I pulled most of mine a few days ago. They have been labelled and are drying off in a cold room of my house. I am running over to my daughter's today to pull hers, and then I suppose I HAVE to pull the two gorgeous ones on my patio. Every day since I pulled the others, I have said to myself, pull them, they are going to get hit by the temps (which have been 32-33F overnight). I go out there with every intention of pulling them out of their pots... and then I just can't. Not only are they in bloom, but they have BUDS! They are going to BLOOM more!

Luckily they are near the back door so I can run out in a pinch and pull them if needed. I just keeping wanting ONE MORE DAY.....

:)

Dee

"I just keeping wanting ONE MORE DAY....."

:0)

I really haven't done much yet at all - time constraints and a bad knee have kept me out of the garden since July. Well, at least to work, lol. Plenty of walking around and pondering all the chores I have to do!

At this time of year it's mostly leaves, leaves, leaves. I have a ton of trees on my almost-acre, plus all the trees around me. After 30 years here, it still boggles the mind sometimes when one walks outside now and sees this sea of leaves!

When I was younger and had more time (and energy lol) I used to start early and just rake to shred (for mulch), so I would spend a day here and there raking and shredding, starting in one corner (and rake in the direction of the prevailing wind). So although in the big picture I wasn't cleaning up much, I WAS making a dent in it by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, which is usually our big clean-up weekend. My shredder broke 10 years ago lol, so I don't do that anymore. DH has a mulching tractor which is wonderful, but he detests yard work so he keeps putting it off.

roxanna, I think the cruel thing is that as we get older, climate change is making our growing season longer. I say cruel because, for me at least, who wants to empty pots of still-blooming annuals, or dig up still-blooming dahlias, or cut back still-great-looking perennials? So I wait, and wait, and wait, and then suddenly there's a big freeze, it's now cold and miserable (and often rainy) out, and THEN we have to go do this work with our lessened energy, initiative, and ability to be in the cold for too long. It seems like lately I've been doing gardening chores in December! In CT! :)

It's a beautiful (if chilly) day today, so I am headed out to put burlap around some new evergreens (the first time I have ever done so, so this is a big experiment!), to dig up a few dahlias which look dead or dying (most of them still looking great!) and move some pots around. Oh, and rake some leaves lol!

:)

Dee

I forgot to mention that I am proud of myself for finishing planting my bulbs just yesterday!

"I found a very nice dogwood seedling about 2 ft tall amongst the perennials so I need to decide where to put it."

I love when that happens! Random stuff popping up is especially delightful when it's something you actually want to keep.

Sorry to hear about your cold. I wasn't feeling great yesterday evening, fatigue hit me all of a sudden so I went to bed early and slept like a brick. Feel perfectly fine today {shrug).

Hmm, maybe a callicarpa or symphocarpus? I'm thinking strictly in terms of berries and (relative) height; not sure how either of these does in your soil. The symphocarpus might be too small for your spot but I'm not familiar with all the cultivars (or the species, for that matter) so maybe there is one that is bigger.

I will say I planted a cephalanthus in a customer's garden, and we both absolutely loved it. It was unusual and attracted sooo many pollinators. And it grew quickly. I think it was the species and it got quite large quite quickly. It really was gorgeous.

I bought a smaller variety for my garden, Sugar Shack, but it lived a neglected, pot-bound life all last season, and despite my best intentions, this season too. I promise if it makes it through winter in the garage again I will plant it lol

:)

Dee

Dee, how wet was the spot where you planted the cephalanthus? I can keep it modestly watered and the heavy clay will hold water--but I can't keep it soaked.

Admittedly, the cephalanthus in my customer's garden was planted in what was practically a swamp! Along a small creek.

The one that will be planted in my yard was originally intended for a rather shady spot that has soil that has YEARS of undisturbed leaf fall etc. So the soil WAS nice and moist. The cephalanthus is still going to be planted in the same spot, but the electric company cut down a bunch of trees, so the area is now MUCH sunnier, and I would assume, drier. But I am still going to try the cephalanthus here. I will have to keep it watered but I'm willing to give it a shot, because it was so beautiful in the other yard. I looked for a photo but unfortunately don't have any.

