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Wednesday 18 November 2009

An Almost Desperation Post ??

Well .. it is almost a time for clutching at straws post for me here .. we have been graced with the most remarkable November weather in my memory .. this weather was what our October weather should have been .. so how is that fair to me I ask !!
I did not put this leaf in my yew trees .. it fell asleep there after playing in the wind : )
This Cityline hydrangea (I would have to sift through the many plant tags to nail which exceptional beauty this is) .. the colour reminds me of my hellebore flowers .. some what black and dusty dark blue .. I'm hoping the two I planted in the back garden will do as well as this one in the front.
Pinky Winky has faded but he still makes me smile even if it is just his name at this point .. it still strikes me as hilarious ?
Berberis Thunbergii Aurea is augmented with gold colour by way of a miniature spirea behind it.
The mix of colours is really eye catching especially in the afternoon light.
The mini spirea is Dakota Goldcharm .. a beautiful little spirea that is perfect for small places !
The last of the echinacea seed heads remind me of sea urchins some how .. those spines sticking out .. yet inviting to the birds at the same time.
Hamlin ornamental grass looks like a bleached mop of hair gone wrong ?
Morden Sunrise is still so green and trying to put out still more rosebuds .. along with the green blue of Walker's Low .. life struggles to keep its head up when winter is breathing down its neck.
Lemon Thyme ... one of my most favorite scents in the garden .. and the variegation of colour is so pretty too .. again herbs that are not used as much as they should be some gardeners are missing so much without them ;-)
Provence lavender ... still looking spectacular and smelling awesome !
On with another hue of blue and green is Blue Fescue .. but I am not sure which exact cultivar this is .. however it looks great as do its twins on the other side of the garden : )
Now doesn't this remind you of a very fragile, yet graceful hand out stretched to greet some one ? The sun was hitting it just right for a soft glowing affect.
The other stalks of the miscanthus Purple Flame grass standing tall against the blue sky were also very pretty !
Yes .. this is an almost left over Halloween plant ... the seed heads of my goatsbeard .. rather striking aren't they ?
Last is the Royal Purple Smokebush against the blue sky .. I keep thinking this will be the last day we have such amazing weather so late in the year .. I'm sure that cold front is working its way here SOON .... BBBRRRRRR !!
Now what will I do THEN ????????????????? BIG sigh !!!

39 comments:

Barbee' said...

Charming as ever! But, how will I EVER get anything written myself if I keep hanging out over here at your place where everything is so pretty, and you have interesting uh'-"people", and adorable fluffy cat children that are just the cutest things! Sigh! I bet Winthrop would even write your post for you if you ask him nicely.

Anonymous said...

So much beauty still abounds there, Joy! It is incredible to think how similar your space looks to ours. We know that cold is coming soon, it always does to put a chill on the family outdoor time at our Thanksgiving on the 25th. We bundle up and go out anyway, but still, it has been nice this year's official Indian Summer. Glad you have had such a nice warm spell. :-)
Frances

Amanda said...

Hasn't this weather been fabulous? Maybe the whole winter will be like this. I can dream... ;-)

Sheila said...

The colors and textures are just lovely! Don't you love the fall?

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Yay for your weather! I love the pictures(-: Everything looks great for the Fall weather!!! We have had frost every morning this week! Its pretty but cold. I still have flowers blooming though somehow(-:

tina said...

I like the new haircut! I have an idea, besides the lovely photos of your garden plants going to sleep, put a new Halloween counter:)

RURAL said...

You know, I almost enjoy photographing the garden in late fall, more than I do in the summer. There is grace, and texture in fading flowers. Something that we don't capture in the growing months.

Is this the new camera?

Jen

Gail said...

Such lovely fall color! I am going to look at a few of your hydrangeas to see if they might like my garden. You might have one me over with Pinky! Once winter's browns are all we see here...I am going to be spending a lot of time in my iphoto program looking at photos I had thought were not good enough to post! All that greenery and pretty flowers will surely raise my spirits! I am recommending the archives to bloggers everywhere! gail

Mary Delle LeBeau said...

Wonderful autumn vignettes. Thank you for the photos and your comments on them.

Anonymous said...

Hi Joy~~ You've got some beautiful photos. Weather is so fickle isn't it? When it turns crappy we'll have our blogger buddies to commiserate with.

