Puttering Around In November

Still a bit of color to be found in the November garden: smokebush, spirea, ninebark, daylilies and evergreens

I wasn't planning on blogging today.  I would never waste a warm day inside when its November, painfully aware that the next 4 months are going to be yucky and cold!  So I was out weeding this morning.  Yep, weeding.  (Still working on that garlic mustard and motherwort invasion I've got going on.)  Well, of course it starts raining and although I'm not against getting wet, it's not good to be tromping around on heavy clay soil when it's wet, so here I am, waiting for things to dry out a bit.

Some of my spireas turn reddish; others orange and yellow

There's not much color in my yard at the moment since most of my canopy trees are now leafless.  There are still a few sparks though.  My japanese spireas were looking quite fiery this morning and  I'd say that even my purple smokebush was smoldering a bit (oops, is that a pun?)   Actually the spireas paired with the yews make my front yard look like a tribute to the Packers!

I've got a couple kinds of diervilla scattered around the yard; some have nice fall color and some do not.   Not sure if its the different sun exposures or the varieties that are the cause.  Another bit of unexpected color is coming from my Kerria.  Their stems are a bright apple green.  Wasn't expecting that!

It's hard to believe smokebush is a native

I erected a chicken-wire enclosure around what's left of my oak-leaf hydrangea.  The deer damage looked pretty bad at first but after looking it over closer, it's just the tips and leaves that were eaten and there are still plenty of buds on each branch.  I know it's locking the barn door after the horses took off, but I'm hoping it'll recover if I keep the deer away from it for the rest of the winter.

Chickadees were out in force today but I didn't hear much else chittering in the trees. Haven't seen much squirrel or chipmunk activity either.  That's good because I also planted some bulbs today and I don't want those crafty little beasties watching where I put my Tarda tulips.

I'm trying something new this year: Snowflakes (Leucojum).  I thought I had purchased Snowdrops (Galanthus).  Oops!  That's ok though.  In fact, it might work out really well.  Although it sounds like cold hardiness may be an issue, the info I read on the 'net says they don't mind clay soil and a bit of dampness.  Also they are supposedly deer and rabbit resistant.  If it's true; I've hit the jackpot!  (We'll see what happens, I guess.)  I had been planning on planting daffodils in the woods but then decided they may not look right there.  I've still got time to get them in the ground if I change my mind.

Henry's Garnet Sweetspire can't decide
what fall color it wants to be

Well, the sun's back out; gonna go compost some tomato plants.  Later!

Japanese Maples Set Yard Ablaze

'viridis' cut-leaf japanese maple

We had our first snowflakes for the year today. Sadly, the weather that brought those fluffy flakes also brought strong winds that cleared most of the leaves from the trees in our yard.  It was a real pity because my two japanese maples had just turned color a few days ago, after our first frost.

Most of the fall color in my yard is yellow, with a smattering of red but almost no orange.  Luckily I've got  'Viridis', a cut-leaf japanese maple that turns from yellowy-green to bright orange in the fall-hot, hot, hot!     Not to be outdone, another cut-leaf maple, 'takeyuma' turns from a greenish-red to a red so bright it reminded me of the male cardinal that often comes to my cedar to eat berries.

I feel fortunate to have seen the show, even if only for a few days, because right before the maples changed color, deer came through my yard on a mission of destruction.  They ate my oak leaf hydrangea almost to the ground, reshaped my arborvitae (which they've never touched before) and, worst of all, they ripped apart the weeping mulberry that was my splurge purchase for the year.   These plants weren't on their trail and in a part of the yard that isn't easy to get to, so I was shocked at the damage.  It's a miracle that they didn't go after the maples too, which I had also purposely planted on hilly areas near the house to minimize their accessibility.  Needless to say, I was spraying Liquid Fence like a fiend the next morning.

'takeyuma' doesn't keep it's red color
in the summer shade but I like it anyway

When I was gardening in central Wisconsin, I pined for the chance to grow Japanese maples.  I've heard that they only last a few years before succumbing to the cold but now that I can grow them, I can't imagine not having a couple around.





There's a garden in Rockford, Illinois that is a must-see in October if you like Japanese maples.  Anderson Japanese Garden is a highly-rated Japanese garden that is lovely in the fall.  Once those maples change color,  Wowza!  It's like an electric shock seeing them beauties!

Cut-leaf maple leaves are so feathery!