Welcome November!

Rudbeckia seedheads

What a beautiful autumn we have had! This October was as nice a one as I can remember. 

Lavender to Remember

Lavender from the Rose Garden at Havenwood

They say that scent triggers the most profound memory centers in our brains... That scent is the key to recalling moments in our lives. 

I was out picking some lavender on Sunday morning as a reminder of our fading summer Rose garden. Next year it will return and with more roses too! But I am going to hang on to these pieces and treasure them up for the next six months until spring comes to save the garden - and me - again. 

Fall Is for Planting Perennials

The first snow fell last night so it is high time to get these lovely shade garden plants in the ground!

The days are getting shorter and cooler and the blessed rains of autumn are breaking through the dry days of summer. It is finally fall planting season! Part of me goes into grieving every year at this time, as I hate to see the growing season end. But hope says to look forward to what is to come and so I like to channel my disappointment in to garden tasks that will bear fruit in the coming year. 

I came home last week from a perennial plant sale with golden sedge, purple Heucheras, pastel Astilbe, Autumn ferns and some new varieties of golden Hosta will fill everything out in the Beech tree bed nicely. 

Pruning Daylilies

Herbaceous pruning (cutting the foliage of perennial plants) has a few uses. Often, it is used to delay the bloom of a plant, or to make it have better branching instead of just one main stem. This is known across the pond as the "Chelsea Chop", because gardeners in the UK can plan on cutting their perennials around time of the Chelsea Flower Show. (The show is usually held at the end of May.)

Another good reason for pruning perennial foliage occurs later in the season. During the hot months of July and August, perennial foliage often starts to look old and tattered. For many years, I sighed and assumed that yellowing leaves meant my garden was passing into its fall foliage already.

Before: Hemerocallis waiting for their trim in the Front Woodland