Before the Snow

Autumn and winter are playing tag in my part of the world lately. We've had cold days and snowy days, followed by rainy, sunny, and relatively mild days. This morning, Mother Nature blanketed the garden with a fresh coat of snow. It will probably melt on the weekend with milder temperatures, but it's pretty while it lasts.

Before the snow, I took a quick tour around the garden yesterday to note the highlights of the late autumn garden.



Most years, the Epimediums ('Rubrum' here) are chewed to the ground by the rabbits this time of year. Rabbit activity, for some reason, is lighter this autumn.



I like the stacking here of the Juniper shrub, Epimedium x warleyense, and the Ajuga groundcover.



Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is a favorite in the garden this time of year with its colorful seed heads.



Moss on rocks and other surfaces keeps the green character going throughout the winter.



The Hellebores retain their umbrella foliage until I trim them in the spring.



I'm trying to get some swaths of Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) going, to spill over the rock wall. I've had limited success (rabbit damage, slow growth, etc.) But this one survives with a little help from caging at the base. I hope it will fill in more in the years to come.



I leave the garden seed heads, including Echinacea, up over the winter for bird food and for insects that might be overwintering in the stems. I think they also add character to the winter garden.



This combo of Coneflowers (E. purpurea) and Blue Mistflowers (Conoclinium coelestinum) is fun.

The 'Ozawa' Allium (A. thunbergii) I profiled in my last post is still holding its color and form.

How is your garden faring as the seasons shift? Soon the days will be consistently cold and snowy, and winter will take hold here. Things are getting festive as we shift toward the holidays...

Secret Places and Simple Pleasures

Recently the dog and I hiked at one of our favorite places. Several things about this location are special, starting with the fact that I wouldn't have known this beautiful place existed if I didn't have a dog. It's a designated dog trail at a Wisconsin state park near my house. When the park's other trails are closed during the cross-country skiing season, this trail remains open to dogs and hikers. While I've hiked at the state park many, many times over the years, I didn't discover this particular path until last winter!

Every time I've visited this trail since January, it has revealed new gems of beauty.



During our recent mid-November hike here, I found myself awed by the mature trees that line the trail.



Ferns, mosses, lichens, and sedges are still evergreen among the carpet of Oak leaves.



A particularly magical patch of the trail is hard to describe in photos and words, but I'll try: It's a little opening, about 3/4 of the way through the path, where the woodland opens into a meadow. My impression is that this section illustrates the movement of the glacier that formed the nearby lake.



On one side of the trail, there's a hill that appears to be a glacial drumlin.



On the other side of the trail, at the woodland opening, there's a beautiful meadow with a view of the lake. One senses how the retreating glacier formed this area.



The light is magical in this meadow--in all seasons, but particularly in spring and autumn and late afternoon, as the oblique light hits the grasses, sedges, wildflowers, and seedheads.



On this recent day at the park, the sky was beautiful, too. Seedheads of asters, goldenrods, and other autumn-blooming plants were sparkling--backlit by the low-hanging sun.

I love this place. I'm thankful I discovered it, and I'm thankful that Nicky and I can walk here just about any day we wish. Simple pleasures are so important during a global pandemic. I hope you all are finding simple pleasures, and I wish for those who celebrate it, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Surprise November Blooms

The November view at my favorite dog park.

It's mid-November and most views in the surrounding landscapes are brown and gray, with spots of green grass red barns here and there. Just imagine the color in this field of native plants during summer and fall. Now most of the grasses and forbs have gone to seed.



But there are a few blooms hanging on here and there in area gardens and in nature. In my garden, the blooms of note include this surprise potted Mum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) from a mixed planter we received earlier in the year. I plopped it into the ground with low expectations, so I was thrilled to see the pretty blooms in early fall. They've lasted through several frosts and freezes now.



Most of the Blue Mistflowers (Conoclinium coelestinum) are gone to seed, but these blooms in a vase on the screened porch still sport that lovely shade of lavender blue. I have to admit the soft, fluffy, "warm" seedheads slay me even more than the flowers.



The 'Autumn Joy' Sedums (Hylotelephium telephium) are transitioning, too. I found this one chewed off by a rabbit, so I plugged it back in among the autumn leaves.

This tiny fighter is Calamintha (C. nepeta). Again, most have gone to seed, but a few stems near the warm house still bloom! Actually, this pollinator favorite blooms from late spring until the very end of the growing season.

What's blooming in your garden? Check out those highlighted for this November Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Pick a Colorado Plant, Any Plant

At every Garden Bloggers Fling, attendees discuss which plant signifies that particular gathering and locale. It's always interesting to hear the ideas. Was it the multicolored Ice Plants (Delosperma spp.) blooming in so many of the gardens?



Or the tiny Hens and Chicks (Sempervivum spp.) and other low-growing succulent plants, which were also prevalent? These were particularly prominent in the many rock and crevice gardens in the Denver area.



The Ninebarks (Physocarpus opulifolius) were blooming: Who can argue with this beauty? But wait; this was one of the plants of the Toronto Fling, right?



The cold-hardy Agaves were happy in several gardens. (Is this A. havardiana?) Well, Agaves were also an Austin Fling plant.



Oh my gosh, the Poppies (Papaver and Eschscholzia spp.)!

















But Poppies are popular everywhere.



Maybe it was the masses of African Daisies (Osteospermum spp.).



Or the Cactuses, like this stunning, bright pink-blooming Beaver-Tail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris).



Personally, I'm always partial to delicate, but tough Astrantias (A. major).



And an all-time favorite that's native only to the Southwest U.S. and Northern Mexico is the shrub Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa). It looks different at various stages and in different lighting.







Apache Plume seedheads resemble those of Prairie Smoke (Geum troflorum); both are in the rose family.



Many people felt that Foxtail Lilies (Eremurus robustus) were the Denver Fling signature plant.



They were quite dramatic--like candelabra glowing over their garden beds.



But perhaps the signature plant of the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling was the Rocky Mountain Penstemon (P. strictus). That color, that form, those "pollinator pockets"!







How does one choose? All the Fling plants were fabulous!