Gardens Eye View

“Walked for half an hour in the garden.  A fine rain was falling, and the landscape was that of autumn.  The sky was hung with various shades of gray, and mists hovered about the distant mountains – a melancholy nature.  The leaves were falling on all sides like the last illusions of youth under the tears of irremediable grief.  A brood of chattering birds were chasing each other through the shrubberies, and playing games among the branches, like a knot of hiding schoolboys.  Every landscape is, as it were, a state of the soul, and whoever penetrates into both is astonished to find how much likeness there is in each detail.”  ~Henri Frederic Amiel

Let me start by saying that life has turned incredibly busy again with work.  There has been no let up, and now I am traveling the next couple of  weeks so if you do not hear from me in a timely manner, I will eventually catch up and comment.  The garden is calm and slowly returning underground to sleep.  I will miss it while it is gone.

November has been cold and dry.  This past weekend we had a warm up with thunder showers prompting the garden to throw out a few blooms not wanting to subside, to let go and feel the peace of surrender.  Most critters are long gone except for a couple of brave frogs and the birds that always linger in the garden to find food and shelter.

I am posting a bit early for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day hosted by Carol@May Dreams Gardens.  And since it is autumn it is a perfect time to highlight more foliage so I am also linking in with Pam@Digging for her Foliage Follow Up on the 16th, and Christina@Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for her Garden Bloggers Foliage Day on the 22nd as I share my fall colors.

I decided to show some of what has been blooming recently and since the last bloom day.  The garden is unpredictable these days and holds many surprises that is until several freezes and then snow finally take it over completely.

 

 This white gaura is a favorite because it bravely blooms in the cool spring and continues into the cold fall even after repeated freezes.  The stems are redder as the cold weather continues, and I love the contrast with the pink and white flowers.

Another flower that keeps flowering through all kinds of weather is this yellow scabiosa.  It just does not give up until several freezes beat it back.  I love these flowers although they will seed freely.

 The gaillardias also just keep going through numerous cold snaps.  These natives take a while to flower in spring, but once they do they never stop.  I have several varieties and each are hardy in both sun and part shade.

 With the golden afternoon sun, these Obedient plants make a stunning display.   Their foliage can also change to a lovely purple color if the temperature is colder.

 With the morning dew clinging to it, this baptisia sparkles.  I love the contrasting black seed pods.   Baptisia is one of my feature plants in the series Simply The Best.

 This sedum is a deep burgundy until fall washes out its color.  What an added bonus to have a rainbow of colors as the plant fades.

 

For those looking for a wonderful native shrub, this is what Summersweet looks like in fall.  The yellow leaves continue to change and become more golden until they fall.  It is also one of my Simply The Best plants.

This reddish burgundy leaf comes from the native Ninebark shrubs in my front yard.  As the deep burgundy color fades out, this amazing red color takes over.

Lastly I wanted to show my Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus.  Isn’t she great.  I planted one pad last year in the fall, and she is already grown to 3 pads in the rocky side of the pond waterfall.  I hope to finally see blooms next spring.

These are some of the last scenes from my fall garden.  The leaves have all left the trees and the rest that cling to the bushes will soon be adding to the heavy layer of leaf mulch in the beds.   As fall continues its march to the winter solstice, I am thinking about the spring garden and making plans.  Before you know it it will be time to plant seeds and watch early bulbs bloom.

“In the evenings I scrape my fingernails clean, hunt through old catalogues for new seed, oil work boots and shears. This garden is no metaphor– more a task that swallows you into itself, earth using, as always, everything it can.” -  Jan Hirshfield, November, Remembering Voltaire

____________________________________________________________________________ Don’t forget that December 1st marks the next installment of Seasonal Celebrations/Garden Lessons Learned.  Click the link to learn more.  Beth@PlantPostings will be wrapping up this past season with lessons we have learned in our gardens, and I will be setting the stage for next season’s celebrations (winter up N and summer down S of the equator).

You do need to be a garden blogger to join in Season Celebrations.  Any blogger is welcome.  Write a poem, post your favorite pictures and prose that tells why you love this season.  What do you love to do in this upcoming season?  What holidays or rituals make it a wonderful season for you?  How does your garden grow and what favorite plants will be blooming?

I hope you will be joining us.  Just create a post and link in with both or one of us between December 1st and the 20th, and around the 21st we will reveal those lessons and celebrations. ____________________________________________________________________________

Next up on the blog:    Next Monday I have another favorite Garden Book to share.  Then at the end of the month, I will share another wonderful native plant.  Before we know it, December will be here heralding another Seasonal Celebrations on December 1st.  I hope you will join me by linking in with a special post.

I hope you will join me for my posts once a month, at Beautiful Wildlife Garden.

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All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2012.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.