'Winter Interest' and Season Confusion

Recent magazine articles and blog posts have made much of "winter interest" in our gardens, including the advice to leave spent flowers on the plants until next year's spring weather announces a new season. Suits me! I've generally done that for years, certainly with my pretty Sedums. This year, the Iceplant has been allowed to keep the remains of its flowers also (less work for me'!); it's nicely tucked in under the leaves of the Maple above it. Grown from a seedling in a 4-inch pot, it is now several feet across - and still growing.

This Daisy missed the memo that it is November; it's blooming either 6 months late or 6 months too soon (among some of that mint I've got to remove; yes, I was warned not to plant mint directly in the garden - keep it in pots instead - but I love mint iced tea in the summer!), and it's a cheery sight on a cloudy day with falling temperatures.

Poppies!

The other week, going to a local plant nursery, I wanted to buy a few snapdragons. "Do you like poppies?", the owner asked, saying she would be happy to sell me some snapdragons, but she and her husband had just brought in several trays of big, healthy poppies and maybe I wanted to try them? It was an easy sale for her!

Today, the first bloom is cheering up my late November landscape. Since I bought "mixed colors", I have no idea what any of them will look like when the buds open, but there are plenty of them waiting to show me their colors. More photographs to come . . .

A gloomy pre-holiday afternoon

Intermittent sunshine and a slight drizzle marked the morning; now, an hour before sunset, it is raining - a mild, almost spring-like rain. Not very cold, but gloomy nevertheless.

A three-week old photograph brings back memories of warmer, sunnier days.

The Penisetum is dead now, as are the Basil, the Coleus, the Calibrachoa and the Blue Star. The Walking Irises are now inside, the Blanket Flower, the Plumbago and the Nicotiana remain outdoors, but they are not quite the same on a gloomy late November day as they were on a sunny early November day.

Making plans for next spring . . .

Fall Colors Linger

I started cutting down some Solidago this morning and then thought the better of it; birds and other wildlife may want to make use of it in the coming months.

More vibrant colors in my landscape as we are getting closer to winter are provided by a Nandina, a Sweetshrub (never looked better in November!) and a Viburnum carlesii (Korean spice Viburnum - always attractive, no matter what season it is).

Mistletoe in Maple

This was an odd sight the other day. I recognized it immediately as a Mistletoe, and assumed it was a plastic variety someone walking or driving by had tossed up in the air, to land in the Maple in my front yard. Upon closer inspection, however, I found out that it is an actual Mistletoe plant, growing out of one of the Maple's branches. I still find it odd, but I like it! Just what an eclectic garden needs.