VW said...

Joy, I just realized that in your sidebar photo you like very much like my husband's favorite aunt. I knew there was a reason I liked you! Besides being a crazy-gardener and all that ;-)
We had a day of 50 degree F weather this week, then a day of cold but very sunny weather. It was a nice break from cold, grey days. And it's getting dark so early each day . . . we'll survive another winter up here in the north, eh?

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Barbee' girl I will SOON have to offer you some tea and cookies since you keep coming for a visit ? LOL Yup my "people" keep an eye on the garden for me when I am stuck in the house with these fluffy cat kids ? haha .. and you are so right .. some day Winthrop is just going to take over and write a post : )

Hello Frances .. one very key plant is missing from my garden when I think of yours .. that gorgeous pink muhly grass ? ;-)
This weather has been amazing .. lots of people have their Xmas decorations and lights up .. reminds me we should get ours going too !

OH Amanda !!! I so wish THAT were true : ) wouldn't it be something to have a winter like this ? LOL
I think the forecast was for a wicked winter so we have to brace ourselves ? jeez !!

Sheila girl .. I am a die-hard fan of Autumn .. but this past October was such a disappointment with so much rain , hardly any clear days .. November was our October ?? LOL

Cindee girl I just knew you were going to tell me that you still had blooms going .. it is amazing you are having frost after such hot weather all summer .. that was wicked eh ? !

Tina girl thank you !! There is a counter way at the bottom but you are absolutely RIGHT ! .. I have to find a new counter for the top, so I will be hunting today for sure : ) !!

Hey Jen ! You are spot on about what Autumn offers us in the quality of settings for pictures .. I so love the grasses and dried flowers too : )
No, this is that Olympus 59OUZ I got a year ago, however I still kept going back to my other Olympus hard transition for some reason .. I have made myself use this more often to get better acquainted with it ? ;-)

YES Gail !! You have to have a hydrangea and I think Pinky would be perfectly suited for your garden : ) and other resounding YES to looking back at the years pictures to see what we have missed ? : )

Thanks so much Mary ! Sometimes I just have to pull in the reins and get myself in order with my lap top to post ? LOL

Hi Grace .. yes, that communication is with other gardeners is a sanity saver during our long long winters ;-)

VW ... girl you have made me laugh this morning .. I am a crazy gardener but I appreciate the fact that other gardeners put up with me ? LOL
I am very flattered indeed .. there always seems to be connecting threads to people we enjoy hearing from ;-) ... Ah yes the long winter and cabin fever .. I never know how CRAZY that will make me each year ?? LOL

tina said...

I looked for it-I really did:) Your flowers are enough to cheer me though especially the goats beard. I long ago cut mine:(

our friend Ben said...

Hey Joy! Our November has been October too, finally bright and dry and warmer. Thank heavens, since we just got the lights and heat back up and running in the greenhouse this morning! I love Barbee's idea of Winthrop writing a guest post. And of course the girls need to start writing too! (I'm sure they have plenty to say.) As for keeping yourself sane plantwise over the winter, where are your houseplants, girl?!! Or get a grow-light and enjoy some of those wonderful herbs inside. There's nothing like enjoying live plants indoors when there's snow and ice outside!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Tina girl I BELIEVE you !! Maybe some gremlins took off with it and I have to install again ? jeez !! haha..
The goatsbeard is a remarkable plant .. I have come to depend on it in the two spots I have the FULL sized ones and the little Korean Goatsbeard is a sensational sweet mini me plant too : ) Do you have that one Tina ?

Hey 'ben" we are actually going to have a bit of rain today/tomorrow but clearing up quickly .. this is such strange weather .. kind of eerie ?? LOL Trying to put a Halloween spin on it all still ?
I guess I am going to have to let some little creatures post eventually ? ;-)
I do have some houseplants .. "snake" plant aka 'mother-in-law" plant ? I haven't killed that yet and have a few of them .. Christmas cactus that refuses to set blooms now ..and some African violets .. but I love your idea of the grow lamp with herbs .. I have looked at those systems and they are a bit pricey .. but the idea hangs on ? LOL

our friend Ben said...

