Kaseys Korner

frost garden

that's what I woke up to this morning.  A magical frosted fairyland.  It beckoned even me (who abhors the cold ~ as you well know) to come outside and capture the sugar coated scenes.  Since I can never hoard them for myself, I share with you the images from that most unusual foray.

The antique bird feeder shimmering in the early morning light:

Glistening rose hips touched by the first rays of sun:

One of two obelisks that begged to be photographed:

followed by the second:

With a very chilled dragonfly sundial on their heels:

An irresistible combo ~ crystallized fern & hellebore leaves:

and finally the Fleur-de-lis gate:

There was more, of course, but for hardier souls than I. No second chances with frost either.  The window of opportunity is fleeting and once I warmed again, the moment had already passed.

The clouds lifted, the skies cleared and the frost began to melt.   

The magic recedes and the garden returns to its familiar cloak of browns & greens. 

 

 

the wind lays bare

secrets from summers past.

Exposing the Bullock's oriole nest in the big Cottonwood tree:

Where an adult male and one baby lost their lives on the street below. 

You might remember my tale of woe??

Where leaves once covered the limbs of a little Hawthorne, a Robin's nest is now revealed:

tucked tightly to the trunk and hidden, until now, from the gardeners eyes.

The new stark suroundings make the berries of the Plum trees ever more attractive:

as well as anything and everything else that might remain green:

Above:  Sedum 'Angelina'

and Passion vine caerulea:'

Color in winter is of immeasurable interest.

Ever more precious now than any other season. 

Before the blustery north winds are finished, the garden will give up more secrets.

It's inevitable.

and only a matter of time until they're divulged...

 

the day is off

to a great start. 

I treated myself to a cup of my new favorite holiday coffee combination:

a thick slice of homemade pumpkin bread:

Accompanied by the lulling hum of the dryer and the more strident (but just as comforting) sound of Blue Jays as they enjoy their morning peanuts.  

Oh, and to top it all off, the sun is shining and the wind is calm.  :-)

I hope the rest of the day can keep up....

never underestimate

the power of a cold resilient annual!  My neighbor made a case in point for this statement when she brought me a sprig of Stocks from her flower bed last Friday.  They had weathered the 19 degree overnight temperatures and recent snowfall with flying colors. 

I have to confess, I have had mixed success with this supposedly half-hardy annual (here-to-for to be referred to as a hardy annual ~ no half about it!).  I've started numerous double varieties from seed with only marginal results.  I've bought them for containers in spring only to have them wilt and fizzle under the scorching rays of a hot summer day.

However, anything that will prolong summer while providing color in the fall garden, despite the elements, deserves another look/chance ~ don't you think? 

My neighbor has them planted where they receive afternoon shade which is quite possibly the key to their summer survival?  I've always adored their spicy fragrance but now, knowing how tough they are, I plan to make another concerted effort with them next spring!

Completely off topic, I thought I would share my latest reading material ~ not that I theoretically have the luxury of reading right now (with the holidays so quickly approaching) ~ but some finds are too good to pass up!

I'll let you know how it is.  Another book on my reading list is "Winter Bloom" by Tara Heavey.  Funny how the garden remains constant even when it comes to other pastimes!!  Anyone else have a winter book list (since there seems to be no time for reading during the summer gardening season)?

greenhouse buds

Now that it feels decidedly winter-like outdoors, I am (forced) to turn my attention indoors.  Happily I cannot complain about "bloom withdrawal" since there are many buds/blooms, in the makeshift greenhouse, to occupy me during what otherwise could be a depressing time.  I thought maybe you'd like a preview of what's in store for the blog in the days to come??  You would??  Great!  Come with me...

We'll first look at the buds on my unknown African violet (bought impulsively last spring when I was desperate for a bloom of any kind):

Thankfully, I have not killed it!  Remember the flowers looked like this:

The petals remind me of spun sugar frosting for some reason??   Anything that looks that good is welcome to rebloom as often as it likes!

