What's Bloomin' - December '10

After a few hard freezes, dormancy is settling into my garden, but for this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, I did manage to find a few photo worthy blooms.

Japanese Aralia 
(Fatsia japonica)

These interesting white puffballs really stand out against the large glossy evergreen foliage.

Even though the Monarchs are mostly likely tucked away in the trees of Mexico by now, the Mexican Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) continues to bloom in my garden.

It is setting seed pods now, so hopefully I'll have some free plants next year :-)

And the ever-blooming Knock Out Rose  

(Rosa 'Radrazz')  

just keeps on blooming its head off in the middle of December. 

The 'Elsa Spath' Clematis has not gotten the memo that it is December, so it just keeps on blooming, too.

I have never seen it bloom beyond October before, so this is a winter treat.

'Diamond Frost' Euphorbia just will not quit!   

This is an annual that I add to containers.  It pairs nicely with either Pentas or Impatiens.

So far it has not been fazed by the freezes we've had this month.

Fried green tomatoes, anyone?

And lastly, yes, I know these don't look like blooms, but they used to be :-)   

I had a nice crop of fall tomatoes, but unfortunately I got them planted a few weeks too late, so the fruit did not have time to ripen.   I covered the plants a few times with frost cloth when the temps got down to 31 or 32, but this week it dipped down into the upper 20s.   I didn't want to take the chance of losing the fruit, so I went ahead and picked the tomatoes.  They should ripen slowly over the next month or two.

For some interesting advice on what to do with your green tomotoes, click here

Even though the blooms are starting to slow down in my garden, there is still plenty of color to enjoy.  

Tune in tomorrow for my Foliage Follow-up !

If you're under a blanket of snow right now
and you need a bloom fix about now, 

check out the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day 

hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

 Until next time...

Toni :-)

Scans of Autumn

 I couldn't let all of those gorgeous autumn leaves just fall to the ground without first falling on my scanner!

For a list of all of the maples represented in this scan, click here.

'Orange Dream,' Suminagashi,' 'Bloodgood,' and 'Orange Dream.'

Getting a little more creative here ...

'Viridis,' 'Orange Dream,' and 'Suminagasihi' (left)

Virginia sweetspire, 'Little Henry,' 'Bloodgood,' and 'Orange Dream' (right) 

A "starburst" of maples

'Viridis' and 'Sango Kaku'

'Sango Kaku'

Coral Bark Maple

Chinese Pistache

Pistacia chinensis

'Viridis'

'Fire Dragon' Shantung Maple

To see previous scans of my garden, click here

If you'd like to learn more about this fun technique 

to "photograph" your garden, click here

And with that, I must bid...

adieu to autumn and farewell to fall

For it is time to say... 

welcome to winter

Until next time...

Stay warm and happy dreams of spring!

Toni :-)

Autumn in December - Marvelous Maples

Although some parts of the world have met 

Old Man Winter head on, 

here in North Central Texas we are still relishing 

the colors of autumn.

Here are some photos of the Japanese Maples in my garden
in all their autumn glory.

'Orangeola,' 'Fireglow,' and 'Sango Kaku' 
 

'Sango Kaku' is a coral bark maple.  

A little sun and cooler temps turn the bark a striking red color in the winter 

giving year-round interest to this maple.

'Bloodgood'

'Bloodgood' tends to "green out" a little in the summer, but brilliant red spring and fall color never disappoints.

'Viridis'

'Inaba Shidare'

 

'Viridis' has varying shades of yellow, red, and orange.

   

'Orange Dream'

'Viridis'

'Inaba Shidare'

'Orange Dream' should be renamed "Lime Dream" 
in the spring when its new leaves emerge a bright 
lime green color.

'Suminagashi'

Green barked branches and trunk support 
the gorgeous red spring and fall color of this maple.

'Fireglow'

This maple holds its deep maroon color throughout the summer the best of all of the reds in my garden.

'Bloodgood'

'Crimson Queen'

The red/orange fall foliage of 'Fire Dragon' Shantung Maple adds color to the front perennial beds as they are heading into dormancy.

 This maple frames the view out my living room window

 This maple frames the view of a sweet garden cherub

Last week as I stood in my garden 
admiring the fall color and watching the falling leaves,
I was inspired to put my thoughts to rhyme.   

Click here to read my poem :-)

I hope you enjoyed the autumn color...
in my December garden :-)


For a great website about Japanese Maples, 
visit Metro Maples.

Here is a list of all of the maples in my garden...so far.  If all goes well, tomorrow I will be bringing another maple home to add another touch of yellow/orange color.

