Post Hard Freeze

Since the last post, we've had some colder nights, and the colors have changed some more.  As usual, it has taken more than one day to get this post done.  I better get this posted tonight, because it is snowing right now, and it will be time to take the first snow photos soon.

Even though we have no trees in our yard, the neighbors have plenty to share with us, and the wind does a good job getting them over.

The Common milkweed buds seemed tightly shut to the point I thought maybe they were not going to, but they surprised me.  In the past, I took them off before they could ripen and blow around the neighborhood.

I do have these cut off now, but they sure are pretty.

The New England aster blooms have gone to seed, too.



I may have said this already, but I hope winter goes by as quickly as spring and summer did.

While we don't have room for a new tree, I do have lots of tall plants in the yard.

I'm enjoying the Rudbeckia maxima, on the left, behind the fence, and Grayheaded coneflower, Riddel's goldenrod, Little bluestem, and I think the plant on the right is Stiff goldenrod.

I don't show this area often, because it's been slow filling up.  The silvery groundcover is Pussytoes.

There are three New Jersey tea plants in the area.  I hope they grow to be a good size next year.

Looking back to the west:

Wild bergamont is another plant that looks pretty to me in the fall.

I am having trouble staying awake, so please forgive me, but I am going to go ahead and post this without identifying the plants.  Maybe I'll come back later.  Most have been identified in past posts, though.

Joe Pye weed:

The Hellebores have grown to a nice size, and the foliage seems to not mind the cold temperatures.

I think these are from a Butterfly milkweed.

As you can see, the irises are finished blooming.

Stock is an old fashioned fragrant annual.

Mountain mint:

My heart and prayers go out to those of you in Illinois and other places that have had severe weather lately.  I hope you are all safe and are ready to enjoy Thanksgiving.

Frost and More Fall Color

Yesterday morning was the first frost that I have noticed. When I went out to take photos, Heidi was in the back yard, and she was a little unhappy with me for being out there without her. 

This is Golden Alexander.

The Wild quinine foliage looked sparkly in person, and the Salvias I can't think of the name of, had lines of frost on the leaves, but the blooms are still holding on so far.

Looking at the Aster blooms makes me shiver!

Narrow leaf mountain mint:

Brr!  It looks like winter!

Lanceleaf coreopsis:

I forgot which kind of perennial Geranium this is.

A wider view:

I've mentioned this is the first year I've grown Sweet black eyed susans, and I'm loving the fall color.  I guess the frost didn't show up as well in the photo.

Prairie smoke geum is native to the states near Nebraska.  It is one of the early spring bloomers, and the foliage looks good all season.  The seed pods are Wild senna.

Later in the day, I took Heidi out to take more photos.

The Jupiter's beard still has blooms.  I don't remember if it normally does this late.

Snapdragons have a long bloom time, too.

This is an area by the curb where I have been taking daylilies out.  I hope the new plants, such as Amsonia hubrichtii, Big leaf aster, some grasses, and such grow well next year.  This is an agastache that I moved from somewhere else in the yard, where it had volunteered.

The frost did not harm anything that I could tell.  I hope the plants that are in the area in front of the fence leap next year, as most of them will have been there 3 years.

I like the color of the Switchgrass, 'Heavy metal'.

I've noticed that Mexican hats like to reseed.  I think I'll let them fill in any bare spots left in this area.

Please bear with me as I seem to like to show photos of the Grayhead coneflower and Riddell's goldenrod.  Oh, and there is some Little bluestem in front of the goldenrod, and the goldenrod on the far right is Rigid.

The east front bed also still has some nice color.

I am amazed at how well these irises are doing.

I've really come to appreciate the Heuchera richardsonii.  It has a nice fall color, and I'm thinking the foliage doesn't die back.  I'll have to watch and see.

I don't remember if I have mentioned that I clean up the garden in the spring.  There are some insects that overwinter in the stems of plants, and birds eat many of the seeds on the plants.  Plus, I like the look of plants, even if they are dormant or finished with their lives. 

This turned out to be a bit of a hodge podge post.  I hope fall is treating you well.  In case I don't post again before Thanksgiving, I hope you have a nice one!