Next to the African violet is Streptocarpus 'Black Panther:'

I've had this plant for several years now (and posted about it a couple of times too).  Wonder of wonders, it repeatedly blooms for me.  A fabulous thing since the flowers are extremely fetching:

Wouldn't you agree?   I think about repotting it off and on but haven't had the courage.  I'm too afraid to mess up my luck!

Moving right along. 

I finally tired of cleaning up dried Hoya blossoms (in my bathtub below the birdcage) and switched out the Hoya with a Lophospermum scandens 'Red Dragon' plant I brought in from outside.

Not the best photo, for sure, but you get the idea.   

Lophospermum is also known as Asarina (and formerly as Maurandya ~ at least that's my understanding?)  The common name is "twining snapdragon."  I usually buy this vine for an outdoor container just as I did this past summer.  Unfortunately, it just sat in the container, showing little to no sign of life until I brought it indoors.  Now it is growing, almost before my eyes, and has developed a number of buds.

The buds often face downward, making it difficult to fully appreciate them, but hanging as they are in the birdcage, they are much easier to enjoy.  This is one plant I hope continues to do well thoughout the winter.  You'll know if it does, by the number of times it's pictured in upcoming posts!

Now, if you've read my blog at any point during the past two winters, you know what's coming next!  Yep, an Amaryllis!   This one is 'Zombie' ~ not far from blooming:

I'm always afraid of scaring people away by posting so many pictures of them but the sheer numbers are truthfully what help me survive the long winters.

That and my growing interest in orchids.

Like the paph above with a developing bud.  I think I have eleven various orchids now??  A couple phalaenopsis, three cattleya's but more paphiopedilum's than anything else.  If the trend continues I will seriously need a greenhouse and/or a twelve step program...

 

amazing what a little

sun will do.  At least it doesn't look frozen here today like it did yesterday:

The sun was out in force this morning, thankfully unobstructed since the sky was cloudless and bright blue.  Our overnight low temperature was somewhere around 19 degrees.  You know what that means ~ lots of frost!

Above:  frosted leonotis bud. 

Below: frosted Clematis integrefolia leaves

In the backyard, a lone Maple leaf hangs in the morning sun:

Seems like it should be symbolic of something, doesn't it?

Out front, you won't believe what is still surviving (without help from me too ~ I've gotten realistic and quit the nightly transfers to the garage).  The red petunia & yellow calibrachoa container!

It's looking a little ragged but only the Mexican Flame vine is ready to call it quits.  What are the chances it can make it till next Tuesday when we're in for a warm up?

Once the sun reached into the garage this afternoon, I started planting my little black urns with paperwhites.  These will be topped off with spaghnum moss (around the bulbs) and placed on either side of the fireplace mantel.

Now that the garden is resting outdoors, the time has come to revive it indoors right?!  You know I have plenty of these waiting in the wings:

Amaryllis 'Zombie' buds. 

It won't be long now and the indoor show will begin....

oh for a chance to rewind

time and go back to the golden days of last week.  When the front patio was ablaze with warm fall colors:

and the biggest sign of impending winter was a little frost on the ornamental kale:

When I could look out my kitchen window and see color:

Rather than a blanket of white (which I woke up to this AM):

What a difference a day makes.  Our first snowfall of the season:

With several more lined up to follow (at least according to our local weatherman).

I guess I better get used to scenes like this.

But give me some time.  For right this moment, I feel as if I'm in mourning.  The loss of our spectacular fall ~ almost harder to bear than the loss of summer....

Winter, here we come.  Like it or not. 

one last day

of 70 degree temperatures (and wearing shorts) then it looks like the rest of the week, high temperatures will be in the 40's!  Brrrr.  That will be a major adjustment.  I knew those mild, balmy days couldn't last forever so I'm going to try not to complain but rather, just get out there and enjoy the last of the warmth. 

