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margaret roach, head gardener

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spiraea ‘ogon,’ extra-early and late-fall star

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spiraea thunbergii ogonI HAVE TO HAND IT to extra-early and extra-late garden performers for knowing to do their thing when it’s really needed—just when the gardener may be giving up hope. Today’s star: Spiraea thunbergii ‘Ogon,’ just beginning to turn brilliant butterscotch seven months after flowering, then sporting chartreuse foliage since; the butterscotch phase will last till around Christmas, when the leaves will drop). Like winterberry hollies (in the background in the photo of ‘Ogon,’ above), and ornamental grasses, I’m grateful for the visual warmth they provide right now. Any extra-late stars still shouting at your place?

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11 comments
November 15, 2012

comments

  1. redbrickbuilding says

    November 15, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    I’m surprised by the gorgeous scarlet foliage on my Lysimachia clethroides: bonus! Also, camellias are still flowering away and cyclamen are leafing out.

    Reply
  2. Liz G says

    November 15, 2012 at 4:22 pm

    This year, I was so lucky to add Spirea Ogon near to Amsonia hubrechtii and Fothergilla gardenii…A great combination, particularly now… Very rewarding!
    Especially since the new plants were replacements for damage from last October’s freak storm.

    Reply
  3. Kali says

    November 15, 2012 at 10:44 pm

    I was just marveling today at the coral knockout roses, still in bloom after several hard frosts. And to think the old plant snob in me almost didn’t buy them! They are easy and spectacular all season long. Now if my two year old Spirea Ogon would only show me some love. I will be patient!

    Reply
  4. Stephanie says

    November 16, 2012 at 6:56 am

    In my sophmore year of gardening………I am really enjoying cornus sericea ‘Arctic Fire’. The leaves are multicolored and I can see the gorgeous red stems from the couch in the livingroom. Perfect.

    Reply
  5. Lucy Corrander says

    November 16, 2012 at 12:03 pm

    Can see why you like it.

    Reply
  6. Deborah B says

    November 16, 2012 at 4:42 pm

    We’ve had many nights down in the 20’s and a couple snows. My usual big show from late asters, amsonia hubrechtii and the Little Zebra grass with a big fall-blooming witch hazel was all cut short. And yet there’s still a couple big gentians in my boggy area that look fabulous, full of deep purple blooms.

    Reply
  7. deborah k says

    November 17, 2012 at 9:49 am

    rugosas and their brilliant yellow polkadotted with red everywhere! the aloha roses are still putting out a few leathery winterblooms – they live up to their name. *:)

    Reply
  8. Joan weed says

    November 18, 2012 at 8:32 am

    Over here in NW Vermont, scarlet azaleas are sugar-coated with frost.

    Reply
  9. Jason says

    November 18, 2012 at 11:03 am

    My switchgrass, especially ‘Northwind’, is my best November perforrmer. I have some Amsonia as well.

    Reply
  10. Chris says

    November 19, 2012 at 7:20 am

    Love the purple berries on Callicarpa americana.

    Reply
  11. Ellie says

    November 19, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    We have a SunJoy pillar barberry that has been holding on to its crimson foliage for about a month now. Everything else has been bare for weeks!

    Reply

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I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

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mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

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