Last gasp in the Garden

It has always been my aim to have a garden where interesting things are happening all year. Still, I didn't really expect to have so much colour when the garden is little more than just one year old.
Early in November, the shapely Corylopsis that came from the garden of old friends, Audrey and Robert, turned golden.

 

In front of it the flowers of Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Fire Dance' floated like tufts of bright pink chenille.

Across the way, the dying leaves of Hosta 'Krossa Regal' glowed a deeper gold beside 'Stormy Seas', my all-time favourite of the plum-coloured heucheras.

In the same area Cyclamen hederifolium has sprouted delicate little pink blooms on slender stems above its beautifully marbled leaves.

 

My two Scotch Briar roses are still in pots as we haven't yet prepared the ground for them, but their fall colour is stunning against the green of a clump of thyme.

Equally bright in the front garden is Enkianthus perulatus. It has grown considerably since I photographed it, newly planted, last year.

A close-up view shows the subtle variation in the leaves.

As a contrast we now have a Japanese maple in a large pot. The white string temporarily attached to a couple of branches is to persuade it to a more interesting shape.

Hydrangea 'Beni-gaku' continues to impress me with its deepening leaf colour.

And there are still a few flowers determined to keep opening, such as these rain-soaked, fragile blooms of rose 'Darlow's Enigma'

Note: By the middle of the month, all the leaves had fallen; only the cyclamen were undaunted by several days of cold, sleet and light snow.