I have to say I'm not a big fan of Snow Fairy when it is so bright. I have it in two shady spots and your post reminds me to go check em out.

I love the Franklinia!

Here is my extraordinary plant for last week. Clematis blooming in October???!?! That's extraordinary. I cut it back to the ground in July cause it was totally brown and crispy and I am rewarded with a handful of blooms.

It was so cold last night though, I probably lost them all plus new buds that were still promising even more.

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This one is far more ordinary, but always pleasing.

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whoops...sorry didn't resize it well.

I'm going to step out of the box with this one. Right now I think grass is extraordinary. No, not ornamental grasses (well, those are great now too!), but the regular, plain-old green grass. This time of year it doesn't take much work or water, and it is beautiful.

Wendy, which shrub is that in your second photo? It's a beauty! Thyme..you are so right. Our grass has never looked better too and I am enjoying it a lot! :-)

pm2

I love the Snow Fairy--never saw it before! And I am very impressed by the Franklinias. How long have you two had them? I understand they are not so easy to grow. But how beautiful.

Ginny, you and I may have to appreciate Franklinia from afar! Could be questionable in our zone. I spoke to John at Katsura and he said his come in from Ohio. I really do want to try Franklinia, so I may get one from him since it's coming from a more northern climate, and I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Kt- I had no idea they bloomed this late. That makes me want one even more!

Wendy- I was also wondering what was growing over your arbor? I think there is an arbor or obelisk to the right of the photo near the picket fence. And, which variety of boxwood is that in the first photo?

Wendy,
Why am I not surprised that you have clematis blooming in October? I certainly would love to see some photos of your other clematis. Is that your shrub border on the edge of woodland having worked on one of those recently myself I know how difficult they can be(light, water, roots, invasive plants, ect.), any chance we could twist your arm into a thread on your experience?
thyme,
Your grass looks great but your hillside looks magnificent in the fall. You inspired me this past late summer early fall to finally plant my garbage pile/berm and was shocked that it took 50+ trees and shrubs and I still have more pockets that need planting. I know I will be doing a lot of tweaking over the next few years likely as the result of water stress. How do you irrigate your hillside?
ginny,
I have two FrankliniaÂs the one in the photo is I have had for two or three years in a full sun irrigated protected location the other I have had for about as long has been moved twice and this year is in a non irrigated full shade woodland location and seems to be just as happy. Dtd has if I recall correctly at least three of these that are far more mature than mine and start their blooming much earlier than mine, I am not certain if this is the result of age or the obvious better care she provides for her plants than I do. Dtd has referred to a Dirr when he suggests this is not a plant to fall in love with as it is known to expire for unknown reasons. Which may be why John at Katsura tried to dissuade thyme rather than zone, as the oldest Franklinia is growning at "Arnold Arboretum" and I would assume you share the same zone.
This year I grew not only Caryopteris divaricata ÂSnow FairyÂ, but Caryopteris divaricata ÂPink Illumination  another variegated variety but a much softer sage and dark green which is interesting but again I need to find a good location to appreciate the more subtle variegation. Caryopteris divaricata ÂPink Beauty Âno variegation to the leaf but soft pink blooms in the fall when there are few pink flowersÂhmm dee might consider this one as a counter point to her pink cosmos in her fall garden. Caryopteris divaricata ÂBlue ButterflyÂs  again no variegation to the leaf but a nice blue color could be a replacement for annual salvia for blue fall flower. I will say these are probably the hardiest most trouble free plant I grow, having left Caryopteris divaricata ÂSnow Fairy sitting unplanted on top of my lawn in the shade for an entire winter and it came through without any stress at all after it was planted in the spring it earned considerable respect from me.

KT: I've wanted a Franklinia for years, but I've been afraid my yard is just too dry. Although if you have one that's happy in "a non irrigated full shade woodland location", there may be hope. Maybe if I plant one in the shade near the septic leach field (not too close) it could be OK. I may run that by John at Katsura in the spring.

My current extraordinary plant is actually a pair - Blushing Knockout Rose and Ilex verticillata. With a few plumes of Miscanthus Graziella thrown in. Blushing Knockout amazes me all season; it starts blooming early, rests a little bit in the summer heat, then resurges in the fall. Never a problem.

Winterberry also is completely reliable. At this time the leaves and berries coexist; eventually the leaves will drop off but the berries will remain.

Both of these are ordinary, ho-hum, common plants, but together (in my eyes anyway) they excel.

Claire

I, for one, love Snow Fairy! I have two. But I'm a sucker for variegation and really have to restrain myself so no one goes cross-eyed in my garden, lol. Katy, thanks for the recommendation of Pink Beauty - haven't heard of that one. My cosmos are so incredibly beautiful in the fall that I think I will go the opposite direction to my instincts and actually PLAN a fall pink garden, lol. Perhaps against the backdrop of some hemlocks, so no oranges and yellows will intrude, lol.

