Bring on the color
Snowy, white, December gardens work so much better with holiday decor than my gaudy garden, now decked out in a mix of late-summer and (finally!) fall color. Those beautiful orange leaves on the new crepe myrtle? They just don’t work with the red-and-green Christmas wreath by the door. And how do you string Christmas lights on trees that haven’t dropped their leaves? And we’re sending yet another Xmas-card photo with fall foliage in the background.
But who cares? If you visit Digging regularly, you already know that I love color. So I’m happy with Austin’s colorful Christmas season. Besides, I can get my winter-wonderland fix on northern blogs.
Here are the colors of my garden right now.
Yellowing pennisetum and purple prickly pear
Manfreda maculosa ‘Macho Mocha’
Pink cuphea from Annie’s garden, doing much better since I relocated it to the front garden
Echinacea purpurea
And again
Here’s something snowy looking—shrubby white boneset (Eupatorium havanense ), still blooming after a month.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Bless your heart, Pam–those gorgeous photos were much needed on this dreary Pennsylvania morning. We’ve had snow on the ground for over a week now, so mostly the only color we have is white. I’d do almost anything to see “real” color here again, but in the meantime, I’ll just come back to visit your garden. That prickly-pear-and-pennisetum combination is simply stunning. Thank you, thank you!
You’re welcome, Nan. I’m glad my photos brightened your day. That prickly pear is in a pot, and I’ve moved it around through the seasons. When I put it by the pennisetum earlier this fall, I didn’t anticipate how wonderful they’d look as their colors began to change. As the pennisetum turned golden, the ‘Santa Rita’ really began to “purple up” for winter, and the resulting color combination is striking. But you have to get pretty low to appreciate it! —Pam
Oh yes Pam, Love seeing plants that don’t look so haggared. We haven’t the snow cover here but everything looks tired and worn out. Certainly no color except on the feathers of the birds frequenting our feeders. Even male House Finches are appreciated this time of year with their splash of red.
Birds are an essential part of the winter garden. I’m glad you have so many to brighten up your winter days, Lisa. —Pam
Wow, Pam – it’s such a pleasure to not only know that the cuphea is blooming for you, but to see it in close-up, something my camera and I can’t do. I love this plant and am glad you have shown the blog world its pretty face.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Annie, you don’t know how many times I’ve tried to photograph the pink cuphea, without success. But now it’s in a sunnier spot, and it looks happier, and this photo just worked. Thanks again for a delightful little plant! —Pam
Is it true that echinacea blooms twelve months out of the year for you? It seems to be in every months’ post. Does it ever go dormant? That cactus photo is so gorgeous, your photography skills are impressive beyond compare. We have a boneset similar to yours, but it winds down by late summer and I cut it down. It gets at least six feet tall, maybe it is a different cultivar? It appeared one day in the garden, I kept cutting it but it kept returning. Finally I let it bloom to see what it could be and was very happy with it. It is so large that it needs to be in the right spot though. Any luck growing it from seed?
Frances
Yes, it does bloom all year, Frances. Isn’t that strange? Most of my echinacea clumps die back, but there’s nearly always a flower or two that soldiers on through the few frosts my garden gets. I bet people are tired of seeing purple coneflower in all of my garden photos, but I never weary of its happy face.
The native boneset could easily reach 6′ if I didn’t cut it down in mid-February, before spring growth starts. Even after being cut back hard, by summer’s end it is 4′ tall. It seems to prefer a part-sun location, and it’s quite drought-tolerant. I’ve had a few seedlings come up on their own, so I don’t think it would be hard to grow from seed. —Pam
Pam: we don’t get much of a chill here in Santa Barbara, but Pistache is one of a handful of plants that develop a dependable fall color. Except our (Pistacia chinensis) emphasize only red; we don’t get the gorgeous yellow in your shots. Loverly.
Like you, I feel fortunate to see any bit of fall color that Austin’s trees develop. It ain’t much, but we’ll take it. —Pam
I tried to leave a comment earlier, but “the Internet wouldn’t let me” or something like that.
I can’t believe you still have coneflowers blooming so brightly!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
They seem to get brighter (hotter?) in cooler weather, Carol. I may have a few blooming off and on all winter, if last year was any indication. By the way, I’m glad you came back to try again with your comment. —Pam
What great color… and here I figured that since you all miss out on the snow and ice, at least you don’t get to enjoy our fall color in return! 😉
Our fall color isn’t quite like yours, Kim, not by half. But we take what we can get. 🙂 —Pam
Pam,
Thank you for the gorgeous rose photos, and of course, the photos of other bloomings. They are much needed in Oklahoma where we’ve had ice and snow. Thanks again.
You are quite welcome, Dee. I hope you are thawing out up there. Many of my extended family live in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, and it seems that area was hit hard. —Pam