I hope you can make it this year.
Lakewold Gardens 16th Annual Beautiful Tables Showcase:
October 23-26, 2014 from 10a.m. to 4 p.m.
Please click 'Read more...' to see 67 pictures
U.S.A., Washington State. USDA zone 8b. Sunset climate zone 5
Autumn Colors In Yang's Nursery: Japanese Maples and Others
This is the time of year when even driving on a highway or in a residential area provides an opportunity to marvel at the colorful foliage palette.
But, while driving we can't enjoy it to its fullest extent, right? To absorb all the beauty which the fall offers us we need to step on the ground and better yet - on the ground where the beauty is concentrated, isolated from the distractions of the road and this can be all yours for half an hour or around that.
I found such a place for myself, that offers a wonderful, breathtaking show twice a year - Yang's Nursery'.
Here, I can treat myself with a walk through the garden with hundreds of types of maples and other trees, with a talk to its knowledgeable and friendly owners, Mr. and Mrs Yang, and -yes -with a spotting a plant or two for my own garden.
Here are some pictures I took recently. They cover just a small portion of the garden, but there are hundreds of the pictures I posted previously, and there are links to some of them at the end of this post.
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Please click 'Read more...' to see 54 pictures
Green October Hydrangea Bouquets
It's time to cut hydrangea bouquets.
Some of them will stay in the house, and some will decorate my garden working table through the winter.
Almost all the blue flowers turned green in August.
The majority of the flowers for the bouquets shown below came from the bushes of Nicco Blue which grows in a shady northern border against a wall and in a more sunny back hedge:
What is interesting, is that one of the bushes produced several late blooms which are bright blue.
They look like aliens among dozens of green mop heads.
I believe the flowers that have a purplish hue were cut from an Endless Summer bush.
The whole bush is turning purple right now.
Thus, the Endless Summer plant went from blue to green to purple.
An interesting transformation!
The whole bush is turning purple right now.
Thus, the Endless Summer plant went from blue to green to purple.
An interesting transformation!
I found some explanation of the green hydrangea heads here: Green Hydrangea Flowers
It is based on the facts that hydrangea blooms are not petals, but sepals.
Here is the abstract from the source:
"There is a cause of green hydrangea blooms. It’s Mother Nature herself with a little help from the French gardeners who hybridized the original hydrangeas from China. You see, those colorful flowers aren’t petals at all. They’re sepals, the part of the flower that protects the flower bud. Why do hydrangeas bloom green? Because that’s the natural color of the sepals. As the sepals age, the pink, blue or white pigments overpower the green so colored hydrangea blossoms often fade to green over time.
Many gardeners believe that color is controlled solely by the availability of aluminum in the soil. Aluminum gives you blue flowers. Bind up the aluminum and you get pink. Right? That’s only part of the story. Those green hydrangea flowers turn color with longer days of light. Light gives those colors the energy to dominate. The color can last for weeks and then you find your hydrangea flowers turning green again. The days are becoming shorter. The blue, pink and white pigments lose energy and fade away. Once again, green hydrangea flowers reign.
But if your hydrangea with green flowers is any of the other types and the blooms refuse to change, you’re the victim of one of Mother Nature’s occasional pranks and horticulturalists have no explanation for the condition. It may be a combination of unusual weather conditions, but no scientific reason has been found. Take heart. Your hydrangea with green flowers should only suffer the condition for a season or two before the plant returns to normal.Sometimes you’ll find a hydrangea with green flowers all season long. If you’re new to the garden or the plant is new to you, and the plant blooms later than its brethren, you might have a variety called “Limelight.” These relatively new plants have much smaller leaves than the big leaf varieties, although their blooms look similar to the mophead hydrangeas. Flowers turning green is natural to this beauty whose blooms begin and end in white but are bred to be green in between those times."
Whatever is the color of your hydrangea, I hope you cut some bouquets and enjoy them!
My garden helper is having a break from his garden duties, and I wish you a restful Sunday!
Emerald Autumn in My Garden
Autumn is slowly creeping into my garden
The shady corner doesn't feel it yet.
The shady corner doesn't feel it yet.
The morning sun is pushing its way through the tangles of the Magnolia Vine.
A huge leaf of the Tetrapanax is happily bathing in its light.
Summery Euphorbia in the basket, covered in white pearls, is eagerly waiting for it.
Baby tears are sleeping soundly down on the ground.
Just one single yellow rhododendron leaf is shyly signaling about autumn getting close.
So far, only the folding garden chair has a definite autumn color.
So far, only the folding garden chair has a definite autumn color.
***Copyright 2014 TatyanaS
