November Warmth (after Frost!)

Nice shot above of ‘Cheyenne Sky’ switch grass (Panicum virgatum) still showing some maroon highlights in the English cottage garden todau.  Well…we finally had our hard frost last night as evidenced by the turf seen above.  I was scraping my car windows this morning and any tropical plants still left out in the gardens were toast today.  It looks like the next couple of nights will be equally cold which should end the season.  It’s amazing how the leaves really start coming down after this severe cold snap.  The day did warm up to around 46 degrees F with ample sunshine which was excellent working weather to continue with Holiday Light Show (HLS) progress.  We had a great day out in the gardens.

fall color on fragrant abelia (Abelia mosanensis) – woody shrub

fall color on ‘Debonair’ pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) – deciduous conifer

powder blue of ‘Candicans’ white fir (Abies concolor) – woody conifer

Our grounds staff today consisted of Bobby K. (above running cords under this flagstone path), Larry O., Larry H. and me.  We all focused on the HLS and made great progress.  Our goal is to have it up and running by next Friday so we can test and tweak the following week prior to the debut evening on Black Friday, November 24th.  Volunteers consisted of Kathy, Eva, Steve E., Dennis, Alan, Brian, Randy M., John J., Steve L., Maury F. and many others.  We also saw Becky, Norm P. and some others throughout the day.

Steve E. (above)

Dennis “Hard-to-miss-in-a-crowd” J. (above)

John J. (left) and Steve L. with their bow (see below) that is rigged with measured fishing line on an attached reel that is the mechanism for precision placement of more dangling icicle lights (yes, there is an arrow involved)…come see the results!

Randy M. repairing the rope lighting displays he built over 18 years ago with his dad

Larry “ladder boy” H. continuing to put out lights (see below) – he started 3 months ago

neat, new donor-funded railing near the wishing well (irregular flagstone steps)

above is katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) yesterday and below are all the leaves (this morning) that fell from that tree after frost last night…..the final stages of these leaves falling emits the scent of cotton candy (not kidding!)

lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina) emerging from fallen leaves of the ‘Princeton Gold’ Norway maple (Acer platanoides)

donkeytail spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites) – perennial

cool shot of our second “tower of power” (20′ tall) in the sunken garden with LED lights