Final Fall Planting

We recently removed what we fondly called the cancer tree, resulting in a large clearing. A void can't last long in my garden, so yesterday I planted the new space. Where there once was one massive plant, spreading into a foreboding thicket, there is now a Full Moon Japanese maple, a prostrate blue cedar, three coralberries, three deciduous hollies, and a mock orange. I will take photos and show the new area in a future post.

It was a lot of work, but I hardly broke a sweat, as I had both my husband and my oldest son helping me. I pointed, and they dug the holes. They transplanted shrubs from their previous locations to new ones. They carried new plants and lifted them from their pots and placed them in the holes. They shoveled dirt and hauled water. I rather liked my supervisory position, which I shared with Autumn the cat. Autumn kept a close eye on things. But supervision is demanding work, and eventually, like all good supervisors, she had to take a nap.We got all the work done in a few hours. It would have taken me much longer by myself.

The weather was warm and sunny, and it felt like a day in May, rather than November. Nights are chilly, though, and we have had a few days with a pre-winter feel to them. Walking through the garden I still see summer flowers, as well as fall foliage and other signs of the season.

Here are some of the flowers blooming this week:Top: Penelope rose. 2nd row: More Penelope blooms; Camellia 'Leslie Ann' was the first to bloom. 3rd row: a stray daylily bloom; Rosa mutabilis. Bottom row: This camellia was here when we moved here in 1985; fall mums.

Zinnias and other flowers are blooming in the wildflower garden, but here one also sees dried seed heads. The red leafed vine is Virginia Creeper, a native that is often mistaken for poison oak but is easily distinguished by its five leaves, rather than poison oak's three:

There may be flowers and butterflies still around, but the colors of fall definitely are dominant in the garden now. We have been raking a lot of leaves!Top photo is Chinese Pistache tree. Below that are shots showing colorful dogwoods in the garden.

Top photo is Beauty Berry. 2nd row: This photo was taken a few weeks ago. Since then raccoons have eaten all the decorative dried corn; These are magnolia seed pods Lou gathered into a bucket. 3rd row: Canadian Hemlock cones; Decorative cabbage.

Top row: Both shots are of changing colors on a forsythia bush. Middle row: a fallen redbud leaf; dogwood foliage. Third row: Variegated artemesia 'Oriental Limelight' is semi-evergreen; Variegated Pittisporum is evergreen. Both are colorful counterparts to all the red and golden shades of fall.

I think this was my final fall planting job. No more work for me till spring! Haha! Who will believe that joke? After all, I am sure Autumn and I will have some more supervising to do!

A Surprise in the March Woodlands

It happens often enough, but I have never caught one in the act before. It was quite a surprise, and I will tell you about it at the end of this post. The March woodlands are filled with busy creatures and fresh foliage and pretty blooms as the world sheds its worn out winter garments and puts on spring finery. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to visit, when the light transforms the mood to something close to magical. Here's a quick tour, with all photos taken within the past few days.

Dogwoods were at their peak bloom this week:

A few other flowers in the woodland garden:
Clockwise from top left: Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection'; Native Silene virginica, commonly called Fire pink; the last of the daffodils blooming in my garden; Trillium, another native.

I have to admit, this part of the woods looks snaky:

And here's the surprise I promised. Look at the following photos and you will see a snake shedding its skin. Only a portion of its mid section is visible. The tail of the snake is in a hole, and its front is under a shrub. It is using the friction of the hole's edge to pull off the skin. Too bad I don't have a view of the front of the snake. I was tempted to lie on my belly and poke the camera under the shrub to get a view of its head, but sanity prevailed. I returned the next day to find the skin, but the last shot shows all that remained were a few pieces near the hole. Apparently, something ate the rest of it!

The snake had the right idea. With a new season and warmer weather, it's time for some new clothes!