Commentor MaryL:
I was admiring Ema’s garden photos, and generally agree with her that fall foliage has not been spectacular this year, at least not here in Maryland. However, I planted a young oak leaf hydrangea this spring and it is putting on an interesting show, so I thought I would share.
I also have a bunch of flowers that refuse to go to sleep for the season, despite several nights of below freezing temperatures.
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What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
Mustang Bobby
Here in south Florida, the “dry” season got off to a start with 36 hours of soaking rain last weekend that left about 6 inches in some areas. Fortunately I live on top of the remnants of a coral reef and the rain soaked right in. My chili pepper vanda orchid bloomed; the nice thing about living here is that orchids pretty much take care of themselves. Yesterday I had a flock of ibises stop by the yard for lunch, and the vultures roosting in the live oak tree fended off the peacocks.
eclare
Very pretty hydrangea!
JPL
Oak leaf hydrangeas are beautiful.
@Mustang Bobby: When you have time, you should Anne pictures of your orchids again. They are beautiful.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: I was down in the Keys a couple of weeks back but we were on boats most of the time so we didn’t see much of the flora and fauna! Now we’re in the panhandle and there are some colors still.
OzarkHillbilly
Thanx for the pics MaryL, making me feel warm all over.
My own flowers are long gone. So is damned near everything else. The Lenten Roses are an exception, no flowers but they are tough little plants and will remain green all winter long.
I’m in the process of cleaning up the veggie garden. Almost done with that. Also putting the finishing touches inside the greenhouse. Looking forward to having fresh greens all winter long. Going to put some tomatoes and banana peppers in there too. I doubt they will do much as I am going to manage it as more of a cold frame than anything else. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Wanderer
My garden has surrendered to the winter. I look forward to seeing my plants again next spring.
satby
Very nice pictures MaryL! A few of my hardier flowers were hanging on until we had a short run of days that never got above freezing; now they’re done. Yesterday was 55° and sunny, but I worked 😕, so the final garden cleanup is still waiting for me. It’s raining now, but tomorrow and Tuesday will still be a little warmish for November, so I have garden aspirations (I can get the rest of the roses put to bed).
sab
My bouganvillea drpped all bu three oits leaves when I brought it in for the winter. Under the grow light it resproughted leaves, and now it is covered in flowers.
Thanks for the advice ob sav8ng it.
The cats have been “sun”bathing nearby. Is that safe for them?
Gvg
My roses are growing and blooming for the fall but not much else. We are in a lull before real winter. Lots of buds on camellias but they haven’t really started yet. We had a very dry summer and it’s still pretty dry so it hasn’t been a showy year. A couple of new camellias I had planted in the spring died but most survived. My aunt died last spring and I took cuttings from their azaleas and camellias because my cousin lives a long ways away and will be selling the house. My uncle had been a devoted gardener, and my mother and his sister were determined to save mementos from it. Yesterday I potted up the cuttings that took into individual pots to grow bigger for the spring. We will have at least 30 camellias to split among family possibly, about 5 different kinds. Uncle Ronnie also used to propagate multiple copies of a plant he liked on his 1 acre yard. I think he was there at least 40 years.
O. Felix Culpa
Good morning! I finally finished planting my bulbs yesterday. At our previous place, we could only plant daffodils/narcissus, since they were the only bulbs the critters wouldn’t eat. So now I’ve added tulips, scilla, crocus, and lilies to the mix. We’ll see how it goes.
We inherited roses on one side of our garden, which I have never had before. Any winter tips–or just general rose care tips–for them? I don’t really want to invest too much effort in them, but my guilty conscience prompts me to do at least the minimum.
Gvg
@O. Felix Culpa: it really matters where you live. State and zone. My Florida winter prep is all wrong for most of the country. Usually a local rose society has a handout or website link. Possibly state extension agency or if all else fails American Rose society website.
J R in WV
We’ve been on this farm since the late 1970s, but were living in the old Jenny Lind 2up-2down farmhouse at first. Had no running water, no central heat, V little electric running on 4 fuses in a scary old box. I installed hot water baseboard heat with a boiler, put a pump in the dug well (later on had a well drilled, we still use that well)!
The only sign there was a dwelling there now is a big rhododendron bush that was in front of the house back in the day.
We moved up into the tiny hollow where we built a new house in 1994. Wife planted things for years, some did well, others died off. The hellebore aka lenten rose took off, after planting a few here and a few there, now there are hundreds of them, green year ’round and full of blooms from Feb until at least mid summer. Lots of ferns, some native, some not so much. Some hang on all winter, others die back in the fall and are reborn come spring. My favorites are the maidenhair ferns, which are native to the area, but we planted quite a few to have them where we wanted them. Now they pop up everywhere, even in the woods close to the house.
O. Felix Culpa
@Gvg:
Good points. I’m in Albuquerque, zone 7b. I think there’s a rose society here; they should have info on rose basics. Thanks for the suggestion!
mrmoshpotato
Garden: I see your winter. And raise you a middle finger.
oldgold
Here in the Twilight Hardy Zone the State Extension Service’s advice on raising roses can be summed up in two words – Forget it!
Despite this clear and sage advice, I tried to raise these rufescent slices of heaven. Securing at great expense the rare Ro$e of $iberia. A rose so hardy it is said to thrive where winters are so harsh and long the local Amish buy electrical heating blankets and the Baptists only baptize in the last week of July. Alas, like Napoleon’s assault on Moscow, my rose bed dreams were defeated by General Winter.
Waving the the white flag of surrender and determined not to forget the sting of the horse-laughs of my “I told you so“ nayyeebors and to annually have a good cry over my departed thorny aromatic beauties, I planted the rose beds to horseradish.
sab
Eight months a year it is lovely, but northern Ohio outside of the snowbelt is remarkably dismal in winter. Gray and twiggish. More mud than snow. And here we are until at least late March.