The franklinia is beautiful. I too was not aware that they bloomed so late in the year.

Claire, your winterberry is very pretty. I am enjoying some that I planted at a friend's house. I don't think I have the ideal location for one, but I'm considering planting one anyway! My Blushing Knockouts are also nice at this time. Every morning, with the frosts, I expect the blooms to be goners, but there they are. Two of the rose bushes are still in pots, and one happens to be next to a light purple aster in the pot ghetto. Very nice combo. Perhaps they can go together in my fall pink bed!

:)
Dee

It's great to see these photos, even if they won't quite make it here. My big problems are more and more shade and deer. But I love seeing what grows so nearby.

pm, the 2nd shrub is Itea 'Henry's Garnet'. It is a bit borderline here. Sometimes I get some moderate dieback, but thats a good thing in that spot. That picket garden bed is primarily perennials, so I need to keep the shrubs on the smallish side.

thyme,good eyes... that is an obelisk behind there. I grow lots of clematis. Obelisks abound! There;s nothing growing on it now. It is home to an integrefolia type which got cut down already. THe brown thing is next to it and is Rhamnus 'Fine Line' late season dead foliage. I should improve the background for the photogenic itea!

THe boxwood is 'Green Ice'. Its very hardy, stays green in the winter and is only supposed to get 2-3' tall and wide.

The pink mums are hardy mums that came back from previous years - one last year, one the year before. It was a coincidence that they are the same color. I put the 2nd one there last fall before the other one had even opened. It looks like I need to do some more pinching and feeding of the older one.

kt, the shrub border in the background is definitely worth a story. I'll do one soon.

Love the winterberry!

Wendy, it was the Rhamnus I was asking about. WOW! I'll have to check that out. I'm so glad I asked. I'm glad you have not cut it back. It adds a lot of texture and fall-feel to the picture. Call me crazy, but I kind of like dead foliage in pictures this time of year.
Very interesting info on Itea being borderline. I just put one in this year, so I'll have to see what happens.
Thanks for the info on the boxwood.

Claire, the winterberry is beautiful with the leaves still on. Aren't the roses great! They just keep blooming!

Kt, LOL!! That must be some berm! What is the size? What a lot of planting you have done. It took me about 4 years of tweaking with the "spots" before I was satisfied, and this year I just decided that I am going to pull out most of the perennials and put in more shrubs. I irrigate the slope by asking my DH to get the sprinkler going! We don't have any fancy irrigation in our yard, but rather move sprinklers from here to there. In the real heat/drought of the summer we probably water the slope weekly. It hasn't been watered since about mid-aug.

clerodendron tri.:
like vitex agnus castus, this dies to the ground every year
and grows vigorously through the summer, reaching 6-7' [this yr(w/all our rain)]. the white autumn flowers w/ shooting star like appearance, become this amazing deep mauve pink seed pod w/ steel blue/turquoise berry. and there is a really striking cleanly variegated one that we have- from variegated foliage nursery in ct. and rocky dale. wowee gee, mr. bill!
best,
mindy
p.s. one possible minus- ours have lost their leaves when these beautiful seed pods burst open.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1093504}}

Mindy, those clerodendron seedpods are gorgeous! I wonder how they'd go with Eastern Wahoo seedpods....

Claire

To continue with my obsessive photographing of the winterberry, this was my view out the kitchen window early this morning. The winterberry plays well with others.

I'm now waiting for a turkey to fly into the winterberry...

Claire

time, the amount of plant material it took came as a shock to me but I suppose if you consider a berm is not only two sided but at least in my case it was deep as well it should have come as no surprise. I irrigate the slope by asking my DH to get the sprinkler going So I can only imagine with the amount of water a hillside garden needs your poor hubby does little else than move hoses in the summer...you certainly have trained him well!!
Mindy & Claire,
It is with great sadness that I send out this warning regarding Clerodendron trichotomum a plant that I have been growing a couple of different forms for a number of years and have praised it as my number one hummingbird magnet. To be honest I had been warned more than once by folks I respect to be VERY careful about siting this plant as it tends to run aggressively. I chose to ignore this advise as I move plants around so often I am usually able to keep a handle on such things, well I left a mature plant in one location for two years and OMG I am in trouble I figure I can a. start a nursery that sells nothing but Clerodendron trichotomum, b. dig up and move this plant annually or c. put the house up for sale while it can still be viewed without wielding a machete.
Claire,
On another board I did a photo essay of Ilex verticillata introductions by Polly Hill and found variations of leaf color on older suckering plants IÂll take a look around for the photos.