flynn070

Happy Thanksgiving from a dark and stormy looking Vancouver, Washington. I know people think I am weird (I am) when I say that I like the weather to be dreary on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just love the cozy atmosphere it provides when you are inside cooking and puttering about. Plus sunny days make me feel guilty that I should be outside doing something in the garden. As I made my way through the garden with the compost pot this morning, I noticed that there is still some color and beauty on this late day in November. The Japanese maple above is next to the back deck. It was an unnamed variety and it is very late to change color. It just started changing during the last week. The Persian Parrotia (Ironwood) wins the award for holding on to the majority of its leaves. Very few have fallen and it has been brightly colored for about a month now. Ironwood (Persian Parrotia) The Katsura is also pretty but it has already faded quite a bit. I have never noticed the autumn scent from the l...

We've had a few frosts during the last week. There were still lots of blooms left in the garden so I cut a few of them before the cold snap.  The rose 'Gold Medal', one of our favorite hybrid teas, is sending up 6 feet stalks that we see outside the bathroom window. The hydrangeas are still covered with dramatic, dark purple balls of color. I don't have many dahlias in the garden and I don't recall where the orange one came from but it is very pretty. Dahlias are to be dug up after the first frost so that is a chore I must do this week. There is another pretty pom-pom dahlia called 'Lolipop' in the front garden that I purchased at a Master Gardener plant sale shortly after we moved. I have been very pleased with Baby's Breath (Gypsophila) although it has gotten much bigger than expected. It is too tall for the front of the border it resides in and I would like to transplant it before spring. And in the rear is the remnants of Goldenrod, a good filler flo...

Don't get too excited. I am not offering a contest to meet the esteemed British actress but I do have news that she now has a rose named after her. The David Austin roses for Spring 2019 have been introduced with three beautiful additions for gardeners in the United States and Canada. From the press release: Here are detailed descriptions of the 2019 North American introductions provided by Michael Marriott, technical director and senior rosarian of David Austin Roses Ltd in Albrighton, England. For more on these and on the full collection of 114 English Rose varieties now available to North American gardeners, see www.davidaustinroses.com .   English Rose ‘Dame Judi Dench’ (PPAF) 'Dame Judi Dench’ is an apricot English Rose with an arching habit that marries lissome beauty with robust garden performance,” says Marriott. The large flowers are a rich, sun-kissed shade of apricot that pales prettily toward the edges. Blooming starts with plump, red-tipped buds held on ma...