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum):

Upright Reds:
'Bloodgood'
'Suminagashi'
'Burgundy Lace'
'Fireglow'
'Red Emperor'
'Oshio-Beni'
'Shaina' (dwarf upright) (Spring 2011)


Upright Greens:
'Sango Kaku'
'Orange Dream'
'Mikawa Yatsabusa' (dwarf upright)
'Peaches & Cream' (December 2010)
'Koto No Ito' (December 2013)

Dissectum Reds:
'Crimson Queen' (died - summer 2013)
'Inaba Shidare'
'Orangeola'
'Red Select'
'Tamukeyama' (October 2011)

Dissectum Green:
'Viridis'

To Catch a Falling Leaf

This morning I went in my backyard to snap some pictures of the fall color 

in an effort to preserve this brief moment in time, 

yet never feeling like I could truly capture the beauty of it all in a photo.

I just stood there taking it all in, watching the leaves fall.

It was so peaceful.
  

So I thought I'd try to "catch the falling leaves" in a poem.  

I hope you enjoy it :-)

(Oh, and thanks to Perry Como for the inspiration on the first verse!)

 

 I'd like to catch a falling leaf

and never let it fade away.

And if I caught a falling leaf,

I'd save it for a wintry day :-)

In the quiet of the morning,

I gazed upon the trees

Ablaze with autumn color

Oh, what beauty such as these!

In silence I watched the leaves

fall gently to the ground

Evidence of autumn's presence,

yet there without a sound

I marveled at the colors

in shades of red and yellow

The season's last hurrah

as the garden starts to mellow

Though winter's cold approaches

and autumn soon will go

If only it could linger,

this is brilliant foliage show

There's death and then new life

in the passing of each season

So I'll turn my thoughts to spring,

though my garden may be freezin'!

By Toni @ Signature Gardens 12-3-10 

Until next time... 

I hope you take a moment to catch the beauty of your garden!

Toni :-) 

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day is hosted by Carolyn at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago 

Playing Favorites

Fer of My Little Garden in Japan is hosting a blog carnival this month on Blotanical. 

She has invited garden bloggers to share a little bit about their favorite plant.

My first thought was, oh, that's easy!  
It's Salvia greggii (a/k/a Autumn Sage).  

But the more I thought about it, 

I started to feel sorry for my other perennials.  

 What about 'Henry Duelberg' Salvia with those deep blue blooms that the Monarchs just love?

  

 Or what about my favorite ornamental grass, Miscanthus sinensis 'Adagio'?  

So much bang for the buck!

 And what about all of those 

Japanese maples in beautiful autumn color? 

Or what about -- hey, this list could go on forever!!   

H'm...maybe this is not as easy as I thought it would be.

Though all of my perennials have some redeeming quality

(or I suppose they wouldn't be in my garden at all), 

I must pick one for this post.

So going with my first instinct, the winner is...

Salvia greggii .... 

my favorite perennial -- AMONG MANY!

(I sure hope 'Henry' and 'Adagio' don't hold it against me!)

And what's not to love about it!?  

Salvia greggii ...

• Is a native Texas perennial -- and a very drought-tolerant one!  
• It blooms from March until November.  
• There are no disease or pest issues with it.  
• Hummingbirds love them.   
• They come in lots of colors (red, purple, varying shades of pink, white, coral).  Hot pink just happens to be my favorite color for this salvia.

Salvia greggii and ornamental grasses make great companions.

Salvia greggii with Lindheimer's Muhly grass and Mexican Feathergrass

Salvia greggii with Black Fountain Grass 'Moudry'

Salvia greggii with another fave, 'Adagio'

 And Salvia greggii also pairs nicely with other 

perennials in my garden

Salvia greggii with Mexican Bush Sage, Fall Aster, Russian Sage

Salvia greggii starts blooming early, shown here with Bee Balm, 
Summer Phlox, and our friend  
'Henry Duelberg' Salvia

I also love the gray/green foliage of 'Helen von Stein' Lamb's Ear 

 next to Salvia greggii

Salvia greggii fits the bill in the low-maintenance department, too!   

In mid-February, I cut it down to about 12 inches tall in order to keep it growing strong, full, and compact.   (Without this annual pruning, it can become woody and rangey looking)

  It grows to about 2 1/2 feet tall and 3 feet wide.  

If the blooms slow during the season, I just give it a couple-inch "haircut" 

to encourage another flush of blooms.

All it asks from you is plenty of sun and well-drained soil :-)

If it has one tiny drawback, it is that it is not hardy north of Zone 7, so my apologies to my blogging friends in the north.   But we can't grow those sweet smelling lilacs here in the south, so I guess that makes us even :-)

 If low-maintenance and long-blooming are characteristics you are searching for in a perennial, then I think Salvia greggii might just become one of your favorites, too!

Until next time...

Toni :-)