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| Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake' |
For Foliage Day, I saved up all of the photos I have from this month that display the changing colors in our zone 5 Pennsylvania garden. We have had a particularly dry November, which has meant that the leaves have stayed on the trees and bushes longer than normal. Once the frost hit, the leaves began into their color change and we had the opportunity to enjoy it step-by-step over a couple of weeks instead of in a few days.
Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake' (above) is newly planted in the Shade Path
. It has wonderful autumn color. It can be seen in its diminutive size at the very right in the photo below.
One thing I am really enjoying is seen how the evergreens around the house begin to pop when surrounded by the yellows, reds and oranges. The small rounded green bushes in in the
pachysandra are actually
forsythias, which have kept their leaves much longer than the other deciduous bushes (note the mock orange
, Philadelphus, on the right in yellow leaf). I have been clipping them hard to retain their shape in this small area, which I know is a horror to some gardeners. But at the time of planting their price was right (since they grew from cuttings tended on our apartment window sill for years), and I really like the added yellow they give to the spring display in
April. So, I will probably go on clipping until we are no longer tending/living at this garden; then we will have to do something drastic.
I love the
Spirea 'Goldflame' in all seasons. It has red/orange buds nearly all winter, explodes with color in
May, and still looks good in the
Front Walk in November with the fluffy white seed heads of
Japanese Anemone.
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Topiary Alberta spruce in front of blazing Euonymus alatus, a known invasive
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| Spirea 'Goldflame' and Japanese Anemone |
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| Gray skeleton of Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Little Spire') and seed heads of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) |
A glimpse of the foliage on the
Hill Garden, which is still looking very alive this month (see more in
GBBD).
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Euonymus alatus, a known invasive, drops its leaves for the year
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| Yellow vibrancy of the weeping cherry (Prunus) in Cherry Corner |
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| Just days later, the Prunus is stripped of its leaves for the year |
The differing purple tint of this native oakleaf hydrangea bush contrasts with the one planted at the other end of the
Shade Path garden.
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| Forsythia under planted with wood spurge |
Lastly, a punch of color from our
forsythia in the
Front Woodland. It looks great under planted with
Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae, know as Mrs. Robb's bonnet.
Happy Garden Bloggers' Foliage Day!
Thanks to Christina at Creating My Own Garden of the Hesperides for hosting on the 22nd of each month.
