Now that fall is moving towards winter, it is time to think about summer

I love that line "Now that fall is moving towards winter, it is time to think about summer" so much that I had to enshrine it here, as a post title. After all I am always ready to think about summer!

So where did I hear it? I read it in an email from Far Reaches Farm. Here's the rest of the story... "And where better to go for summer in January than south-central Argentina and Chile. This is a heads up that our affiliate nonprofit Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy has a bit of room left on their small-group botanical tour of the remarkable plants of Argentina and Chile, beginning January 10 with 14 day and 18 day options." (more info here) What a trip that would be!

Okay, on to the post, which is a look at several random things around the garden, starting with this Parthenocissus henryana I'd planned to train around the metal circle, instead it’s decided to mimic the shape all on its own.

In case you think they naturally grow like that, here's another just a few feet away.

I took these photos back at the end of September, before there was any chance of fall color on the leaves.

Back then the bromeliad bowls were still out! (now they're in the basement garden)

By the end of October the Parthenocissus henryana were coloring up rather nicely...

I didn't feel like making pesto when I cut back and dug out my basil, but I didn't want to just toss it either—so I decided to dry it. Who knew this rusty old stand for fireplace tools (picked up for a few bucks, because I was sure it had potential) would be perfect for that?

The Passiflora lutea growing up my tallest palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) is turning golden. Soon the leaves will start to drop.

The rodgersia are also yellowing.

Aesculus hippocastanum 'Laciniata' (cutleaf horse chestnut) too.

As I shared on Instagram, the first dozen, three dozen—maybe even the first hundred—of my neighbor’s maple leaves that fall in my garden are so pretty. That color! I love them. The next several thousand… nope, I’m over it. So many leaves!!!

There's the big beautiful offender, just over the fence.

Since the bromeliad trashcan lid planters went into the basement garden for the season, I capped the pedestals and I'm enjoying these terracotta bowl planters there.

Pteris vittata

Bergenia ciliata

Ciliate = bearing a fringe of hairs along the margin (although in this case they're also on the top of the leaves)

The Syneilesis aconitifolia turn such a lovely buttery color.

I couldn't resist treating them like flowers in vase.

Perhaps I need to cut a couple of Tetrapanax papyrifer leaves too.

For years I've built a winter rain-cover for this large Agave ovatifolia in a container using PVC pipe and a frosted shower curtain. There's no denying it was ugly. I was considering not covering it at all this year, after all it's gotten so large water can't even get into the container any longer. In the end I decided to try building a cover from the double wall polycarbonate panels we had on hand, I really like how it turned out! (the smaller cover is because even though I tried to fix drainage issues with that container I'm not sure I was successful, so just in case)...

We had a couple of intense rain events shortly after I built the structure and it kept the agave dry. However last weekend's crazy rain pushed me to add another panel. There's a fourth I can put on the open end to the westside if I want to give it even more protection. 

I'm hoping to overwinter these Colocasia Pharaoh's Mask and moved them to a different spot in the garden, waiting for the walls to go up on the Shade Pavilion Greenhouse. That's when I discovered I'd been doing it all wrong!

I need to place them somewhere they get backlighting.

Next year! (if I am successful in overwintering)

Rhododendron 'Ebony Pearl'

I took this video when I noticed the cute little mushrooms growing on my pyrrosia planter...

In the front garden the neighbor's dogwood leaves are starting to cover everything...

And getting caught on the spikes.

Loropetalum chinense Jazz Hands

Corokia cotoneaster fruit

I love it when I manage to catch the autumn color on both the Citrus trifoliata (left) and the Fothergilla gardenii 'Blue Mist' (right), of course the real stars of this scene are the pair of Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue'.

Perfection!

The Citrus trifoliata.

Amsonia hubrichtii...

I'll end this post with a link to a story that appeared on the blog Gardenista. The subject is cramscaping and the author interviewed me, after all the topic is near and dear to my gardening heart. Check it out here: The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Cramscaping’? (And Why Is this Trend Here to Stay?). 

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