Late October thunderstorm

We had a thunderstorm here aournd 6 this evening. Then the sun came out and there was the biggest, most intense rainbow I'd ever seen. I grabbed my camera, and here's what it looked like from my front porch. It was still thundering when I took this.

© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Best fall color - more trees and shrubs

Although there are still golfers playing at the course across the road from us, Toby and I have been able to start having morning walks there. If we get there early enough, we done before there's any danger of balls hitting us. The course has some magnificant trees, such as the oak above.

The sugar maples have colored beautifully this year
Our shrub border with eastern redbud,
double-file viburnum and cotoneaster
Our magnificant little black gum tree (Nyssa sylvatica)
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Fall color - the season's star trees and shrubs

It's been a fantastic autumn for great foliage color. Here are some favorites from my garden this season. They all happen to be North American natives.

Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
Serviceberry (Amlanchier canadensis)
The serviceberry leaves were more intensely colored this fall than I've ever seen them before.

Dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii)
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Heavy-duty frost at last

We've had frost here and there, mostly in low-lying areas, but this was the scene yesterday morning when we finally got a serious killing frost. I love getting out with the camera on frosty mornings like this.

This was the scene from breakfast room window,
looking at our meadow and the corn field across the road
Our wild border, the one taken over by golden rod and asters
So why do I write frost "at last"? Well, very soon I will get a much longed-for break from gardening and mowing. It's a good thing we have four seasons. I don't think I'd be happy in a climate where you could garden all year long. You can get too much of a good thing.

© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Fall splendour to gorgeous to rake up

We are at the peak of fall color. A good wind yesterday saw leaves falling like rain. They look so pretty on the ground along the laneway that I'm reluctant to mow over them or rake them up.

Flowers are mostly gone, but leaves more than make up for that
The shrub border behind the four-square garden (below)
with yellow backdrop of tree farm ashes
Molinia 'Skyracer' grasses frame sundial base my husband carved
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Grassy fireworks - another fall wonder

These flowers (when it comes to grasses, the experts prefer to use the term inflorescence) from one of my Miscanthus grasses look like fireworks going off. Isn't that fun?

A fireworks picture I took in the summer
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Blooming merrily in the cooler temperatures

My mandevilla vine, planted on trellis at the patio is still blooming beautifully. No hard frost here yet.



© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Plants that live well and die well

It was garden designer Piet Oudolf who taught me to see beauty in plants during their fall dying away. Here are two examples from my garden, the button-like seeds heads of Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm', and a hanging seed head of giant sunflower planted by birds, which grew beside our pond.

For more information on Piet Oudolf, I have a page on my web site about his garden design ideas.

© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Fall splendour - grasses and more

Fall is best time of year for me. Here are my reasons for loving autumn:

1. Heat and humidity go away
2. The light is golden and magical
3. The garden chores are almost over

4. Fantastic leaf colors
5. Harvest goodies: crisp apples, squash, cranberries are in season; you can roast dinner in the oven again
6. My favorite plants, ornamental grasses, really shine

Fountain grass in front, backed by flame grass and feather reed grass
Close-up of flame grass (Miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens)
7. Crisp frosty mornings and nights under a cozy duvet
8. The golf course across the road begins to get less busy, so I can walk the dogs there again
9. I can wear black turtle necks and jeans again (my favorite uniform)
10. My birthday is in October

© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Fall garden pictures and more

I was away last weekend in Killarney, not far from Sudbury, where I joined a fun group of people for a photo workshop, and had a lovely time. The pictures here were taken at Killarney Mountain Lodge.

Since then, I've had a kind of writer's, or should I say blogger's block, and so I haven't posted. Figured I'd better start again, and break this dry spell with some pictures from the fall garden. We've had a dry spell too in terms of rain, but the soil is still moist on most of the property, except on our south-facing hill, (below).


Fountain grass comes into its own at this time of year
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener