What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

Beautiful weather here today for the first time in weeks. However I was busy  tidying up in the garden while my wife went for a little sunday stroll.
I had time to take a stroll in the garden though!

The unknown annual Impatiens is still in full flower and so is Lilium poilanei, still a small plant though. The orchid Vanda is flowering now for the second time (inside now!) after spending the summer months in the garden.

Some shrubs like Enkianthus campanulatus and Euonymus elata are draped in full autumn splendour!

Wow Trond!  :o That is quite spectacular! I was checking out all my Cyclamen today too and while most are sending out lots of nice leaves there aren't many flowers.  :(

I especially like the enkianthus picture.  This is an underpraised shrub with good flowers and excellent fall color.

It's extremely rare for us to see both ends of a rainbow "touch the ground".  I think I have experienced it only once.  Amy, I remember saying to myself the last time you showed Rocky Dale Gardens: "what a great place to work!"

Trond, I don't think I would have even tried taking a photo like that one with the cyclamen.  The shadows, I thought, would make it too busy and the subject, lost.  You found just the right time of day for it to work out perfectly!  Or, is that your shadow...?  The leaves are incredible, of the cyclamen, and the maple, etc.  What kind of maple?

Is the Lilium poilanei potted or in the ground?
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After a month of color, Cotinus obavatus is dropping leaves, while Viburnum x 'Juddii' and V. carlesii begins their fall color in the same way the Cotinus did.
       

Trond, you've inspired me to try some sun pictures of Euonymus, and their not so bad...
Euonymus bungeana 'Pink Lady'
       

And I had lots of fruiting branches when I cut down the E. hamiltonianus var. sieboldianus on 12 October, so I made a bouquet for the front door.  This is what it looks like now, being exposed to the sun and elements for eleven days (21 October) - on the right.  The left vase is the bouquet shown earlier, same age, but kept in the garage in mostly dark, and no direct sun.
       

AmyO wrote:

Wow Trond!  :o That is quite spectacular! I was checking out all my Cyclamen today too and while most are sending out lots of nice leaves there aren't many flowers.  :(

Thanks Amy  ;D The white cyclamens were late to emerge but have flowered for a long time now and show no signs of giving up either! They are all from seed.

Spiegel wrote:

I especially like the enkianthus picture.  This is an underpraised shrub with good flowers and excellent fall color.

Thanks Anne, I have 3 or 4 enkianthuses. They are always good doers in fall and have nice flowers in spring!

cohan wrote:

Trond- esp like the Cyclamen in the red leaves :) Looks very mild there still, but then it always is by my standards  ;D
I do like the trees draped in white- snow or frost, it is one of my very favourite tree looks of the year!

Thanks Cohan! Yes it still is quite mild but not unseasonally so. However the weather forecast says colder weather next weekend but no frost yet!

RickR wrote:

Trond, I don't think I would have even tried taking a photo like that one with the cyclamen.  The shadows, I thought, would make it too busy and the subject, lost.  You found just the right time of day for it to work out perfectly!  Or, is that your shadow...?  The leaves are incredible, of the cyclamen, and the maple, etc.  What kind of maple?

Is the Lilium poilanei potted or in the ground?
---------------------------------------
After a month of color, Cotinus obavatus is dropping leaves, while Viburnum x 'Juddii' and V. carlesii begins their fall color in the same way the Cotinus did.
 
Trond, you've inspired me to try some sun pictures of Euonymus, and their not so bad...

Rick, it is not mine, the shadows are of shrubs and trees nearby. The sun is to my right side. The maple is a Japanese one but I don't remember the name.
The lily is in the ground. I will let it stay there too if the weather doesn't turn too bad!

Your pictures aren't bad either, Rick!

Enkianthus spring flower show:

fleurbleue wrote:

Hoy, I would be very glad to receive some  Impatiens seeds  ! :D

In the mail today!

!

What a bright rainbow Mike! Good on you for catching it so well!

It is a double one too!

Some great fall colours!  Sorry I have not been around much...I am spending too much time on the rock garden group on facebook...I don't need to resize my images there so it is so much easier to post.

A few plants blooming/fruiting at work...Allium virgunculae, Gaultheria miquelliana and in our alpine house, Oxalis commutata and Cyclamen graecum (these latter two are not hardy and have to be brought indoors in winter)

Todd Boland: Here's one for you. Primula marginata going all out like its already April!

