Isn’t It A Bit Early?

Winter shall come. We know that. It shall come after fall. It shall come when the trees are naked, leaves are on the ground, flowers are in dry bouquets or in a compost pile. We don’t remember a freeze and snow to happen before Thanksgiving. Leaves were still on many trees and vines, and flowers were still blooming. The first snow, November 21st, was very light and fluffy.

Nasturtium, Nicotiana and Begonia finally realized that their time has gone.

Foxglove’s secondary blooms haven’t opened all of their buds yet. It could have been the first foxglove blooming in December, but not now.

Then, heavier snow fell, and unusually low temperatures for November changed things drastically.

Isn’t Fatsia supposed to have shiny black berries after its blooms are finished?

Wasn’t I just recently bragging about its fabulous blooms here: Fabulous Fatsia Flowers

Don’t Hardy Fuchsias in my garden usually carry their blooms into December ?

I used to have pictures of calendula flowers under the snow, but not those of dahlia and mums.

The worst were the winds. They broke huge firs’ limbs, up to 10 feet in length, shook zillions of cones and dry needles onto the ground and turned the yard into a mess. But I don’t complain. How can I be angry with the winds? How can I blame the cold and snow? They are part of winter, and winter is part of life. I can be a bit unhappy with myself for bringing some plants into the garage too late . But, I will try not to worry.

I’d rather prepare flashlights and candles in case we lose power. We already had our first warning. Good thing that I remember how to make coffee when the coffeemaker is dead. You need to have gas, water, Ibrik and coffee, of course!

I wish you a warm, cozy and enjoyable Thanksgiving!

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Copyright 2010 TatyanaS

Hellebore Blooming in November

In the Pacific Northwest, Helleborus is considered a late-winter and early-spring flowering perennial. It’s only November, but my Hellebore (Helleborus niger) has already started blooming. Wonderful! When most of the perennials quit for the winter, any new flowers are welcome. They provide a smooth transition to a new season. Even during winter, when other plants are dormant, there will be flowers in my garden!

This plant proves to be true to its other name, ‘Christmas Rose’.

After checking the pictures, I realized that I was not the only one excited about new blooms. Look who is here!

Maybe, most of the slugs prepared for the cold season, but not this one. Fresh sweet juice of the young blossom – what a treat! Another version of The Beauty and the Beast?

Lesson learned: peek under your flowers skirts once in a while! Now, it looks better.

In January, the whole plant will be covered in blooms. Attractive big leaves will stay dark green through the winter but will be cut back to give room for new growth. My previous post about this plant and its pictures in January 2010 are here: January Buds and Blooms

Hellebore in January

I find Hellebores.org to be a good source of information about Helleborus. They have a beautiful gallery of H. flowers pictures.

Copyright 2010 TatyanaS

Fabulous Fatsia Flowers

This is one of my three Fatsia japonica (Japanese Aralia, Aralia sieboldii) plants.

You can see an emerging umbel in the right side of the above picture.

Here, it starts opening, showing creamy-white flowers.

Sometimes, they call Aralia glossy-leaved paper plant, false castor oil plant or fig-leaf palm .

The blooms remind me of snowflakes and dandelion heads at the same time.

The pictures were taken in October and November 2010.

I showed all three aralia plants in my garden here: Aralia Blooming.

Japanese Aralia is an evergreen spreading shrub growing 5-12 feet tall, with thick, sparsely branched stems. The dark green leaves are spirally-arranged, large, leathery, with 7-11 broad lobes, toothed. The flowers are small, creamy white, borne in branching, long-stalked compound umbels in autumn or early winter, followed by small black fruit. Zones 8-10.

Soil: fertile, humus-rich, moist, well-drained.

Location: sun or light, dappled shade with shelter from cold, drying winds. Variegated cultivars need partial shade.

Beautiful plant!

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Copyright 2010 TatyanaS

Last Apple Blossom

The season required a final act, a great finale… I knew where I wanted to go. I wanted to go to an apple orchard. BelleWood Acres was chosen on the Internet as one of the best orchards in Western Washington. What a great time we had there! John and Dorie, the owners, took their time to explain to us what was where and answered our questions.

A leisurely stride between rows of apple trees on a sunny day could be therapeutic. But, if you have two pre-teen age boys, you don’t have a choice but to ride a golf cart! Fun!

Most of the apples were already picked and ready to be crunched and munched. Among others, we found our favorites – Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Fuji and Gala. As they said on the site, tasting was obligatory! What a pleasant duty it was! The best description of the fresh apple taste that I heard comes from my sister, Natasha, who says that when you eat a recently picked apple, you feel like there is no pulp, just juice. This is exactly how I felt eating BelleWood Acres apples: you bite, and the fruit’s flesh turns to juice almost without chewing.

