November doldrums

We were away for all of October, travelling in Indonesia (see my travel blog), and returned to find the garden preparing itself for winter.

With the exception of a few blue spires of monkshood (Aconitum carmichaelii 'Arendsii'), foliage colours of green, russet, gold and silver dominate the backyard.

A new acquisition this year, Cotinus 'Young Lady', a compact form of smokebush, is among the clearest golds, with dark red slowly seeping out between the veins.

Similar colouring infuses a native currant in a corner of the vegetable garden, although more of it has already deepened to red.

In front of the house, Disanthus cercidifolius, which looked so vibrant at the end of September...

...is now a scrawl of bare branches above the dying foliage around its base.

Not all is in decline however. This is the moment for Mahonia 'Winter Sun' to shine. Its buds are already bursting with the promise of winter flowers that will lure Anna's hummingbirds to join the juncos and chickadees who are enlivening the garden every day as they hunt for bugs and seeds among the debris.

November doldrums

We were away for all of October, travelling in Indonesia (see my travel blog), and returned to find the garden preparing itself for winter.

With the exception of a few blue spires of monkshood (Aconitum carmichaelii 'Arendsii'), foliage colours of green, russet, gold and silver dominate the backyard.
A new acquisition this year, Cotinus 'Young Lady', a compact form of smokebush, is among the clearest golds, with dark red slowly seeping out between the veins.

Similar colouring infuses a native currant in a corner of the vegetable garden, although more of it has already deepened to red.

In front of the house, Disanthus cercidifolius, which looked so vibrant at the end of September...

...is now a scrawl of bare branches above the dying foliage around its base.

Not all is in decline however. This is the moment for Mahonia 'Winter Sun' to shine. Its buds are already bursting with the promise of winter flowers that will lure Anna's hummingbirds to join the juncos and chickadees who are enlivening the garden every day as they hunt for bugs and seeds among the debris.

Clematis seedheads

By October the garden is in decline. Even so, there are some bright sparks if you look closely, and sparks is a good way to describe the spiralling seedheads of my various clematis. I have quite a few of these as it's hard not to like a vine that flowers so generously and then offers a wholly different aspect in fall.

'Gravetye Beauty' flowers late, so its last crimson blooms glow alongside bright green seedheads that remind me a little of kitchen pot scrubbers.

'Willy', on the other hand, flowered in late spring and has taken all summer to manufacture these feathery tufts, accented here by a green fly that I didn't notice at the time.

'Huldine' produces small explosions of gold, tipped with chocolate.

C.ochroleuca, a miniature sprawler, has a spidery look.

And C. recta, which I've pictured in previous years with cobalt blue seeds, this year has begun with pale yellow ones, each with a squirrel tail of pure white

Clematis seedheads

By October the garden is in decline. Even so, there are some bright sparks if you look closely, and sparks is a good way to describe the spiralling seedheads of my various clematis. I have quite a few of these as it's hard not to like a vine that flowers so generously and then offers a wholly different aspect in fall.
'Gravetye Beauty' flowers late, so its last crimson blooms glow alongside bright green seedheads that remind me a little of kitchen pot scrubbers.

'Willy', on the other hand, flowered in late spring and has taken all summer to manufacture these feathery tufts, accented here by a green fly that I didn't notice at the time.

'Huldine' produces small explosions of gold, tipped with chocolate.

C.ochroleuca, a miniature sprawler, has a spidery look.

And C. recta, which I've pictured in previous years with cobalt blue seeds, this year has begun with pale yellow ones, each with a squirrel tail of pure white