A couple angles on foliage; Sedum, Peony and Fothergilla -probably 'Mount Airy'
   

Saturday morning: tropical storm breeder sky.

Amy O. we must have caught the same weather system on Oct. 21; lots of great rainbow action!

Thank goodness my P. marginata are all tight overwintering buds at the moment.

My Acer palmatum 'Omure yama' is in peak colour at the moment.

Well Lori, seemingly you have been outside anyway today?
For the first time in weeks I have been inside all the day doing some homework although it didn't start raining before 3PM :-\ Now it is too late, it is pitch-dark.

It seems like every year I watch and wait in anticipation of the fall witchhazel bloom.  And every year I think the flower buds are so small that it will take "forever" for them to open, and all of a sudden - poof! ;D

             
                    Hamamelis virginiana

Rick, which witchhazel is that (fun semantically asking that ;) )

Charles, nice stretch of Allium thunbergii there. Regarding the Aconitum, I had posted an unknown Aconitum species on Facebook that the local garden club members share around here, and it looks just like your plant. After an hour of research, I think it looks like Aconitum carmichaelii 'Arendsii', I'm sure that's it.

Well something ate 3 of the 4 umbels on one of my Allium thunbergii f. album, a rabbit I would suppose.  I guess they are not oniony enough. :D

There is something irresistible about members of the Hamamelidaceae family.  Rabbits seem to search them out.  I had very special seedlings growing from native seed here, and the first night I put them out they were eaten.  Same with a fothergilla plant, too.  Maybe this also goes for Lauraceae, too, as sassafras were promptly eaten also.

That's a Hamamelis virginiana, Mark.  I got it as a plant mail order from Girard's back in 1982.  The photo is labeled now.

Charles, this Aconitum (carmichaelii 'Arendsii') seems easy and tolerant of varying conditions, it see it in various yards around here.  Mine is 6' tall, a few shoots a bit shorter.  I'm with you, so far as looking for more species, very interesting plants.

Rick, too bad about the rabbit munchings, that is so irritating. We have two rabbits in the yard this year, and they loved Vernonia lettermannii nearly to death, ate it to a stub early in the summer, it grew out and was budded up, then they ate it to a stub again, will have to protect with wire mesh next year.  Young tree seedlings seem to be very tasty, had a devilish time a few years back getting maple species seedlings to survive nibbling onslaughts.

So, my Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' is NOT, its actually H. virginiana, glad to have a correct ID on it.

This might be a lame attempt at protecting developing seed pods on my Allium thunbergii 'Alba' from two days of soaking downpours from Hurricane Sandy, happening as I type this message, but I put plastic bags over the heads and zip-tied them. Just ran outside (with 50+ mph gusts) and so far they're holding up okay. For a couple other items I wanted seed on, I covered the plants with large heavy inverted pots, weighted down with boulders and bricks.

I found the first flowers of my Hamamelis virginiana about a week ago, although it is quite a few years since I planted it. The flowers are not very impressive yet and smaller than Rick's but I hope they'll improve the years to come!

Aconitum 'Arendsii' is the commonest garden aconitum in Norway I think! But all Aconitums and Delphiniums are prone to slug damage, at least in my garden :-\ I have tried several species from seed and they are prompt devoured. I always suspect slugs (and snails) but rodents are possible too but not rabbits (cross fingers).

Yes, yours would be H. virginiana, Mark.  I don't think there is any other species that blooms in the fall.  And of course, it's the wrong color for Jelena.  My shrub gets a fair amount of direct sun that really doesn't increase flower size, but does increase flower numbers. 

I hope those bags hold, Mark.  I see you have one pinned down with a stick.  A wise move, I think.  My region from the beginning has been predicted to be one of the areas least hit by climate change, and so far, I think that's been true.  I'm not envious at all for your storm of storms out east, and I heard a prediction of 3 feet of snow in Virginia, too. 

Right, Cohan.  Trees that are impressively big here in Minnesota are just run-of-the-mill further south.  I can imagine that the difference is even more so where you are.

