Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Autumn Greetings!

We've adjusted to the change of season quite nicely, although the bulk of any garden work get's accomplished on the weekends. Our aim every year, is to have the garden to bed by Remembrance Day which is November 11th here in Canada. I will miss the patio furniture, with it's bright orange cushions, and miss the rich red and orange flowers that drew my eye with interest. But for now, it is surprising how many blooms are still around, even a late iris and a few Azalea flowers. They don't seem to know this is not the time of year they should be in bloom.

If you are like me, and struggle to find late autumn interest in your garden here are a few that are doing well.
Perennial Red Bistort, or Persicaria amplexica "Firetail" has always done well for me. It can be invasive in a warmer zone but here in our Nova Scotia garden, it just manages to get through the winter and gives a long show of bloom. Other Persicaria can be real runners so I would advise not all are created equal and the infamous Knotweed is in this family. Firetail has been in bloom for at least two months only now showing a touch of cold weather damage.
Another plant that has really shone this year is an annual, a red salvia from Sweet Valley Herbs, 'Salvia elegans'; they have it listed as Pineapple Sage. It has not slowed down at all and I hope I can overwinter one of these as their webpage states this can be brought in and used as a houseplant.
Also blooming is a good flush of Stella d'Oro daylily, another stalwart in the garden. After it's initial bloom in spring, I pull out the tatty folliage, and new fresh green grows. This can be effectively used as an edging around a bed; I have also seen chives used like that.

Then, there's the autumn show of leaves! Below is the path coming up to the back yard, before stepping through the arbour. We have a small deck off this side of the house which gives a good vantage point for photographing.
These are what I call full season interest plants.  The Viburnum tomentosum 'Shasta' is the wonderful red burgundy at the top of the photo, underplanted with cotoneaster and in the foreground is Pieris 'Valley Valentine' which is covered with the bloom sprays for next year. You might note some branches on the Viburnum are upright. A few years back, during a heavy snowfall, the shrub developed a break in the main stem. It recovered but since then, it tries to revert to a more upright shrub which is not the habit of Shasta. Each spring I survey it closely and trim off any branches that are not in keeping with it's form. Guess I missed a few.

This past weekend we trimmed back what was initially thought to be a small shrub, Acer ginnala, the amur maple. Well it isn't..it is a small tree and so another purchase where I didn't pay enough attention to the growth size. I am sure I am not alone in making mistakes like that.

"So much more light" the garden says! "Thank you."

Hope you are enjoy these Golden Glowing beautiful days of Autumn because sadly, all too soon, they will be gone. Won't use the "S" word just yet ;-) but it's coming soon.

23 comments:

  1. I'm afraid that we have lost two pineapple sage during to separate winters - we also lost our salvia Amistad last year and the cuttings that I tried to overwinter in the cold greenhouse.

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  2. I was most interested to read this Sue. Actually, I am surprised they are doing so well considering our cold nights now. We have some heat in the summerhouse so, hope to overwinter in there. Sorry you lost such lovely plants.

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  3. I think I appreciate the last of the garden blooms as much or more than the spring explosion. These autumn blooms must be savored for there won't be more until late winter/early spring. I hate to put away my patio furniture. I rarely do until Thanksgiving here, which is November 22 this year. We usually have company on Thanksgiving and after that is when I put the garden, furniture and all to bed for winter.

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    1. Lisa, you are so right...I do so appreciate the blooms now, almost as much or more than spring. That Iris, it just made my heart sing seeing it in full bloom...

      We often have snow by Nov. 11th and the temps are really dropping by then, but if the weather would hold, I would keep the furniture out. I can see why you would want to have yours out till Thanksgiving.

      Thanks so much for your comment.

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  4. Brenda your gardens look incredible. I am really enjoying our later fall this year. I worked myself hard this weekend. I have a post ready just need to get the pictures. How long did you guys work on it?

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    1. Erin, will look forward to your blog post. Thank you for your kind words, the garden is still giving a lot of joy and color. We worked mostly on Sunday but when it's enjoyable, who counts the hours ;-)

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  5. It seems we all have lots of colour still in the garden, apart from the wonderful foliage of plants changing colour (favourite is the peony at the moment), and trees in our garden now going golden yellow, there are still flowers. Marigolds, salvia, nigella, nicotiana, snapdragons, lovely fading heads of hydrangea, dahlias. I just visited the garden centre in the village this morning and bought some wallflowers which I must go and plant, even though it is damp and mizzly. However forecasted snow for the weekend, the possibility of wintry showers and temperatures halving... winter draw(er)s on!
    www.hometalesfromanorfolkbroad.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. We don't see wallflowers for sale too much over here but I remember their smell so intensely from visiting a sunken garden in Banbury, England. It wafted up and across the fields..a memorable experience.

      You reminded me about my hydrangea, must cut them for the house. Dried and blue, they are lovely right now, although we had a hard frost last night. Your garden still has lots of flowers by the sound of it.

      Thanks for visiting Maggie, and your kind comment.

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  6. You can just feel that 'S' in the air can't you? Thanks for the glimpse at your fall plants. I'm taking notes here. The amur maple sure is pretty despite the large size.

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    1. Marguerite, thanks for your comment. S can't be far away but today is peaceful and still..calm before the storm perhaps. Yes, the Amur maple is lovely from spring to fall but grew far larger than anticipated.

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  7. As always, gorgeous photos Bren! Love that red salvia/pineapple sage. It seems that a lot of NS/NB gardeners are growing that this year - maybe because of Sweet Valley Herbs? It's stunning though and I can't wait to see how it does for you indoors over the winter.. I need to dig up my geraniums today and bring them indoors as well.. I only have a few, but I love them and don't want to lose them.. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Thanks Niki! Yes, think you are right about that red salvia, being more available this year from Sweet Valley Herbs. I had no idea it would grow so huge and be so full of bloom. The heavy frost touched it, so am removing it this weekend to put inside. Am late putting in my garlic so that planting happens this weekend also. Good luck with your geraniums.

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  9. At this time of year I find that many of the shrubs that were merely backdrop in the summer come into their own, giving colour just when it's most needed. I love the pale pink still visible in the pieris - modest but still making a lovely colour statement!

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    1. Thanks for your comment Pondside. The Pieris is a lovely shrub, a true four season beauty. The backdrops are coming into their own, you are so right.

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  10. I am glad you did not use the "S" word. I am not ready for snow just yet! I have a flowering sage in the garden (not sure of the variety)- after reading through your post, I am wondering if I can bring it in as well. Love the textural mix of shrubs in your autumn foliage shot. I always admired Pieris japonica -even the leaves are pretty enough for me to want one.

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    1. Not ready for snow either. I wonder about your sage also..is is the blue one called Black and Blue? or the red one like mine? I sure would try to overwinter it, nothing to lose.

      I have a friend who comes to trim some of my Pieris as she uses it in competitive flower arrangement. It holds up very well in that regard.

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  11. Beautiful fall pictures Brenda ... Fall is my favorite time of year! The "Firefly" plant is so, so pretty!! I love seeing it along your pretty white fence.
    ~Michele

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    1. Thank you Michele. You have posted some beautiful fall photos on your blog which I loved seeing.

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    2. Thanks Brenda! Our fall season was very different this year. Bright reds early on, followed by much more gold than we normally have! Today "Sandy's" winds are taking down the few leaves we have left!

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  12. Your top picture is just darling, so sweet!

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  13. I love Salvia elegans- never seem to keep it alive very long, however!!

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    1. Well I dug one up GZ, potted it and it is growing well inside. Will it make it through? I am not very good with houseplants ;-) Thanks for your comment.

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