Wreath making …a first

Inspired by Lori's  danger garden post. I thought I'd have a go at it. I've used Climbing Hydrangea as my frame work, it needed pruning anyway . I didn't have any nice wire so  I've used WHITE ties , which I'll change at some point ! Then I found a few fine Japanese maple twigs to add ; and finally I chose Hypericum , it had such beautiful autumnal color and blackened berries … not sure if it needs more. I now realize ,that we have no nice doors in this house , but it's gone up anyway .   

First frost ...

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I should give a warning ,  some gruesome photos in this post .  It's aways a bit shocking , that first after frost inspection.                                                                                   .  But interesting to see how the garden copes.   I've never left Euphorbia 'Emerald leaf' out this long , but I had so many plants, I left a few out   .   I 'm more worried about the Dyckia and Hakea lissosperma that are underneath .

Plenty of blackened mush around.

Leucosceptrum stellipilum 'October moon'  these late blooms always get hit.

Blackened Dahlia of course, but my  new 'Tough -love -sale'  plant Lomayia myricoides  survives ! 

Pineapple sage got  battered

Another new plant Lepechinia hastata , a little crinkled , but still trying to bloom.

Sad Fushia 

I planted Salvia muelleri this year to replace  a not very hardy Salvis greggii 'Diane' . Seems to be OK in a  my most exposed front garden ... well that's one frost down .

In the garden ….

It was dry and mild today, so a chance to get out , rake a few leaves , pull some weeds   and have a look around.
Verbena rigida and another gang of  Cerinthe Major . I wonder if they will bloom , than I can have even more selfseeders  in the spring.

Sanguisorba 'alba' got lost in the fray at the height of summer.

 The new self-seeders of Teucrium hircanicum'paradise delight' are just starting to bloom. These can seed as much as they like , such a great plant in my dry garden . So much easier then all the Veronicas I've tried out for purple spikes.

Salvis Turkistanica having another go.

The pineapple sage happily blooming away and  a row of  Borage , which at this point has nice fresh foliage , so it can stay for awhile yet, that stuff plops itself in to every available space .

Rosa chinensis has been blooming all summer . The plants I grew from seed are now almost a foot tall  , they to got a little lost in the summer border.
Not bad at all for late November !

Indoors….

The view from the back door. It's about as far as I've ventured this week, with it being mostly wet, windy, cold and grey. I did get out and plant all my bulbs one morning , that was a huge relief . 

We have had indoor projects ; like buying sale Pendleton fabric to recover the doggie's bed . Micky and Rosie were helping to settle in the cushion. While I tried to work on stitching the corners.

It took most of the day , so I didn't have the energy for my Bloom post this month . I think they like the lovely thick wool .  

While I was shopping in Portland  I found these huge Oak leaves on the ground , they were much admired as I carried them around.
And I found an old frame to put them in when I got home .

A few things in the November garden...

I took this photo late in the day when the crazy light turned everything into a  coral  colored aquatic landscape. I thought my Opunto was  suffering with some sort of cold / wet weather stress . 

More of the crazy coral light photos , it didn't last long . Shortly after it was dark out.

Clematis'Helios' my most luxuriant seed heads .

 Myrteole nummularifolia  with pink pearl sized berries , apparantly edible; and the leaves  can be used for tea. I haven't tried yet . … the plant is very  small  still and very slow growing. 

I've enjoyed this self seeded pot of Euphorbia 'emerald leaf' all summer . It's smothered  the evergreen shrub under all that foliage , but with the first frost it will be no more.

Old house gardens.

Oh how I look forward to my first bulb delivery, especially when it comes from'Old house gardens'.
I only order a few things , this year : Red spider Lily, surprise Lily , oxblood Lily and Byzantine gladiolus . All new to me ! I thought I'd have a departure from my usual Tulip craze.

 

Bell jar ...

I found something to fill my bell jar with ; and to get rid of a few leaves.

November in the garden...

Between big sloshes of rain , I've been clearing , replanting and graveling another seating area. This one in the far south/east facing corner . It's the  place to set just now , a nice sun trap.
The fence area is very BARE . You can't see it . but I've planted a Loquat , my second try. I'm counting on a mild winter…we'll see.

The Japanese Maple coloring nicely at last.

A sneaky little bloom I almost missed , Camellia grijsii