Despite having a good freeze this past week some annuals still look good and add a bit of color to the gardens. There are of course many choices that would meet this criteria and truth be told we did remove varieties that could have looked ok for quite some time providing we don't get snow. The problem is that when winter hits, it will probably hit with a vengeance and we aren't anxious to have days worth of garden work to do at that point. I must say that the cold really brings out the colors in the sweet alyssum and it is in fall that it's at its best.
The Sargentii flowering crab pictured below doesn't have as heavy a fruit set as the related Mary Potter pictured in a couple of previous posts, but the darker richer color of the fruit is very nice and will show off better once all the foliage has dropped.
Acer palmatum Osakazuki has changed to the deeper green brown tone it gets prior to turning to red... the question is always 'will it get that far this season'. Some foliage is just drying up rather than making the change, but I'm hoping for the best!
Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail' has certainly been colorful for a very long time and is fast becoming a favorite perennial for me.
We will leave the petunias and dusty millers for some time yet as they still make a good show. Soon enough the foliage of the Tina flowering crab will have dropped and there will be a nice display of fruits there as well.
Of course, among the most frost tolerant plants are the hardy mums and they will continue to brighten the gardens for some time to come. We are enjoying a beautiful three days in the high 50's... so it's off to wrap trees for the winter. I haven't seen any rabbits in some time, however that is sure to change. We are no longer bothered by possums, but raccoons have now invaded and the mass daffodil/daylily garden looks like a field of mini-mines have been exploding... this despite the fact that there is a radio blasting all night in that area... it wouldn't surprise me if the raccoons were to change the station to locate their favorite style of music! It's difficult dealing with an animal whose IQ rivals one's own! Take care, Larry
