Fall colour

It's only the beginning of October, but we've had such wet, cool weather for the last week that it feels like much later in the fall, even though the deciduous trees have only just started to change colour.



A few stalwart plants are continuing to bloom in spite of being soaked. Several stems of Aster 'Little Carlow' ( which isn't little) have snapped and the whole plant is leaning precariously on the adjoining Hydrangea quercifolia 'Sikes Dwarf' (which isn't very dwarf.)However, the combination still manages to look good.

I'd like some more asters, but will be careful to select shorter varieties. Even though I shortened the stems of 'Little Carlow' twice during the summer, it still got too leggy. It's a fabulous colour, though, so worth the trouble of staking.



In the background, Persicaria 'Fire Dance' is still blooming, as it has for weeks now. Interspersed among its blooms are the seedheads of Phlomis russeliana, too dark to see in the photo above.

Actaea 'Brunette' has finished flowering, but it also has attractive drooping caramel-brown seedheads with an added bonus this year of foliage that has unexpectedly gone from dark brown to a rosy pink. Note to self: don't rush to cut it back at summer's end.

There are still a few slightly bedraggled flowers on Rosa 'Darlow's Enigma',

while Clematis rehderiana has leapt from the fence into the pear tree, producing a whole new flush of flowers in both locations. The red hips are on Rosa 'Lykkefund'. I planted these two together, hoping for just this effect.

Unfortunately the cool weather has greatly reduced C. rehderiana's usual heady perfume, but the little bells with their turned-up edges are delightful anyway.

Another great combination, not planned, is that of Penstemon 'Garnet' draping a few remaining flowers over an ornamental clover. I bought the clover for its crimson flowers, never suspecting it would have such dramatic fall foliage.

In the front garden, Nandina 'Plum Passion', one of this year's purchases, is demonstrating why it is so named. I'm hoping it will become more bushy as it settles in.

A late planting of sunflowers in the vegetable garden is fighting against time to open some flowers before the first killing frost.

The flower hanging head downward, whose stalk got pushed over early in its life, was first to bloom, probably thanks to heat reflected from the paving below. I squatted under it to get a close-up.

Fall colour

It's only the beginning of October, but we've had such wet, cool weather for the last week that it feels like much later in the fall, even though the deciduous trees have only just started to change colour.

A few stalwart plants are continuing to bloom in spite of being soaked. Several stems of Aster 'Little Carlow' ( which isn't little) have snapped and the whole plant is leaning precariously on the adjoining Hydrangea quercifolia 'Sikes Dwarf' (which isn't very dwarf.)However, the combination still manages to look good.

I'd like some more asters, but will be careful to select shorter varieties. Even though I shortened the stems of 'Little Carlow' twice during the summer, it still got too leggy. It's a fabulous colour, though, so worth the trouble of staking.

In the background, Persicaria 'Fire Dance' is still blooming, as it has for weeks now. Interspersed among its blooms are the seedheads of Phlomis russeliana, too dark to see in the photo above.

Actaea 'Brunette' has finished flowering, but it also has attractive drooping caramel-brown seedheads with an added bonus this year of foliage that has unexpectedly gone from dark brown to a rosy pink. Note to self: don't rush to cut it back at summer's end.

There are still a few slightly bedraggled flowers on Rosa 'Darlow's Enigma',

while Clematis rehderiana has leapt from the fence into the pear tree, producing a whole new flush of flowers in both locations. The red hips are on Rosa 'Lykkefund'. I planted these two together, hoping for just this effect.

Unfortunately the cool weather has greatly reduced C. rehderiana's usual heady perfume, but the little bells with their turned-up edges are delightful anyway.

Another great combination, not planned, is that of Penstemon 'Garnet' draping a few remaining flowers over an ornamental clover. I bought the clover for its crimson flowers, never suspecting it would have such dramatic fall foliage.

In the front garden, Nandina 'Plum Passion', one of this year's purchases, is demonstrating why it is so named. I'm hoping it will become more bushy as it settles in.

A late planting of sunflowers in the vegetable garden is fighting against time to open some flowers before the first killing frost.

The flower hanging head downward, whose stalk got pushed over early in its life, was first to bloom, probably thanks to heat reflected from the paving below. I squatted under it to get a close-up.

Quirky Stuff

On a visit to Yale, B.C., I liked this attempt to make a plain wooden fence more attractive. Not a real flower in sight on the property, however.

And in my neighbourhood, a gardener who figures that one scare owl is not enough.

There were more owls than my camera could capture in one photo...but no crows. Maybe it works.

Quirky Stuff

On a visit to Yale, B.C., I liked this attempt to make a plain wooden fence more attractive. Not a real flower in sight on the property, however.

And in my neighbourhood, a gardener who figures that one scare owl is not enough.

There were more owls than my camera could capture in one photo...but no crows. Maybe it works.

Let There Be Light

Back in March I wrote about the impact on us of the new house next door, particularly the light lost from Michael's workroom. We have somewhat solved the problem by having a skylight installed. It's called a sun dome and is a silver-lined tube that extends from the roof through the attic space to the ceiling and directs natural light into the room. There's a clear plastic dome on the roof and a diffuser at the ceiling end. It has made quite a difference.

I took this photo on a sunny day. It's not as bright, of course, when the sky is cloudy.

Let There Be Light

Back in March I wrote about the impact on us of the new house next door, particularly the light lost from Michael's workroom. We have somewhat solved the problem by having a skylight installed. It's called a sun dome and is a silver-lined tube that extends from the roof through the attic space to the ceiling and directs natural light into the room. There's a clear plastic dome on the roof and a diffuser at the ceiling end. It has made quite a difference.

I took this photo on a sunny day. It's not as bright, of course, when the sky is cloudy.

Plants still in Pots

After planting Hydrangea serrata 'Waterfall' in the garden last year and watching it sulk, I dug it up and stuck it in a large pot, thinking it might not be everything I had hoped for when I bought it. Perhaps it knew it was under threat, as this summer it has put out some truly pretty flowers. If I can find the right place this time, it's going to be a keeper after all.

 

I also had a rose cutting that spent last year quietly growing in a dim corner and clothing itself in small, neat, immaculate foliage. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember what it was or where I'd got it. This year, it bloomed with exquisite little pink flowers and I recognised it immediately.



It's called 'Immensée' these days, but I knew it as 'Grouse', one of a series of groundcover roses all with English bird names. As far as I know, I had the only plant in BC, which I had planted in the gravel outside the front gate of our former farm. When we drove by the old place a couple of years ago, it was thriving still, and I snitched a cutting so that I could have it again myself. I have no idea where I can put it in the garden, but I think it might do very well trailing from a larger pot, at least for the time being. One of its parents is 'The Fairy', a compact little plant, but the other is a huge rambler. Considering that plus its official name, it might soon overwhelm even a large pot. We'll see.