#oregon fall

Shut my mouth and strike the demons Cursed you and your reasons Out of hand and out of season Out of love and out of feeling So bad

We had our first freeze this week, and most of the flowers died. There are a few flowering plants that are still surviving, like my salvia and shasta daisies. But they're on their way out. Since we have a north-facing front yard, we get almost zero sunlight from November through February. While some of our neighbors with sunnier yards still have rudbeckia, marigolds, and hydrangea blooming, my garden looks a little...well, boring.

My husband and I did yardwork today, which included the last mow of the year, cutting back plants like lupine and echinacea, raking the leaves, pulling up dead annuals like zinnas, and pruning the large maple tree out front (which still hasn't changed colors, surprisingly! The trees in Oregon seem to be hanging onto their leaves a lot longer this year!).

November 15: Here's How It Looks

Here's what the front yard looks like today. Not breathtaking, but not bad. As I mentioned before, that north-facing yard gets makes it pretty much impossible to grow even winter-hardy flowers. However, the euonymus and barberry are doing well.

Spring-Flowering Bulbs are Sprouting!

These tall green shoots (below) are either the daffodils or tulips we planted last fall. They bloom in the spring, which is nice. So glad to see them coming up again this year. For November, that's a really tall stem — especially considering we have four months of cold weather before we'll see any flower at all!

Shrubbery and Salvia

A close-up of the front bed closest to our house. Can you see that faint hint of purple? That's salvia, which I planted back in May! I am honestly astounded that those plants are still blooming. They're annuals in this area and I never expected them to survive past September! (Not because it gets cold in September, but because a lot of annuals seem to get limp and lifeless after a few months in our clay soil.) Whatever the reason, I am not complaining.

...And the Maple

And here's a top view of our maple tree. It's a sugar maple (acer saccharum), and it's probably thriving the most of any plant in our yard. It is only hinting at turning bright orange! Last year, I think the leaves changed much earlier. This tree has really surprised me and my husband in terms of how much it grows. As you can see, it's almost as high as the second floor of our house. I love that tree!