In A Vase On Monday – Autumn Colors

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Eliza Waters

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Even though there have been two frost warnings, we’ve only had lows in the the upper 30sF (3C). With the days continuing to be mild, the annuals are still blossoming.IMG_7851

For this week, I picked pale-orange, red-orange and pumpkin-colored nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) with their distinctive round leaves, some varieties plain green while others are variegated. I collect seeds from varieties I like, dry and store them to sow the following spring.

Bright yellow zinnias (Z. ‘Profusion’), stems of Asian bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) berries and a few black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. ‘sullivantii Goldsturm’) seed heads complete the arrangement. As I stated last week, to keep the invasive bittersweet from spreading, it will not go in the compost, but the trash. It may be beautiful, but it is a monster, impossible to control!IMG_7853

IMG_7852My sister is up from SC for the holiday weekend and she brought me this beautiful piece of Blenko handmade glass as an early birthday gift. I couldn’t wait to use it for my weekly In a Vase on Monday arrangement. It is a lovely pumpkin color, perfect for autumn. Thank you, Sister!

IMG_7850Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In the Garden,  who hosts a weekly meme to showcase what is blooming in our gardens by creating arrangements to enjoy inside our homes. Wander over to see what gardeners all over the world are arranging this week. Feel free to join in, sharing your own weekly vase with a link to Cathy’s blog.

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Silent Sunday

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Eliza Waters

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Looking Good October 9

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Eliza Waters

IMG_7754I’m joining Gillian at Country Garden UK in her weekly meme Looking Good. She asks us to showcase highlights in our garden each week and link back to her site. Pop on over to see what’s special in gardener’s plots around the globe.

As you see above, my maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is looking especially good against the backdrop of red maple (Acer rubrum). This specimen is probably twenty years old and is huge, approximately 15′ wide by 10′ tall. Its silvery fronds are magnificent, waving in the sunlight and even more so in the moonlight.

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New England asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) are looking great, the bees happily attend them. I have light pink, dark pink and deep purple. In the first photo, in the background you can see white garden phlox (P. paniculata), which is still blooming.

IMG_7726In the small, hot, dry bed next to the front steps, late-blooming sedums are looking lovely. Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ in lime-green looks great next to the gray-green and pink of October Daphne (Sedum seboldii aka Hylotelephium sieboldii). A few hens and chicks (Sempervivum) with purple highlights are in the lower right foreground.  In the background right is cranberry-colored Sedum ‘Autumn Joy.’ Berries of cotoneaster (C. dammeri) are in the upper lefthand corner.

IMG_7753A surprise in the front bed is this lettuce leaf poppy (Papaver somniferum) that self-sowed very late and is now budding up (they usually bloom in July). I’m crossing my fingers that it blooms before frost gets it. I love the mauve-colored blooms against the gray-green leaves. This bed is made within raised stonewalls, so perhaps it will retain enough heat to help elevate the temperature.

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Nasturtiums and calendula provide lots of bright yellow and orange blooms while the under-rated red foliage of sundrops (Oenothera fruiticosa) adds more color to the perennial garden.

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Fall is advancing, but I’m still enjoying so many things in the garden and hope for several more weeks of color before nature puts an end to the 2015 season.

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Wordless Wednesday

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Eliza Waters

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WPC – Boundaries

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Eliza Waters
copyright Eliza Waters

copyright Eliza Waters

The Boundary between Here and the Hereafter

WordPress Photography Challenge: Boundaries

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In A Vase On Monday – Autumn Leaves

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Eliza Waters

IMG_7665For this week’s vase, I’ve used flat umbels of sedum (S. ‘Autumn Joy’), which have IMG_7666deepened to a rich burgundy with the cooler weather. The vibrant leaves of red maple (Acer rubrum) and the gray-green of sage (Salvia officinalis) provide compliment and contrast.

IMG_7672Maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) flowers have a reddish tinge that goes well with the sedum and I love the drama they add to the arrangement.

I tucked in a few stems of unopened Asian bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) as accent. The hard golden shells will crack open in a few days to reveal the orange berry inside. As this is an invasive species, when this arrangement fades, these will go in the trash and not in the compost. Asian bittersweet vine smothers all plants in its path and I try to remove as much of it as I can on my property, but it is a Sisyphean task.

IMG_7667IMG_7673The black, Ming-style glass vase creates a solid anchor.

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In the Garden,  who hosts a weekly meme to showcase what is blooming in our gardens by creating arrangements to enjoy inside our homes. Wander over to see what gardeners all over the world are arranging this week. Feel free to join in, sharing your own weekly vase with a link to Cathy’s blog.

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Silent Sunday

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Eliza Waters

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Looking Good October 2

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Eliza Waters
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New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) after the rain

I’m joining Gillian at Country Garden UK in her weekly meme Looking Good. She asks us to showcase highlights in our garden each week and link back to her site. Pop on over to see what’s special in gardener’s plots around the globe.

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Gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides)

After an unusually mild September, leaves are starting to turn in earnest with the advent of cooler weather. Gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides) really shines at this time of year. I love the contrasting colors of green ribs with red-orange margins.

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Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)

Two years ago we planted a native sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) in our backyard to replace our Baldwin apple tree that succumbed to fireblight. As it is close to the house, for the past 25 years we’ve hung our bird feeders on the Baldwin every winter (robins and waxwings would eat the frozen apples, sometimes becoming a bit tipsy from the fermented fruit) and it’s still favored as a perch by hummingbirds in summer. I refuse to cut it down until its replacement is big enough to handle bird feeders, so it might be a while! Folks may think I’m nuts to leave a dead tree in plain sight, but I say, “This tree is for the birds!”  or “It is a lichen-encrusted sculpture.” In the meantime, the sourwood’s fall foliage is gorgeous.

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Peony foliage (Paeonia lactiflora)

Also of note this week, the peony foliage is turning purplish-burgundy. It seems not too long ago that they were blooming and I was filling vases with their sumptuous blossoms. Where does the time go?

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Butterflyweed pods (Asclepias tuberosa)

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Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolum)

Pods of butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) are tinged with burgundy, but as yet show no sign of opening. I want to sow the seeds into the field before the wind carries them away. Asters, visited by pollinators, continue to dazzle all around the property.

Annual nasturtiums, calendulas and zinnias are still going strong, but I expect they will get sluggish now that the temperatures are in the 40s and 50s F (4-10 C). Amazingly, long-range forecasts show no sign of frost. When I was younger, the first frost date used to be in late September. Last year, it was October 22. Who knows what’ll it be this year? I’ll just plan on enjoying the garden as long as I can.

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Nasturtium

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Zinnia ‘Yellow Profusion’ with Silvermound Artemisia

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Zinnia ‘Salmon Profusion’ and Fountain Grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides)

 

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WPC – Change

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Eliza Waters

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
― Lao Tzu

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“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” – Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

WordPress Photography Challenge: Change

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Wordless Wednesday

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Eliza Waters

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