Gingkos: with and without leaves

After the coming weekend's fall blast of cold air, unusual for mid-November, we won't have much fall color left.  I'm thinking the wind will bring down all of the yellow, orange, and red maple leaves, and probably most of the oak leaves, too. A touchstone of our seasonal lives in the Eastern US...

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Ginkgos

In the mountains of Western North Carolina, the late October snow brought down all of the ginkgo leaves, before they'd turned their characteristic luminous yellow.In the piedmont of South Carolina, the leaves are starting to turn right now.  The smaller of the two trees in the garden where I used...

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A look back

Amazing to search for sassafras (which is a vivid color right now) in older posts, and pick up this post from several years ago - on this date.It's remarkable to see how much larger some of these trees are -- even just three years later (we've had a LOT of rain). http://naturalgardening.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-fall-color.htmlThe...

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Kalmias moving into the landscape

ready to plantMountain laurels are tricky -- they need perfect drainage and exactly the right site to be "at home" in a new spot. We've lost plenty over the years, when they weren't in the right spot!Old mountain laurels persist for decades, of course, and are perfectly sturdy in their (natural) well-drained...

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Tulips, revisited

I loved the fresh tulips, but their aftermath was equally beautiful.the following week...

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Nettles

I've been following a group that's interested in Celtic traditions and stories, and was surprised to see nettles pop up, as a touchstone plant in the first story.It's nutritious as a pot-herb, but also valuable (historically) as a fiber plant, and as a plant with story-meaning, too.Nettles are interesting...

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Lime basil

Lime basil took over my early lettuce rows. I'd grown it here last year and now I know that it's an abundant reseeder. I'd let it grow since early September when I set up these 2 rows, but now it was time to give the lettuce and the beets more room.Abundant harvest of lime basil! I shared some with...

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