Garden catalogue grow-lamp setups are horrifically pricey, Joy! Forget that. Get a fluorescent shop light for $17 at your local hardware store, a couple of hooks, and a bit of chain to hang it from. You can use a cool and a warm bulb to substitute for the expensive grow-light bulbs, and suspend the light setup over any surface you want, be it the top of a bookcase or a hall table you bought at a thrift shop for $5. You'll be in business for pennies on the dollar and your plants will love you for it!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Such lovely autumn color. Lucky you! We're in the midst of a longer and later than usual autumn out here - with warm temps and I'm grateful for that. Just not ready for winter.

Victoria said...

Gorgeous shots!! I loved so many of them..I love how you capture the exotic expression in your photos!! Uniquely Captivating!!
Kiki~

Carrie said...

I love this post, so much is going on in your gardens and you write about them all so beautifully. The leaf that fell asleep after playing in the wind - that is one of the most lovelly sentences I had read in a long time. Gorgeous photos, I've sort of forgotten what a blue sky looks like.
LOVE the new profile picture, girl, you look amazing, sexy hair xxx ;)

tina said...

No, I don't have the Korean one but will keep an eye out for it. Sounds interesting. You never mentioned if you liked the waxbell blooms? I liked them for all of the 2 minutes they bloomed.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

'ben" I will think about this seriously ! I have a spot in the kitchen over the hutch that I have some of my plants on .. I love African violets (but try to keep the number down due to .. well, they don't stay all that happy with me ? ) but the lights would make them happy right ?
Thanks for the heads up on how to do this economically !!

Kate girl .. I'm still smiling about the Edward Gory Halloween fun you had on your blog ! Yes .. this is a long strange spell , now we are in rain mode .. soon it will be snow no doubt ? LOL

Hello Kiki ! thank you so much : ) I'm afraid with the shift in seasons the pictures will be boring .. all white motif ? LOL

Carrie : ) You are too sweet , thank you girl ! .. funny how it just struck me about the leaf and the wind playing together .. it struck a cord in me some how ? : )

Tina .. did you see the new Halloween counter at the top of the sidebar now ?? LOL
YES ! it is called Korean Goatsbeard .. it is a mini plant but amazing and beautiful .. I will do a post on it and leave a link with more information about it. I did like the waxbells a lot .. but like you I am sorry they don't last long .. but they were pretty !

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Beautiful textures and colours in the November garden.

I have to thank you for the smile, though:

"Hamlin ornamental grass looks like a bleached mop of hair gone wrong"

Hilarious line!! :)

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thank you Ms. S.
Strange quips pop into my head some days when I look at my plant pictures ? LOL
Soon the snow is coming and it will all be under a white blanket for a very long time I fear .. BIG sigh !

Rose said...

Joy, I'm trying to take notes here as I write...remembering all these pretties in your fall garden that could be added to mine for some more fall color. The hydrangeas this year have been spectacular, though. I think I like their fading blooms almost as much as the summer ones. I tried to find a "Pinky Winky" last fall; I remember going around asking different sales people at one garden center for it. If they didn't know what I was talking about, they looked at me as if I was asking for Humpty-Dumpty:)

Hope the sun is still shining for you; November here has finally put on its typical pre-winter face.

Dave@The Home Garden said...

I know what you mean, it gets challenging to think of new post material when nothing seems to be growing! It looks like you found quite a few things worth mentioning. I always like the look of those echinacea seed heads!

Phillip Oliver said...

I actually like the winter break but I know if it was as long as yours, I'd be singing another tune. I'm glad you've had a nice November. Your new photo is very nice.

Helen said...

Ah, Joy, I do wish we could have this weather all winter, with just a few days of "pretty" snow around Christmas... or falling down gently, just when we're in the mood for it. If you start a petition, I'll sign it. All your plants still look (unfairly [compared with my garden]) decorative, and the "winter you" looks très chic.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

It doesn't look desperate there, it's just beautiful! I remember last year taking a picture of every green sprout coming out of the ground, that felt desperate :) I hope we can get some of your nice fall weather!

Randy Emmitt said...

