect 'Stardust' chrysanthemum to represent the group. Some of them like the evening scented stock or rose campion have a single flower on plants that have pretty much gone to seed. Meadow sage, dianthus, gloriosa daisies, catchfly, goldenrod, and even a pathetic pink poppy are giving it one more try. I even saw a couple of yellow nasturtiums flowers peeking out of the compost pile where the plants have been already been tossed.

This sedum is normally one of the late bloomers in the garden. This year it has been gorgeous for a long time. These slow moving bumblebees have been on this plant for days. I don't think they even leave to go home at night. Every time I pass by they are there and I take their picture again. If you can find a flower without a bee, and you get your nose really close, you can still enjoy the delicate fragrance of these pink flowers.

This pink Emperor of China chrysanthemum is usually the last plant to flower here. It is really hardy. Even after a frost turns the leaves to burgundy, pink flowers continue to open. With the foliage still green this plant looks like it is just getting started.

But the real surprise are the plants who seem to think it is still summer. Planted this spring and stalled until now, this Jackmani clematis is blooming like the summer is just beginning. It has plenty of buds still ready to open.

This Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' plant is also working on new flowers. The catalog said  " blooms June to October", but I'm still amazed! The freezing night temperatures that we are so accustomed have not happened. Normally a beautiful clear blue sky day is followed by plummeting temperatures . What we have been getting this year is a little sunshine early in the day, followed by clouds and rain or just rain. Instead of a quick frozen death, the garden is slowly ebbing away. It is not what we are accustomed to, but flowers in late October are a nice extra innings bonus!