A Fall Intermission

 

I love taking photographs at this time of year. 

The hard edge of summer sun is gone. The light is mellow and golden. 

Fall leaves are not only colorful, they are translucent. The subtle underlying structure of veins is literally brought to light. 

In this post today are recent shots taken in the garden and around the neighbourhood.

Have a great weekend!

Color Essay Number 4: Beige

I know what you are thinking. Beige is a garden color? But bear with me. I know beige is not a considered a standard garden color. Most books on garden colors focus on bright flower colors, but beige does has a significant place in the color schemes of most gardens.

Beige is found in statuary, the weathered wood of backyard fences, in stonework and in garden paths of fine pea gravel. It is also the principal color of fall grasses and the garden as it drops off into its winter slumber.

Here are some of my favorite garden neutrals of past summer.

Locally grown garlic at the Ottawa Farmer's Market

Produce Baskets at Humber Nursery, Toronto.

Private garden, Mississauga Ontario. Stone and pebbles are beautiful garden neutrals

A robin takes a bath in a pool of water. Private garden, Mississauga Ontario. 

Sedum growing in a crevice of an old stump. Private garden, Georgetown Ontario.

Hey, I have to squeeze in one dog picture! This is Chelsea, one of my favorite garden tour guides. Chelsea resides at Butts Flower & Berry Farm in Rockwood, Ontario.

An angel in my neighbor's front garden. The vines are real, but the daises are not.

Miscanthus blowing in the wind, Hamilton, Ontario

The Miscanthus in detail

A wildflower gone to seed

A spent clematis in my back garden this fall

Seed pods on a winter's day

My Oakleaf hydrangea this past fall glowing the late day sun

Stay warm and have a great weekend, everyone!

Rideau Woodland Rambles Nursery, Merrickville, Ontraio

Indian Summer Crabapple

Late last summer, we visited Rideau Woodland Ramble Nursery in Merrickville, Ontario and I thought I would share the stroll we took that day through the display gardens and down the shaded woodland path. 

The cool shade of the tall pine and evergreen furs was more than welcome on that hot, humid afternoon. I loved the way that the "garden" perennials blended into the mix of native plants already found in the natural landscape. 

Different varieties of grasses were grouped beautifully in a garden beds. The spare inclusion of a Japanese ornament here and there were a great compliment to these minimal, all green displays.

There were also flowers, even as late in the season as our visit was. Isn't the toad lily (tricyrtis) below exquisite?

Toad lilies like shade and rich, moist soil and so I have had difficulty getting them established in my dry, Southern Ontario garden.

I find that I only see dragonflies here in late summer in Ontario. I wonder why that is? 

Sedum

 Sedum Stonecrop (Angelina rupestre)

I thought that this flower was kind of interesting and unusual. It is Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) and it also likes moist soil.

Some bugs were busy! Poor little Brown-eyed Susan!

A Celebration of Fall Grasses

Close-up of an Ornamental grass at Rideau Woodland Ramble Nursery near Ottawa, Ontario.

Ornamental grass at Rideau Woodland Ramble Nursery near Ottawa, Ontario.

When I was growing up, the only grass in the average garden was the common green stuff  between the flowers beds. In the last ten years however, Ornamental grasses once popular in Victorian times, have begun to re-appear in suburban gardens.

The popularity of these grasses continues to grow in leaps and bounds and no wonder- they have a great deal to contribute to the fall and winter garden. 

For gardeners like me, who were raised on a steady diet of flowering perennials, Ornamental grasses are the new kids on the block. I find myself impressed with their variety and sightly intimidated by their unknown characteristics.

That generally they need full sun, is easy. As to the rest- well...we are just getting to know one another.

All summer, I have been making mental notes on plantings that strike me as beautiful. The images that follow are examples of gardens that have incorporated Ornamental grasses in ways that are striking.  Enjoy!

Tall Ornamental grasses at the Rideau Woodland Ramble Nursery near Ottawa, Ontario.

Miscanthus sinensis in the background and Blue Oat grass in the foreground. Public Library's garden, Brampton, Ontario.

Close-up Miscanthus sinensis 

Miscanthus sinensis at the Lost Horizon Nursery, Acton, Ontario

Unidentified grass at Edwards Gardens in Toronto

Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'aureloa') in the foreground. Display garden at Lost Horizon Nursery, Acton, Ontario

Egyptian Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus 'Graceful Grasses King Tut') at Edwards Gardens, Toronto

Unidentified Ornamental grass and Obedient plant (physostegia virginiana) blooming in the same flower bed at Edwards Gardens in  Toronto

Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'aureloa') in Edwards Gardens, Toronto

Perennial Fountain Grass illuminated

Perennial Fountain Grass in my own garden.

Annual Fountain Grass at Edwards Gardens, Toronto

The texture of a Miscanthus grass seen up close and personal. The Public Library garden, Brampton, Ontario. 

Japanese Blood Grass, at Edwards Gardens, Toronto, Ontario.