This Fall Foliage and Living in the Moment

Black chokecherry, aronia

Last fall I missed all the colorful foliage.  I lay in a bed at my brother's, just wishing for time to pass and for myself to be healed.  I slept as much as I possibly could.  Time crept along.  The seasons and the seconds seemed to be moving at their own pace.  More than ever before I was aware of how futile our attempts to control its passage really are.

Pagoda dogwood, alternifolia and the Big Daddy hosta with the still green lancifolia hosta

A Walk in My Garden

I like to mass out plants in my Long Border and try for as much color as possible.  An unlikely and plebian pairing is oenethera 'Sundrops' and a white perennial geranium.  Later the filapendula and mum change this area to pink, but right now it is a completely different palette.

Oenthera 'Sundrops'

A few biennial campanula seed each year.  Bees like them!

This is a gift from my neighbor across the way.  I have admired it for a couple years, but I don't remember the name.  I believe it is related to the knotweeds, though.  It is very statuesque and does not need staking.

Back corner of my garden where I moved the Japanese 'Bloodgood' and had everything heeled in when I fell last fall.  Need editing, but not today.

First bloom on one of my new clematis.  This is it's second year.  In the spirit of climbers, it shares its trellis with rose 'Blaze' which died to the ground and will not be blooming this year, although it is alive.

Flower on the annual  silver sage which survived the brutal winter to do its biennial bloom.

My rose 'William Baffin' lost quite a few large canes, but is blooming on my front porch.

My front privet hedge died to the ground in two spots.  Hopefully it will regrow quickly from a larger root mass and fill in these gaping holes. 

A glance across the street, where my gardening friend lives.  The rugosa 'Albanel' (left foreground) has been really good this year.  The color combo with the peony Mrs. Roosevelt and hot pink petunias on the right has been superb.  It is a great view from my front porch.  In the background you can see his climber 'John Cabot' blooming, too.  It also lost several large canes but is still blooming the entire length of its remaining canes.

 

A thinner slice of the long border,   Spirea 'Princess', a salvia, variegated weigelia, and 'Sundrops' bloom.

This combo is a bit strange, the weigelia 'Carnaval' with its pink/white/red blooms which took a hit this winter, the orange yellow honeysuckle looking great, and the 'William Baffin' pink rose.  Sort of out there as a color combo.

Side yard seating, not a lot of color here until some of the daylilies bloom.