Here's a couple shots taken through my back 'doting window' today. I am presently in the process of taking down the
perennial plunk; first photo and to right in second (The Fothergilla will remain unclipped; but I've considered removing
it; see view below). Some folks leave spent perennials up, and that is fine as they are decorative, but taking them down
gives me opportunity to well trample rodent infested ground and check for rogue weeds that may have taken a bet on hiding
there. All the clippings will be left on the bed. The adjacent lawn is being religiously raked. Lawn is lawn; plunk is
plunk, and shade is shade (shade at left in photo 2). Fallen foliage is encouraged on the shade bed; discouraged on the
lawn; and tolerated on the plunk. It is not tolerated on the rock gardens! This leaves me with plenty of mosey "work" at
this time of year; ensuring that the alpine beds go into winter free of fallen leaves -just as the plants there would have
it if they had not been removed from their breezy homes. However, I suppose, the main reason for taking the perennials
down in this garden is twofold; One, the view of the rockeries from the subject window is cool. It daily reminds me of
some of the high points in my life in a small yet glorious sort of way when it is set upon a level and clear foreground,
and, two; several thousand snowdrops will appear here in April. They will appear through the desiccated remains of the
leveled perennials as if upon a mountain tundra after the winter's thaw.

An update from here: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=1009.msg20214#msg20214
(Actually, this was a full week ago.)
The end of the Cotinus, Cornus mas, Vv. x'Juddii', carlesii.  Viburnum x 'Juddii' foliage.
       

Now in real time, a painted styrofoam trough makes a nice background for Orostachys iwarenge.  I've never thought of Fibigia clypeata as being polka-dotted.
       

Some things just keep going and going, like the Energizer Bunny. ;D
Syneilesis aconitifolia seedhead with Corydalis ochroleuca and Fargesia rufa in the background.  Digitalis lanata and Bouteloua gracilis.
       

Kristl Walek is working on such a book.  I'm not sure what all will be her main emphasis, though.  But I could certainly collaborate if you're in need of examples of various seed receptacles.  A feng Shui specialist would be horrified walking into my house.  "Dead" materials are everywhere...    ;D

Autumn is a beautiful and very important time in the rock garden. Here's just a taste of the splendor!
First; rock is important to rock gardeners. Without the rocky backdrop, this is just another photo of Allium thunbergii. 2: It hasn't bloomed yet but Acantholimon litwinovii is a charmer. 3: Sedum (aizoon?) looks like this all winter. I don't know any other plant that produces this effect as well as this one does.

4: A smattering of Androsaces. 5: pink tint in Bailey's Lace Cactus 6: Sage Brush growing points become a soft silvery green and very compact.

7: Eriogonum umbellatum 'porteri'. 8: Vaccinium 'Hamilton' in front of Scirpus caespitosus. 9: One everyone in the Northeast should grow and cherish; Hepatica (americana) shown here in an unusual rock garden setting.

More autumn colored goodies: Hudsonia ericoides in Spruce Moss; Eriogonum caespitosum; and Pyxi.

Kabschia Saxifrages are at their very best now; Seed stems on Orostachys iwarenge; Areneria tetraquetra in front of Eriogonum sp. from Fishlake cow meadow in Utah. The Eriogonum is a fine ground cover but very shy to bloom.

I started in spring with a photo of this little patch of mesic alpine turf. Primula 'Peter Klein' was in bloom then. Just autumn hues now, diagonal from bottom left Cassiope sellaginoides 'globularis'; Lonicera crassifolia and Loiseleuria procumbens; Arcterica nana in autumn hue and flower buds ready for spring; Rhododendron williamsianum. The last are Saxifraga 'Foster's Red' and a tiny little Heuchera I found in the Lemhi Mountains maybe H. rubescens. Too many pretty vignettes to ever post!

Cohan : I thought with  those last photos that you had made contact with the Mars Curiosity project!Weirdly atmospheric in the snow.

Michael: lots still of interest there.

Maggi 

I do like it! Although it looks a bit coarse it is stately and handsome with interesting leaves and flower colour. Is it monocarpic or perennial? What do you mean by cold winters? I wonder if it could survive in my garden where the summers are cool, the climate moist and humid and not too cold winters (usually not colder than -8-10C).

Not a lot of temperature variation on those islands by continental standards.  Macquarie Island's record high and low are 14.4C (58F) and -9.4C (15F) since 1948 when recording began.
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_300004_All.shtml

How old are those Anistome?  Are they still increasing in size, year to year?  How do they look late in the summer... a bit bedraggled?