Carpe Diem! ("Skip School" and enjoy...)

Previously, before gardening (BG?), I never thought much about the Autumn season - other than the changing of the leaves.  I certainly didn't get "up close and personal" or think of November as a month with a lot to look at.  THAT is a lot of lifetime to be missing the views I captured yesterday, on a simply gorgeous Autumn day.

Sugar Maple in sunshine
 - one of the last trees to shed leaves for the Winter

It actually started when I was out running errands, and stopped for a 'to go' coffee.  As I pulled up to the store front, I immediately noticed the Autumn-themed landscaping in the sidewalk garden:

Note to self:  add Dusty Miller (Centurea cineraria) to gardens next year

Even though the Garden Mums were starting to fade (it is November in the Midwest after all!), this garden looked so robust.  As the bright colors of summer start to pale, the russet colors autumn are a warm & welcoming segue to the change of seasons.  Once my errands were done, I took a 'San Antonio Stroll' around my gardens...  it was an eye-opener.

November Images in the Garden at the Bunnies Buffet

Stole a quick photo of the neighbors' Burning Bush

The garden glider blanketed in late Autumn leaves...
(... and playing with the color saturation in Photo Studio)

Hollyhock - robust in November

The last of the Pink Guara

Sugar Maple with an Azure Sky backdrop

The last Double Pink Knockout Rose bloom...

The colors just blew me away.  The fact that so many plants were still hanging in there was fantastic.  And we will take all the sunny, 60-degree days we can get!  There is still garden maintenance to be done, and yard art to be put away (while the ground isn't frozen) - so I am due for a 'power day' cleaning up.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the last fading images of the 2011 garden season.

Sweet Potato Vine - paling in the sun

Weigela - with burnishing leaves in November

Sugar Maple in sunshine and shadows

I've missed being on the Blogosphere.  Our 'shared' home PC has been dedicated to school use recently, but I'm getting a foothold back on the family 'schedule'.  Looking forward to catching up on your blogs!!  Happy gardening...

Well, Hello There Gorgeous!

Gardening is about learning and victories - large and small.  I am here to tell you, this is a large victory...

Ain't she a 'peach'?!!
(Sense a purple theme in the area - aka Gazing Ball?
Ajuga skirts the stepping stones too, just out of sight.)

Growing this PJM Rhododendron has been a total labor of love - and - "3rd time IS a charm".  I am completely enamored with Azaleas and Rhododendrons, ever since I first saw them on the east coast in New Jersey.  They are very happy on the east coast, like Hibiscus in Florida, the soil must be just right - they grow as big as a house.  Here in the Midwest they are much more fragile - though many landscapes in the area attempt to grow them (note to self:  all "Zone 5's" are not alike).

"Rhodie" invited a friend over to hang out.
(those flower petals were still unfolding - fresh out of their little 'nest')

This is my third attempt to grow this tender plant.  Not paying attention to the "tip" on the plant tag the first two times -- I did not plant this treasure's predecessors in a protected area of the garden.  Cold NW winter winds left nothing but brittle twigs, with no hope of any recovery in the Spring.  I was devastated, but hard-headed - not willing to say "Uncle".  Low and behold, looks like I got this one right?!  The bonus, this Rhododendron is an evergreen - so you have foliage to look at all four seasons.

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary.  How does your garden grow?"

Like most of you, I've been up to my elbows in dirt these days.  While the weather is not fast to cooperate, I am still out there - re-organizing my gardens in the back.  Re-purposed Day Lilies from pre-construction were planted in a part-shade area of the "Shade Garden" last year.  Slow to thrive and bloom - they now have been shuffled to my new "Cottage Garden" in a very sunny corner.  I moved a lone Moonbeam Coreopsis to a grouping with it's family in the "Sun Garden".  I put two more Moonbeams over in the Cottage Garden - they weren't coming back too strong this spring.  With all the Sphagnum Moss and Mushroom Compost there is in the Cottage garden - they should be all jacked up by the time the weather gets nice?!

Thanks for the Feng Shui -
from the creative minds at Microsoft Clip Art

Now that I feel "Feng Shui'd" (and it feels so good!) -- time to go plant shopping!!  It feels great to be back on the Blogosphere after a brief absence.  I'm looking forward to catching up on what my garden blog buddies are up to! ...

Peace, in your garden!