Joy,
Your garden is still filled with beauties. I was taken in with your Lemon Thyme sounds like I'll be looking to find that one. We planted Mother of Thyme 3 years ago, the first two years it was spreading wildly and now it looks terrible, cut back a bushel of dead stuff on it a few days ago.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Rose girl !
Slow down and take a breath there ! LOL .. I remember you saying you couldn't find Pinky Winky last Autumn and it was so frustrating for you .. and YES ! I am liking the faded blooms as much as the fresh ones too : )
That Cityline one blew me away .. and I still have dried ones from Little Lamb 3 years ago on top of my kitchen hutch !
We have had rain the past two days but the sun is coming out again .. strange weather .. but winter is stomping in soon I'm sure ;-)

Dave I have a weak spot for echinacea no matter the season and it is kind of thrilling to see where the birds have been picking off the seeds .. it is so nice to know they can find food here like that. Yes ... stretching a post will be more and more difficult .. have to get rather artistic ? about disguising old news ? LOL

Phillip ... aren't you a sweetheart ! Thank you : ) .. I love the break as well but typically our break just about "breaks" us with the length it takes .. canuck gardeners get more wacky than usual .. cabin fever is rampant ! LOL

Helen .. if I start this petition do you think we can finally adjust our winters to suit us girl ?? LOL I would sign on the dotted line MANY times to shorten the dreaded siege .. what you described is perfection .. just a dusting of snow to make merry for Christmas : )
Thank you so much too !

Catherine, I almost and do have "sprout" pictures in fact on hold for when I start really going through the withdrawal thing .. it is going to be a long winter I'm afraid .. but it does have to end some time so I will be READY !
I'm happy to share the nice weather girl : )

Randy .. thank you ! : ) lemon thyme smells so wonderful and it is such a pretty one too. I have Mother of Thyme and I found the same thing happened as well .. so I cut mine back a great deal and it seems to work better for me that way .. there are so many gorgeous thymes out there I need a garden just for (time) thyme ? LOL

Mary Delle LeBeau said...

I want to thank you for your comment on my post on desert plants. The desert plants in Barcelona must be stunning. I'd love to see that.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

I just popped over to your place again Mary .. YES ! it was beautiful except for that awful graffiti thing.
I wish we had made it over to the UK to see the real deal English Country gardens while we lived in Europe .. but being in Holland and travelling to the places we did get to .. it was wonderful !

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Hi Joy! Hamlin grass looks funny indeed! But the lavender, wow, looks great! I have only Spanish lavender which gets weird shape with age. Yours looks much better. I also like Winter You. Add a crown, and you will be a Snow Queen.

Sue Catmint said...

love that smokebush - so pleased you are a member of our global smokebush fan club! I haven't visited you for a while, and it's great to back.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello there Tatanya !
Hey thanks girl : ) I have had Spanish lavender as an annual but it never seems to do very well.
I have so many other ones like Hidcote and Munstead, but I was so surprised that Provence did this well ! I love the tall flower stalks to cut and dry .. it is a great lavender even for our zone !

Hey there catmint girl : ) .. I have always loved smoke bush .. Royal Purple absolutely stole my heart .. then Golden Spirit .. I want to try more but space is a bit tricky .. some how I'll squeeze one more in though ? LOL

Jan said...

Hi Joy...I saw you at the most popular post of the moment...and I just had to come over and see what all the fuss was about! Wow...you've got some beautiful photos there, girl! Your fall beauty is amazing. I didn't think I really liked fall all that much, but after I took some photos, I realized just how beautiful it really is! It doesn't need summer color to be gorgeous;-) I just can't believe how lovely our weather has been so far. I am hoping for a 'light' winter, if ya know what I mean;-)

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hey Jan girl .. I wonder what all the fuss is about too ? LOL
I can't believe you don't love Autumn ? You have to have some pretty colours going on in your end of the country ! ... and YES ! hoping for a light winter too at this end as well .. but you just never know do you ?

Dee/reddirtramblings said...

Fantastic fall color. Nature goes to sleep with a beautiful sigh. You'll visit blogs my dear and get to read all the posts you want cause you'll be stuck in the house. Perhaps, plant an amaryllis too. We'll get through winter, although I'm not looking forward to it. Thanks for your kinds words about my blog theme. I appreciate it.~~Dee

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Dee girl : ) thank you so much and you are certainly welcome too !
I wanted to do do an amaryllis but the only place is on top of my kitchen hutch so the girls don't get at it .. I'll try and find one though .. I think I will NEED it ! LOL .. Yes .. a lot of visiting of blogs for sure !