Friday, October 11, 2019

What looks good now...

If you've read this blog for any length of time you know this is always a hard time of the year for me, I love summer and I hate to see it end. Sure autumn has its own beauty, but winter follows and that's just to awful to think about. Awful.

Okay enough of that. I went out to document what was looking good in the garden right now, you know, be in the present and don't worry about winter. As it turns out there's quite a bit to love. As the Amsonia hubrichtii begins to color up this combination is extra fabulous...

The golden leaves on the Poncirus trifoliata (aka Citrus trifoliata) are glowing!

As is the fruit now that it's ripening.

Moving the Agave 'Mateo' into this pot in the front garden was a great idea, it's really responded well; lots of new growth and a more pronounced stripe. Now let's just hope it doesn't mind winter. I've got a small one in the ground in the back yard that's always been fine.

Cordyline 'Electric Flash' did fine last winter, but of course I planted it knowing it wasn't fully hardy here. We shall see...

Agave parryi 'Notorious RBG' (my name for a NOID purchased at the Ruth Bancroft garden) and a coloring up Sedum ternatum 'Larinem Park’.

Sedum palmeri is also starting to color up (we've had a few nights in the 30's, lowest low of 33).

This spring I planted quite a few mangaves out in the garden. Here's Mangave 'Bad Hair Day'...it's in a pretty protected spot and is theoretically good to Zone 7.

Lavandula allardii 'Meerlo' looks good, even with only a couple waterings over the summer months. So does an Agave 'Silver Surfer' that refuses to grow AT ALL.

Erica arborea var. alpina with its bright green new growth on the tips.

I think I shared a photo of this holding tank—which is usually planted with veggies or floral stems to cut—earlier in the year. It's amazing how much everything has exploded in size. I'm going to have to don my chainmaille to get in there and break things up before really cold weather hits.

Schefflera brevipedunculata

Schefflera brevipedunculata backed by Schefflera delavayi and Metapanax delavayi, with a Clematis tibetana var. vernayi running through it all.

The Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) that hitch-hiked into my garden with a plant from my Spokane garden is coloring up nicely.

Sometimes I have no idea where it's gotten to in a season until the foliage starts to turn.

Looking forward to seeing these spiderweb sempervivum expand (newly planted a few weeks ago).

I really need to come up with a suitable protection strategy for the five huge Echium wildpretii around the garden.

I didn't realize Lonicera (Lonicera × brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet') produced berries.

Adiantum venustum keeps on looking good even when the plants around it start to melt.

The leaves on the Cyclamen hederifolium I wrote about earlier in the week are mostly all facing upwards now.

The shade pavilion greenhouse is up and ready to be filled with plants. If all goes according to plan, that's what I will be working on shortly after this post goes live.

I still haven't managed to find a spot in the ground for my Sinopanax formosanus, it's still in a container. I need to make that a goal for 2020.

The fern bowl I put together over the summer is still looking great.

Such wonderful plants.

Sonchus canariensis goes dormant in the heat of the summer. It's looking good now though.

Another of the mangaves I put in the ground, Mangave "Femme Fatale'.

Mangave 'Frosted Elegance'

A whoe patch of things that I'll be watching if winter gets crazy, as some people are saying it may...

The combo of Echium wildpretii and Symphytum × uplandicum 'Axminster Gold' puts an end to this post...

Weather Diary, Oct 10: Hi 62, Low 33/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

19 comments:

  1. Can you use that yellow fruit like a lemon? (My lemon sometimes has yellow leaves, too. Joke.) Virginia creeper is the first to turn color down here as well, but it doesn't hold its leaves while Boston ivy does.

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    1. The fruit is not something you want to eat. I tried it once, just to see. It has a less than pleasant flavor and coats your teeth in a gross way. People use it for marmalade, I use them in a bowl to scent the house.

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  2. I had a gorgeous wildpretti rosette going all summer that collapsed in September, a common occurrence. And I rarely see them around town so I'm guessing they like things a little cooler but obvs. not too cold! Worth growing if only for a half year of the rosette tho. My Mateo is getting increasingly shaded under Grevillea 'Moonlight' but I don't dare move it because it's at a fabulous size now -- the pups seem to take forever to make size. Yours looks really happy in its new home. I picked up a Sonchus palmensis over the summer that is likewise loving fall weather. Good luck with filling the SP

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    1. I lost a couple Echium wildpretii mid-summer, I had no idea it was a thing. Shade was the issue with my 'Mateo' in its old spot, thankfully in a container so it was easy to move. I can't imagine digging one.

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  3. It will be such a shame if at least one of those Echiums doesn't make it through the winter to flower next year. Your garden does indeed still have a lot that looks good. I'm considering planting a Virginia creeper somewhere in my back garden, but I'm a little bit afraid of how rampant its growth might be.

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    1. Alison, my 2¢ worth on Virginia Creeper: It volunteers wild and well (and seeds readily, as you say) here in 8b Texas, but have found the seedlings super easy to pull up for me, an old gardener with limited physical resources. Not a thug in this garden. The one or two vines I've left to grow are easy to snip to size & shape. I have one growing over a stump in the shade garden, good hiding place for chameleon babies. Am letting one take an arbor. Good food source for birds and more absolutely no-care options in my gardening life needed now!

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    2. I tear/cut out the Vc vines every year so it has to start from scratch. I love it but can't afford to let it take over. Of course in doing this I am creating one hell of a strong root system...

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  4. Lovely things happening in your garden, Loree. Love the combo of Amsonia and Agave.
    I feel the same way about the end of the garden season. I'm trying NOT to acknowledge that come Dec. my world will be FROZEN for at least four months (and that is optimistic). I need to plan at least one escape this winter to reconnect with a warmer place and feel the warmth of the sun. Arizona perhaps?

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  5. Mini poly house and incandescent Christmas lights for the Echiums?

    Such pretty Agaves!

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    1. Unfortunately that would mean extension cords strung to and fro. Someone needs to invent little battery operated (rechargeable) plant heaters.

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  6. You have a wonderful mix of foliage colors and textures< Loree. You've got me thinking I should plant Echium wildpretii for the foliage alone. I love the combination of the variegated lavender and the agave too. Your autumn garden looks great but facing the process of moving a zillion plants into your winter greenhouse, pretty as it is, would get me down too. Best wishes with the transition.

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    1. Thanks Kris, and definitely plant a few E. wildpretii!

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  7. One of the benefits of your garden style (and the PNW weather) is how great your garden still looks in Oct. I love my fall garden but it is much more of a descent-into-winter look with golden grasses and autumnal color developing.

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    1. Keep in mind I only focused on the good stuff. There's plenty of ugh out there too.

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  8. Looking great, Loree. Your "over the top" photos are really effective and instructive. Interestingly, my Virginia Creeper and Amsonia hubrichtii were still green today--I'm sure they'll color up (if they don't turn to mush) after tonight's freeze.

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    1. It took me awhile to understand what you meant by "over the top"! And I hope you do get some color before mush.

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  9. I noticed your weather diary low temp was already 33f ... all of the Mangaves you highlighted look good so far. I suppose when u are a plant cell there's a big difference between below freezing and just above freezing :) Looking forward to hearing how the Mangaves you leave outside
    overwinter. btw - never seen Mangave "Femme Fatale" - like it - looks tropical to my eyes.

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  10. I've looked at this post two or three times and each time am so overwhelmed with all the wonderful plants and combinations that I don't leave a comment. What an eye you have for planting and photography.

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