Farewell, fall flowers; hello, first freeze

December 01, 2020

So long, ‘Grapes’ gomphrena. It’s been a grand fall.

But with a first freeze of 29F predicted early this morning, I expect your button-like flowers will soon look pale and freeze-dried. Well, it was time, I guess.

Sayonara, forsythia sage. You were absolutely beautiful for two solid months this fall. I will miss your moonshine-yellow flower spikes.

Thanks for a great show.

Rogue November-blooming purple coneflower, I don’t know what you were thinking, flowering so late. See ya!

But hey, mosquitoes will be dead! And this is when evergreen plants and structural elements take on a starring role. A cute pup doesn’t hurt either.

Hardy agaves like this variegated whale’s tongue (A. ovatifolia) and ‘Winter Gem’ boxwood balls pull their weight through winter.

Silver Mediterranean fan palm, rosemary, Jerusalem sage, and a prickly pear with ruby-bright tunas have their time to shine now too.

What keeps your garden looking pretty all winter?

__________________________

Digging Deeper

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All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

18 responses to “Farewell, fall flowers; hello, first freeze”

  1. Kris P says:

    I love the photo of Cosmo! If there was a thought bubble over his head, I expect it’d say “why are you even thinking about flowers when you have me!” I’m sorry that a freeze is putting an end to your floral flourish, though. Freezes are an almost forgotten concept in my world.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Is that right? I envy you that, Kris. I’m never quite ready for the first hard freeze, although I do enjoy winter otherwise. Of course having a relative warm winter helps.

  2. Caroline says:

    I really like that fountain with the Gomphrena! Do you prune your Phlomis fruticosa? It looks so tidy and full. I lost the mature habanero plant and the borage seedlings, but I have more seeds. The bird bath froze but my tropical plants and remaining basil made it through, protected on the south side of the house, near the rainbarrel, concrete patio and stone chimney – a cozy little microclimate. And, my new front yard plantings sailed right on through!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      I haven’t pruned that particular Phlomis, Caroline, as it’s only about a year or so old. But I do prune older ones that have started to sprawl. I can hardly believe your basil survived the freeze. Yay for microclimates! And I look forward to seeing pics of your newly replanted front garden when you’re ready to share. 🙂

  3. Alicia says:

    Gomphrena ‘Grapes’ is super cute. I saw those on Jenny’s blog too.

    We seem to need to get below 25 to get rid of the mosquitos here, they seem to be able to hide out in cover until it gets really cold.

    Winter honeysuckle is a staple in the winter here, often blooming for 4 months. Another is Japanese flowering apricot, which can bloom any time for December through March, although it typically blooms in February.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Those sound like great options for the winter garden, Alicia. And yes, those dang mosquitoes can be sneaky that way.

  4. peter schaar says:

    We had our first freeze in Dallas too. The temperature got down to -1C (30F) in my garden; the water in the bird bath froze. Interestingly, the patch of Tradescantia pallida in a bed out in the open collapsed, while a similar patch under the terrace roof sailed through unharmed. A nice demonstration of radiative cooling!

  5. Heather says:

    Thank you for the reminder to be thankful and appreciative of the season of each plant…and not sad for an “end” or dormancy.
    Spring will be here soon – but let’s enjoy this amazing fall/winter first!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Absolutely. We’re in the middle of my favorite 6-7 months to be outdoors here in Texas. I’m enjoying the beauty of each day in the garden, whether some plants are freeze-blackened or not.

  6. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    Cosmo looks perplexed about how things are changing. He must have cold toes.
    I wish my agave could be outside all year. It is getting big enough that it is a pain to move in and out. Then I have to watch out since our house isn’t that big. Spikey plant.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Ha — Cosmo is actually a cold-weather pup. He loves being outdoors when it’s chilly, just like me. As for the agave spiking you when you’re not looking, sorry about that! 🙂 Maybe try root-pruning it next summer to keep it from getting bigger?

  7. Winter in Ohio is different than winter in Austin. There are evergreens, and some shapes to look at, along with stems and such. Not terribly exciting, but it will do.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Having always lived and gardened in the South, I know I take our green winters for granted. Still, there are always plants that can make a winter garden more defined and enjoyable, even farther north, yes?

  8. Austin says:

    Hi Pam, I don’t have a fountain in my yard; I love your new fountain, is it a solar or AC plug-in? if it is a solar, would you tell me where you got it? Thanks

    • Pam/Digging says:

      It’s a plug-in fountain. I got it at Hill Country Water Gardens & Nursery in Cedar Park, Texas.

  9. A few arborvitae and spruce give me greenery during the winter, and sedum Angelina gives a little interest too. But this is Ohio, so not much else to look at. Pretty snow now and then!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      A pretty snow is the iconography of our holiday songs. We can only dream about such things as a winter wonderland here in Texas. So enjoy! But may you have an early spring, Robin. 😉