belated bloom day
The dahlias soldiered on even through torrential rains, but even they were no match for the cold snap we just went through. For that reason, we Portlanders must look elsewhere for the beauty of the season.
The rains have returned with a vengeance, but this morning there was fog to act as a backdrop to the raindrops shimmering in branches and leaves.
This gnarly old apple tree silhouetted against the fog looks like a setting for the “Twilight” series.
The Euphorbias are bouncing back, especially this ‘Persian Velvet’, which captures raindrops for display.
The birch trees are filled with cute, dangling catkins.
The catkins on the wild hazels are a soft, creamy yellow.
I suspect the cold snap can take a bow for turning the Nandina nitida these fiery shades for the first time in its life.
Grasses have colored up too.
The black mondo grass has managed to hold on to its delightfully sinister berries.
Everywhere, there is the promise of things to come.
The bottle bed sparkles in the woodland no matter what the weather Gods throw at us. With little competition, this is their time to dazzle.
May Dreams Gardens is the place to go to see gardeners from all over the world chronicling December in their gardens.
December 17th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Not easy to find something colourful at present, is it?
Strange to think that we are so very far apart ( 6000 miles) and yet our gardens look so much alike.
I rummaged through your archives last week, very enjoyable. Hence the invite into mine.
No bloomday post from me this autumn, but your xmas card is at the name link.
That bottle bank is ever so striking against the bracken.
December 20th, 2009 at 3:54 am
It took me a while to figure out why you were calling it the bottle bed! duh! What a nice splash of color!
December 20th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Jo & Wendy~ I always admired Pam’s (Digging) bottle tree. Several 4′ lengths of rebar were lying around, as were the blue bottles (empties from my fave seltzer, too pretty to discard). Wish I could come up with as successful uses for some of the other detritus that accumulates around here.