Good luck with your decision! Let us know what you choose.

:)

Dee

Nice photos - good to see things plugging away in November! I've got my monkshood - I think that's the only perennial in bloom.

For annuals, my geraniums are looking GREAT, my impatiens are hanging on (which looks especially nice as I use them as edging, so my beds still look okay as they pretend to be still alive lol. At least from a distance!). I have some Blue Bedder (I think???) salvia that just doesn't know when to quit, and quite serendipitously is right next to some yellow and orange giant marigolds, which then line up with some orange zinnias still going strong. So a nice little swath of color going on there.

Then there's this

This only adds to my new-found respect for wax begonias lol. Tough little suckers! I don't even remember having any in those pots on top of this wall! There are some about 6 feet away that must have seeded across the patio!

:)

Dee

Sarcococca (S. confusa probably, but these are often confused in the trade).

I have some perennials doing a puny late season rebloom including coneflower

Stokesia doesn’t know when to quit

Even some phlox rebloom.

Amsonia foliage with zinnias and salvia.

jim those Kodiak Blacks are beautiful!

:)

Dee

Wow! Really like those tags! Awesome!

Bunch of leaves from neighbors trees are covering my Jet Black...lol

We've had several frost/freezes this last week.

Still no color. But that can be expected on new plants with limited root system.

There wasn't anything that colored all that good this season. Oh well.

17d this morning, 13 d yesterday. Frost still present in the shade at almost noon.

Oh, I have ordered several times from Trees.com (recent name change from Fast Growing Trees.com). I was hesitant at first but a few people I know ordered from them and were very happy. So I took a chance and honestly have been pretty happy with everything I've gotten from them. LOL actually I think my little Mr. Bowling Balls were from them!

Hopefully you will have as good luck with them as I have

:)

Dee

Thank you for this thread @porkchop_z5b_MI. I added one Mister and 4 Mrs. this year. I ordered them from Home Depot with shipping direct from the grower and they were big enough to give me confidence in their survival, but not so big as to be daunting when dighing the planting holes. They were pruned back hard for shipping, so no berries this year. I worried that setting Mr. Poppins back more in tge shade might be a problem so I appreciated hearing y’all’s experiences and fell much more vinfident about how I’ve arranged them!

uhoh. Mr. Poppins has dropped all his leaves already. Hope that is normal this early.

porkchop, yes, my geraniums for the most part are still going gangbusters. There are two that I had overwintered that are in their own pots by my back door, and every time I pass them I marvel at how fabulous they still look. We've had a couple of light frosts here that have affected stuff right in the pots next to them, but the geraniums look fantastic. Such gorgeous foliage it looks fake lol! Now comes the balancing act between leaving them out as long as possible to enjoy, but not long enough that they die before I can overwinter them!

:)

Dee

"I planted 3 of 8 red twig dogwoods that I started in pots from cuttings. The deer chewed off all the leaves."

I found out the hard way that the dogwood shrubs are on the list of deer favorites. Sigh...

Christie, if you post a picture of your shrub, either here or on the Name that Plant forum, maybe we can come up with an id for you. For starters, is the foliage opposite or alternate? Could it be Sambucus nigra 'Pendula'?

No pictures, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see my Teasing Georgia in bloom yesterday! There are a few buds too, so I hope they make it.

We have had a few frosts here but most things are still hanging on. Salvia, foxgloves, cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, impatiens and geraniums are still giving some color. The dahlias are still hanging on but honestly they did not bloom well this year anyway, and I can't figure out why....

I think the only perennials I have in bloom are monkshood, but I have a few berries here and there - callicarpa, symphocarpos, hollies, viburnum, etc - most plants are still young so not a whole lot of berrying yet.

:)

Dee

November 5, and a couple of plants out front still going strong. Same plants as earlier, but they are the only things blooming and they are still at it:

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it every single month, but worth saying again that Gaillardia Independence is a powerhouse. It just never stops!

Also my native honeysuckle is blooming.