Something new. For the first time, we tasted a late season apple named Orin. “Introduced from Japan, the sweet Orin is a true delicacy. In Japan it is customary to slice and share these apples with family and friends following meals and for special occasions. It has a subtle pear-like flavor that is a treat to remember”. (Description is borrowed from the farm’s site BelleWood Acres ). We all, four of us, gave Orin our top vote. We picked the smaller size fruit so the boys could take them to school in their lunch boxes. As we understood, Orin apples are not sold in stores. And, what about varieties such as Idared, Belle de Boskoop or Sonata? This is one of the reasons I like to visit apple orchards. There is always something unique there, some heirloom varieties not found in retail stores.

Something old. An apple press, scales and all those things which make you feel like traveling to the past in a time machine.

Something to eat. We bought, beside the apples, raspberry honey, apple cider vinegar and blackberry jam. Apple turnovers had a heavenly taste. Our boys gulped caramel apples in no time.

Something for the house. The farm’s store was full of practical, pretty things. The Chinese lanterns that I chose will brighten up my kitchen long after the apples and honey are gone!

Physalis alkekengi (Bladder cherry, Chinese lantern, Japanese lantern, or Winter cherry; Japanese: hōzuki). It is native from southern Europe east across southern Asia to Japan. It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 40–60 cm tall, with spirally arranged leaves 6–12 cm long and 4–9 cm broad. The flowers are white, with a five-lobed corolla 10–15 mm across, with an inflated basal calyx which matures into the papery orange fruit covering, 4–5 cm long and broad. It is a popular ornamental plant, though can be invasive with its wide-spreading root system sending up new shoots some distance from where it was originally planted. (from Wikipedia)

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Something to learn. As a family of avid salmon fans (salmon fishermen and salmon eaters) we took notice that the farm is certified Salmon Safe! For those who want to learn about salmon lifecycles, there is a poster at the bridge over Ten Mile Creek.

Meeting my old friends. At the end of rows of apple trees, it was so neat to spot the old fashioned crabapples which were planted there for pollination. How many childhood memories are connected with them! That was the type of crabapples which had the smallest apples. My husband and sons had never seen such tiny apples before. I made them try the soft sweet and sour fruit. Delicious! It’s on the crabapple tree that I saw what I called the last apple blossom. Even though it was late autumn, there was a subtle reminder that spring will be here in no time.

All in all, we liked the place! Neat. Friendly. Refreshing. Charming. We might go back pretty soon since the apples which we brought are disappearing very fast! I also want to get more cider, try their apple pies, apple chips and peanut butter cookies.

Thank you John and Dorie for the wonderful day! It was a perfect grand finale for the season!

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Copyright 2010 TatyanaS

Annual Autumn Beauty Report

Walks in my neighborhood are special in October and November. Having overwhelming and almost never changing evergreens around 24 hours a day /7 days a week/ 365 days a year makes me deeply appreciate the magical display of non-green colors.

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I try not to miss the 'time window' when the usually green neighborhood gets its autumn fever.

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It's important to beat the landscape crews with their leaf blowers and not lose a chance to walk on the fallen leaves.

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There is something hypnotizing in the soft rustling noise which dry leaves make.

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Brilliant!

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Most color comes from yellow, orange, red and pink maples, maroon huckleberry and berberis, yellow aspen, willow and cottonwoods, purple smoke bushes, red blueberry bushes, scarlet and orange viburnum and bronze oaks.... What did I forget?

Big leaf maple, vine maple, red maple, Japanese maples and other maple varieties are among favorites here.

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I would call the next picture 'Street light' with its green, red and yellow colors:

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Pampas grass joins the trees and shrubs to perform in a November choir:

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Blooming roses make me smile. They try to compete with the autumn foliage for attention:

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I spent a lot of time near a little pond with this gorgeous golden carpet in front of it:

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What a contrast between the green lawns and the autumn carpet of the fallen leaves! What looks more natural this time of the year? Green color, although pleasant to the eye and helping to withstand dullness of the rainy winter days, seems out of place for me:

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There should be ducks somewhere here. Let's get closer.
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and closer

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Here they are:
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Usually, after checking all the neighborhood, I can tell what place was my favorite for autumn.

Last year, it was this one shown in my post Neighborhood Walk 2009:

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Pictures below, taken at the same spot several days ago, made my heart sink again:
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I like to stop here on walks with my dog or during a bike ride.

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This year, I have another favorite:

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This alley of pinkish and yellow maples stopped me in my tracks or, more exactly, in my wheels.

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I didn't get into this little street last year, and it was totally unexpected to see this wonderful alley of tall maples of absolutely stunning color:

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Happiness, excitement, joy - this is what I felt looking at this scene.
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Stately rows of maples were performing a hymn of adoraton to Queen of the Year , autumn.

Do you see any ghosty opaque spots? It's leaves caught by the camera in their gracious descent.

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I picked up several leaves and put them between the pages of a heavy book.
If you are going for a walk, don't forget to bring some leaves home before they get blown away.

I know some of you already did and some of you are already late.

I am joining Dave for his Fall Color Project 2010

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Copyright 2010 TatyanaS