I think I mentioned previously that garden clean up has been at a very leisurely pace this year?  That's what nice weather makes possible!  Not being so frantic also allows a person to appreciate small, unexpected discoveries, like this little clump of Japanese anemones that somehow escaped freezing:

It won't get that lucky again tho ~ lows in the 20s are not going to let it stick around no matter how protected it is.

I also never knew Calibrachoa was so hardy ~ this pink plant is still blooming while it's companion, Salvia 'hot lips' is not:

You would think it would be the other way around!  Although in all fairness, you have to understand it's somewhat protected, hanging over the edge of the pot underneath the salvia!  Secret exposed.

Helianthus 'maximiliani' never made it to the bloom cycle this year ~ it got very close:

But that one hard frost proved to be too much.  Hopefully next year it will get off to an earlier start.

Trimming in the front garden, I came across two 'Imperial Blue' Larkspur blooms:

Those twin spots of color, although a welcome sight, seemed almost gaudy in an otherwise brown environment? Although the gray/green of the Lambs ear foliage (in the background) helps mitigate that disparity.

Okay, I better scoot.  My rake is calling.  After our gusty wind storm yesterday there are a ton of leaves littered across the garden and the Bur Oak hasn't even dropped a fraction of its bumper crop yet (that's my biggest tree).  I think that's one chore I'll be working on long past Thanksgiving!

the "trick" that really wasn't

Yesterday I was doing some yard clean-up and thought I saw a "fake" snake lying in my front yard.  I figured one of the neighborhood kids threw it over on Halloween night.  Imagine my surprise when I stooped down to pick it up and realized it was not fake at all but rather a very real (and very dead) garter snake!

If any of my neighbors saw me at that moment, they must have chuckled because I'm sure I jumped pretty high upwards and backwards!

After I recovered from the surprise of it all, I felt bad that he wasn't alive anymore.  Although snakes startle me, I really don't mind having them in the garden because they are so beneficial.  The only exception would be a rattle snake ~ I would NOT want to see one of those!  This guy looked like he had been eating pretty well ~ probably lots of grasshoppers that were so plentiful this year?  I estimated he was about two foot long which my yardstick confirmed (and then some):

I'm not sure what took him out ~ it looked like he had a vise around his neck:

He's compost now ~ I buried him in my garden bed ~ but I hope to not make anymore surprise discoveries like him for a while!

more fall garden photos

as though you haven't thoroughly examined my garden by now!  Ha.  I'm hoping maybe, just maybe, you can handle a few more. 

Like the one below of my green rose pillar nestled among the north backyard shrub border.  It's almost hidden surrounded as it is by two Viburnums, a 'Jane' magnolia and a purple leaf Sand Cherry (Prunus cistena) ~ you can see leaves from the latter on the upper right portion of the photo:

I also wanted to update you on my Oakleaf Hydrangea.  I'm happy to report that I did not lose it (after five years) to last winters wrath.  You might remember, earlier this spring, I thought it was a complete loss.  I was just about to dig it out, when I noticed two small shoots of growth.  Over the summer those shoots attained a very modest height (nothing like the stately specimen it once was) but nevertheless, very much alive:

You can see the leaves have barely begun to get any fall coloring.  I'm hoping it can hold its own this winter (especially if it is indeed mild) and take off next year.   I would sure love to see some blooms from it again...

On the front patio, one container was spared from our first frost  ~ by the gardener ~ who couldn't stand to lose all her blooms at once.   It was hauled into the garage (for the one cold night) and those actions have been appreciated every day since:

There is nothing like an early or late season bloom ~ even if it belongs to a "common" petunia! 

Speaking of late season blooms, I have to share this photo of a yellow "flamenco mix" pansy that I think is particularly fetching:

From this angle, it's easy to see how it got named, isn't it?

Now I'm off to start cleaning up Halloween ~ I saw the McCoy Christmas tree lot going up today and felt a momentary rush of "panic."  How is it I'm already feeling so "behind??!"