In the garden: seedheads

I got this Himalayan clematis at a plant sale a couple of years ago - the flowers are small and not too showy, but the leaves are a beautiful blue-green color and the seedheads are spectacular. It grows up the north side of our deck, so it’s protected from the worst winds - otherwise I’m sure these fuzzy little guys would have blown off by now.

In the garden: a dusting of snow

It snowed on Sunday morning - nice big fluffy flakes. Then it all melted. Sigh.

I finally caved this year and bought a Black Mondo Grass at the Northwest Horticultural Society Plant Sale. I hated this grass for years, but suddenly I find I love it. It’s sturdy and looks great when it’s wet - important attributes in a Skagit County winter.

In the garden: almost time for pussywillows

One thing I love about living where I do is that the garden is really never out of bloom. Right now things are pretty gray and dull, but even as the leaves come off the trees and the last roses fall, the next wave is getting ready to burst open.

This is a branch of Salix chaenomeloides, or giant pussywillow. I got it as a tiny twig from Heronswood Nursery, much to the envy of several hundred other people at that particular Hellebore Open Day. It has wonderful bright pink buds that open into enormous fuzzy gray catkins with a rosy flush under the fur. Some of the buds are already showing a bit of silver!

In the garden: still a little color out there

The garden is looking pretty bleak this week, but here’s a shot of holiday color - rosa glauca hips in front of a small euphorbia. The rose is just covered with hips this year - it’s one of my cherished plants from Heronswood and it’s done splendidly.

In the garden: gone with the wind

We had a real doozy of a windstorm this past week, which pretty much took care of the remaining leaves on the trees. The styrax in the back yard just has a few left, and the seed pods have all blown off.

It’s starting to look like winter.

In the garden: silver and gold

Artemisia is a great plant, it stays relentlessly fluffy and silver all autumn and winter. Then in the early spring I cut it down to a stump and it looks terrible, but by then there are other compensations.This one is called Powis Castle. It sits directly under a coralbark Japanese maple, which has been busily dropping all of its leaves.

In the garden: Canna glauca

It’s starting to get cold outside. The cannas probably won’t hang in there for much longer, but for the moment they still look awesome.

In the garden: farewell autumn

The Japanese maple on the deck had its best fall color year ever. Alas, the windstorm we had recently has taken every leaf off of it. But I can remember it fondly.