After the Frost: Brown Eyed Susan Seed Heads

A Summer and Autumn Perennial: Metamorphosis of Cimifuga

I have Cimifuga, also known as bugbane or snakeroot, planted in part shade around a couple of my oak trees in the backyard and next to the fort. I have planted several different cultivars of this six-foot tall perennial so that I can enjoy their large, dramatic blooms from mid-summer to late autumn. In addition to their blooms, it is a great plant to enjoy watching over a period of months, as it changes...

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from green bud...

to white flower...

to green seedhead...

and finally, to dried seedhead.

After the Frost: Star Magnolia in the Walled Garden

Autumn Beauty: the Orange and Yellow Rose Hips of the Hybrid Musk Rose Penelope

Autumn Beauty: Excellenz von Schubert

As a follow-up to my October Bloom Day post on roses, my roses were still blooming well into November. Last month, I somehow left out Excellence von Schubert, so here you go.

Autumn Beauty: the Fern Fronds change color too

The Frost is Coming: It's Time to Cut All the Flowers

Well, it's supposed to get down to twenty-four degrees tonight, so I cut down all those beautiful flowers from Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, only a few days ago. It's sad to see another gardening season end, but at least I had a couple more weeks this year than I had last year.

A Late Season Bouquet in Tyra's Garden

I always take note of particularly inspiring arrangements and Tyra's of papavar seed heads, fig, ivy and more is a beautiful example of a bouquet without blooms. Check it out here:

http://waxholm.blogspot.com/2008/11/gardeners-wrap.html

Rosa virginiana hips

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day November 2008 - More Blooms Than I Ever Expected

Well, I still thankfully have yet to experience my first frost of the season, so my zone 6b garden has more blooms than I would normally expect for this time of year. Given my prior bloom days posts for September featuring dahlias and October featuring roses, I'm going to focus on other blooms--annuals, perennials and one flowering tree--though both dahlias and roses are also continuing to bloom. Check out what is blooming in other bloggers' gardens over at May Dreams Gardens.
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One of my favorite clematis, 'Venusa Violacea' in the Cutting Garden.

Nicotiana in the entrance to the Bird Garden.

Autumn Cherry in the Walled Garden (more pictures and information here).

Petunia in a container in the Bird Garden.

Brown Eyed Susans continue to bloom from August until the frost in the Front Border. As a cut flower, it lasts for over a week in a vase.

Japanese Anemone in the Front Border. The white was so bright it took me several attempts to get this picture.

Self seeding Cleome or Spider Flower are all over the garden. This one is in the Walled Garden.

Mexican Sunflower in the Children's Garden.

Verbena bonariensis in the raised vegetable beds in the Children's Garden.

Globe Thistle on Lilac Hill.

Mexican Bush Sage - Salvia leucantha outside the Children's Garden.

Chrysanthemum on the edge of the Rose Garden.

Nasturtium trailing from a container on the deck.

Petunia in a container on the deck.

Salvia elegans in a large pot on the deck.

Asclepias curassavica--annual Butterfly Weed--at the entrance to the Bird Garden.

Salvia farinacea outside the Bird Garden.

Geranium 'Roxanne' is everywhere in the garden. It's one of the most useful edging plants I know. This one is in the Long Border.

Salvia guaranitica grows in many places. It acts like a screen in the Egg Garden and elsewhere it's a wonderful hummingbird attractant. This one is in the Children's Garden.

Amaranthus 'Hopi Red Dye' self seeds itself in the Cutting Garden.

Zinnia in the Cutting Garden.

Silver Leaf Sunflowers is one of two sunflowers still blooming. The other is Italian White.

"Put the Pruners Down and Step Away": Autumn is not the Time to be Pruning your Roses and Hydrangeas

As a relatively new blogger, I'm still learning about all of the different blogging tools available. On Google Analytics, I've just figured out how to look at the keywords and web pages that visitors to my blog have been searching and reading.
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Much to my surprise, I've recently attracted a lot of traffic to my prior posts on pruning roses and hydrangeas. My advice? Wait until late winter/early spring. I do absolutely no pruning of hydrangeas at this time of year and the only pruning of roses that I do is either of completely dead wood or canes that have grown so tall that they are likely to break in the winter winds and damage the rest of the plant. For more information, click below:
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Hydrangeas: Why and How to Prune
How to Prune Roses, Part I: An Introduction
How to Prune Roses, Part II: Old Rose Pruning Secrets
How to Prune Roses, Part III: Why Prune?

Autumn Beauty: The Last Clematis

Clematis in November? Yes, indeed. I was pleasantly surprised to find this beauty peaking through the oak leaves on an azalea in the Front Border. On an unrelated note, the last two nights were both supposed to dip below freezing but we've been spared for at least a few more days.