yellow chrysanthemum

Silent Sunday: Rose Hips and Yellow Chrysanthemums

Yellow chrysanthemum flowers from behind, sunlit

Finale

It’s been a rainy, windy fall so far here on Vancouver Island. We’ve had none of the crisp, sunny autumn days that are some of the year’s best. In fact, it feels like we skipped from summer (hot and dry) to winter (rainy and windy).

The garden is a mess. I haven’t managed to do any edge-trimming or much end-of-season cleanup. I’m not obsessive about raking up every leaf any more, since I’ve heard that fallen leaves are a valuable resource for bugs and birds. (Let’s hope the bugs aren’t the kind that cause problems for gardeners.)

But there are always a few things worth looking at…

Amanita muscaria mushroom — This *Amanita muscaria* mushroom popped up by the pond

Pink oriental lily, last lily of 2021 — The last lily of the year. This is the first time I’ve had a lily bloom in November.

Yellow chrysanthemum flowers — The always reliable yellow chrysanthemum, not eaten by deer this time.

I see it’s raining again, so back to the work in progress!

Silent Sunday: Yellow, Orange, Silver

Yellow chrysanthemum flowers with Cigar Plant (Cuphea) "Vermilliionaire" and Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima) foliage

Yellow chrysanthemum flowers with Cigar Plant (Cuphea) "Vermilliionaire" and Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima) foliage and Smoke Bush in background

Photos taken in November 2020

Falling into Winter

I’ve just been looking over some of my old posts tagged “fall.” Many of the same scenes that struck me as photo-worthy just a few weeks ago also did a few years ago. It’s easy to forget, because every year some combinations of colour and light seem to be the best ever. So there’s no harm in revisiting them.

The featured image at the top of the post shows “plumbago” ( Ceratostigma plumbaginoides ) foliage turning red, with a few fading blue flowers, and silvery grey Santolina foliage.

Front garden featuring Stipa gigantea — The blooms on the ornamental grass Stipa gigantea are still a feature of this bed, months after they finished.

I’m pretty tolerant of our urban deer. Even though I thought I had their preferred plants figured out, I was surprised to find most of the yellow chrysanthemums eaten. And even geranium (Pelargonium) flowers, despite their earthy smell.

Chrysanthemums and Dusty Miller (Senecio cineraria) — Good thing I took this photo, because most of the flowers became snacks for a browsing deer. It left the Dusty Miller alone, however.

When something in the garden catches my eye, I grab the camera and run out to capture it before it’s gone. Light effects, like this one, are especially fleeting.

Stipa gigantea and fading aster foliage lit up by morning sun.

Then I race around snapping whatever else looks good. Like this foliage combination.

Lambs' ears and periwinkle foliage — Fuzzy lambs’ ears foliage with periwinkle and other stuff.

And just so this isn’t all “same old,” a surprise visitor this fall was this single Amanita mushroom, lurking behind the bench near the pond, at the foot of the weeping birch.