'Lady in Red' and Other Things

It was a blustery day today. The sun came out for awhile, then went back into hiding, so the brisk wind was chilling. But the autumn color was red hot. I looked around and it was everywhere. . .







Certainly in the red miniature roses (Rosa sp.) . . .










The Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum) berries remain towards the bottom of the trees - the birds have eaten those from the upper half of them . . .




Showy Stonecrop (Sedum 'Autumn Fire')

Sedum spurium 'Dragon's Blood'

The Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora) is sporting red seedheads . . .













Dwarf Fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii) is showing some autumn color . . .

Spiraea 'Goldmound' is gorgeous, as is the smaller Spiraea 'Walbuma' (not shown)

Euphorbia 'Efanthia', which has fabulous shades of color in summer, just gets better and better as autumn wears on. 'Chameleon' looks much the same, only less compact in form.









The Scotch Heather (Calluna vulgaris 'Robert Chapman') nearly glows. I definitely want more of this next year. It's pretty in the summer, too.





The sedums are vigorous summer growers, but it's in the fall that they really come to the forefront with their deepening colors. This October Daphne (Sedum sieboldii) is one of my favorites.



The south side of the house is going to get a facelift next spring. I'm not sure what we're going to do there, but something. This bed has sort of been pushed by the wayside for a very long time, but it's time it gets some attention. The burning bush (Euonymus alata) that we've trimmed into a small tree shape will stay though. There's another one at the far corner of the house you can see in the shadow. I don't know if it's because it doesn't get as much sun as the 'tree' one, or if it's a different cultivar, but it's a different shade of red - more burgundy. I love them both.

See the small green/orange plant near Boo? That's an azalea I bought in Florida in March of 2006. I planted it there that summer and was too lazy to dig it up and bring it in to winter over. I was sure that any azalea I bought in Florida was not going to survive our winter. I mulched it very well and that thing had green leaves well into January! It lived and while it didn't grow much over the summer, nor did it bloom in the spring, it seems to be quite healthy. It will stay another winter where it is, then next spring I'll find a location where it fits in better.


When Mom and I went to Garden Fair at Winterthur, Delaware in September 2006, I purchased a couple of bonsai specimens, including this Amur maple (Acer ginnala). I planted it temporarily in the ground to winter over, then this spring I put it in a hypertufa planter with some other things. About a month ago, I put it back in the ground for the winter and it's showing wonderful red color. We have two full-sized Amur maples in the yard that we've had for several years.




Behind the Amur maple, at the foot of the honeysuckle trellis are several cultivars of Epimediums. One of them has some red leaves on it, so I think that one might be the Epimedium x rubrum that I bought a couple of years ago, although right now it's not showing the red edges it usually does.









Two summers ago, this red birdhouse had morning glories climbing all over it and can you believe I don't have any pictures of that? It was just one of those things that I was going to do and never got around to it.






'Lady in Red' Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) didn't bloom a whole lot this year (it's second in our garden), but it did grow quite a bit. It's looking a bit red right now though, as is the viburnum behind it. Grandma gave this to us and I don't know what one it is, just that it's a viburnum.






Geranium pratense 'Victor Reiter, Jr.' is normally a dark greenish burgundy through the summer, but turns a definite burgundy with some red highlights in fall.



Several of the Heucheras show red coloring in the fall, including 'Harvest Burgundy', 'Peach Flambe', and even 'Harvest Silver.'













The strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa 'Honeoye') plants are even getting in on the act. Perhaps a foretelling of things to come next June?







This was the second year for growing Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla 'Bright Lights') in our vegetable garden. Last year, I grew it from seed. This year I found young plants at a local nursery and bought one red, one pink, and one yellow. We don't eat it; we just think it looks cool and it always gets comments from garden visitors. It survives light frosts, too.





Whether this rose (Rosa 'Memorial Day') will actually bloom before it gets frozen remains to be seen, but this is definitely not its normal color. The colder temperatures have turned a normally light pink rose into a deep rosy one.









The Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) is a gorgeous antique red color and I love the veining in its leaves. If you look closely you can see the buds already formed for next year.


This cotoneaster is one of the original landscape plantings that was here when we bought the house in 1977. It looked great when we moved in, then a few years later had a disease problem, so we cut it back to the ground and let it start over. It's been fine ever since. I keep it thinned out and I love its airy, freestyle look that way. In the summer, I plant caladiums all through them and I love their burst of color and the contrast of their giant sized leaves through the tiny green ones of the cotoneaster.


And finally, the Gaillardia is still blooming like crazy. This one - 'Tokajer' - is a little more red than the other ones I've got.


There. Just a little red to brighten up your day.