It's so hard to say goodbye....

Where did the summer go? It's hard to imagine that the season is almost over and things are quickly winding down.

Aster 'Purple Dome'.

Thought I'd get some shots of some fall colour in the garden before it's gone.

It's like the last party before the big snooze.

The leaves are falling...

Magnolia 'Elizabeth' and some Barberries showing their fall colours.

Hosta 'Blue Angel' seems to glow.

Hakone Grass has a pink tinge to it.

I've been coveting Japanese Maples for ages and when I saw this one for 1/2 price.... well, I have to at least try it, right? lol It's 'Inabe Shidare' (keeping fingers crossed!)

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little fall tour in my garden. Time to go inside... brrrr

Sandy

You have such lovely gardens Sandy, and the fall colours are amazing aren't they?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you for your Japanese maple. What we do with ours is surround them with 4 tall wooden stakes and wrap many layers of burlap around them to shield them from the winter winds.

In your zone I might be tempted to go one step further and toss some leaves in there too to act as extra insulation, but I'm not sure if that's an okay thing to do with them. Maybe Todd is watching and could advise - you out there Todd?

--Ginny

Lovely Japanese Maple, Sandy. I envy you. I have one similar to you and I have to leave it behind as we plan a move next month. I will definitely get another one though. They are gorgeous.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful Autumn garden with us.

Don

Great colors, Sandy. What time of day did you take them? Sunny? (Yeah, I know, a pretty stupid question given the miserable last few weeks. But hey, we've got some sun today - but I have no time to take advantage of it.) I also like the Japanese Maple. Hope you are able to nurture it through the winter.

Ann

Thanks for the encouragement, you guys! Don, I hope your move goes smoothly.

Ginny, I've been in contact with someone who grows many Japanese Maples and Magnolias successfuly in Ottawa, which is about 40 mins east of me. Here's a article (in pdf format) he's written about growing JM's. http://www.dovercourt.org/About_japanese_maples.pdf

Although I'm a full zone colder than you, I'm hoping that the surrounding trees will help protect from winter winds and I've bought some of that winter fleece he recommends at Canadian Tire. I wondered how I'd get the fleece to wrap around the tree without damage, so thanks for the stakes idea!

It's got good soil and lots of mulch. So I've done my part, all except the praying!

Sandy

Great link, Sandy.

Don

Don,

t, I liked it because he grows them successfully in our area. So if he can do it..... lol

Lovely fall colours.

Very nice, Sandy. I was real disappointed in my Purple Dome this year. You'd think with the long hot summer we got this year it would have bloomed early, but no, it didn't even open. This was not a good year for fall colour from foliage for us either. Last year really spoiled us.

Txs brugcrazy.

Echoes, I noticed Purple Dome started blooming about a week later this year which was weird because the whole year we seemed to be a week or more early with everything else. The only thing about the Purple Dome that I don't like is that it gets the mildew on it's legs and looks better with something in front of it. Do yours get the brown legs too? I used to think it was due to the weather, but it's been so consistent that now I wonder if it's more of a character trait.

Sandy

This year, the foliage looked great to the end, and it was full of buds. I think I will try and move it to a sunnier spot. It gets morning sun and a bit late afternoon where it is. Sounds like a good spot for a hosta. I have a moon daisy and chrysanthemum farther back in this bed and they do fine here.

The colors are wonderful.! What a nice way for the plants to say see ya in the spring.

Here in Victoria the rains have started off and on so everything is turning green. All the lawns that nobody watered are starting to look alive again. I think we will have to cut the grass once more yet before we can put the lawnmover away. Usually mid November.

Thanks for sharing the photo's your gardens really are lovely.

Bea

Sandy, I'm amazed that JM and Magnolia survive in 4b...they are both listed for 5a...you might be living on borrowed time! I often push the limit growing zone 7 in 5b, but I MAJORLY protect in winter and such plants are usually small in size so extra protection is not difficult to do. If you have access to beech or oak leaves, they make good insulation for the ground through the winter. Don't use maple leaves as they pack down too tight when they get wet.

BTW, lovely garden!

Todd, if anyone can push the zone it would be Sandy.

Thanks Bea. Hope your fall will be a lovely sunny one!

Ann - Most of the time I don't bother with pushing the zones too much because it would make me nuts ... and broke. But I really, really love the JMs and if that makes me a pusher, then so be it. LOL

Todd, the fellow who grows them who wrote the article lives in Ottawa which is zone 5a, so I really am experimenting being in 4b. But I figure what's a half a zone? I'll just throw on a nice cozy fleece on my JM and what the hay. But I'll be sure to mulch it very well also, thanks.

Yeah, this has been the 8th season in my garden for that Magnolia 'Elizabeth' shown in the pic above. It doesn't get any protection at all and flowers each year, but I know that not all varieties are bud-hardy for us. The Magnolia was just an 'experiment' too! So I am encouraged to at least try the Japanese Maple. If it dies I'll sooooo have to move! :-))

Here's the Magnolia article by the same fellow who grows them in Ottawa if anyone's interested: http://www.dovercourt.org/About_Magnolias.pdf
The problem is tracking down a source!

Sandy

Sandy spectacular pictures. I agree sad to see it go. Tonight is the end of the year here too.

Thanks, Sofer. But I bet you are waxing your skis as we speak! lol

Sandy

I am heading up today for a ski down and a walk up. They will not open till thanksgiving. The good thing is the mountain behind me that we go to has the lodge at the top so you can drive to the top and ski down and then put on the skins and walk up. Kind of fun when you want to ski powder. Though today will only be a couple of trips. Got to get in shape.