Monroe County Master Gardener Association

What a difference a week makes! This week we have lovely autumn floral submissions and – SNOW! We’ll start with the most colorful submission since I just don’t have the strength to start out with the one that reminds me of the long, quiet period we have ahead. First – Frank submitted a colorful companion planting collection from the IHM community gardens, sent to me just after last week’s FF deadline:

IHM Fall Grouping

Second, Jennie submitted an alternate-leaved pink dogwood, backlit by diffuse natural light. She writes:

Mark Derrick gave me an alternate-leaved dogwood seedling just a few years ago and I planted it too close to my kitchen, but I love seeing it out the bay window.  I knew I wanted one of these native forest understory trees when I read about it in the book Weeds of the Woods.  It has thrived in the partly shaded spot and rapidly outgrew the spread I expected, so the first tier of branches had to go. I used the graceful prunings as trellis for sweet peas last year. Then the Dundee tornado winds took the top out of the tree, too, so it has looked like a large patio umbrella, finally establishing a new leader late this summer.

Besides the dappled, moving light it admits to my kitchen, I like to look down on it from the upstairs window.  There the upswept twigs with whorls of parallel-veined leaves resemble a sea of miniature hosta plants.  I enjoyed the 3-inch circles of lace flowers dotted along the top side of each major branch and the pinkish haze of their stems when the white petals had fallen.  I let my passion vine climb up and bloom on top of the umbrella in the heat of summer, scenting the dooryard but most of the flowers invisible except from that upper window.

All fall, the leaves have increasingly hung down flat like paper decorations and have passed through several attractively subtle shades of green tinged with red, then red-orange and now very nearly pink against the smooth dark reddish bark.

Alternate – Leaved Dogwood

Last, Linda submitted a downright snowy scene from her yard. I personally have been in denial about the time of year and this photo was a reality-check for me!  Linda helps us remember that gardens do hold winter interest. We just need to be observant and appreciative of more subtle beauty including repeating lines, forms, and textures.

Subtle Beauty