I just love it when the hostas turn golden. Your chocolate eupatorium gets just enough more heat than mine, so flowers better. I have two, and one is blooming finally, but the other was hurt by frost last week. Some years I get no bloom at all on them. :( I love them for foliage alone though.
I find my Jack Frost looks its best at this time and see yours looking fine too. A wonderful plant.
Honorine is looking rather sad for me these days but I do have monkshood doing well still.
Nice photos Woody, thanks for the late tour!

Your Elephant's Ear looks better than mine. Mine was nipped by the frost. Tonight may finish the job.
I raked pods today, and noticed the geraniums have nice leaves but no blooms.
I espacially like your bugbane. Is it the Black Cohosh? Nolon brought home a start for me . It lived 2-3 years, then disappeared.I'd like another one.
There have been no blooms on any of my roses since June or July. Many of them have been stripped of leaves. I have a Louise Odier that I started from a cutting from my grafted plant. I will plant it beside the house and hope the varmints leave it alone.

Marian

Woody, yes it was I who asked about the benches. They look great planted up and I like the cushions too. A nice addition to your patio.
Thanks for taking us on a walk through the garden with you. Are the bugbanes a shade plant? I find them interesting. I might have to try those. Also what is the hosta with the wide white margin in photo #3 ?
Norma

Woody, the Chocolate Eupatorium looks wonderful with the silvery white of the Brunnera. I love the bench with the planters. I cannot believe you still have Delphiniums in bloom-amazing!

Things still look lovely Woody which shows what a good job you've done on choosing plants to prolong the beauty well into autumn.

The bench looks wonderful! I don't think I saw a photo of it in place and it is awesome.

Oh my.....the amount of leaves you have! Do you shred them and then place them on your flower beds? We don't have very many leafed trees (mainly evergreens surround us) and I have no way to shred them if I did go around trying to collect them. I've thought of going to a public park in town to gather some bags of them, but still the problem of how to shred them. My mowers do not have bags...just no good way for me to come up with some shredded leaves to add to the beds here.

Thank you for taking us on a tour of your gardens.

T.

Woody, great photos of your fall interest. I'm in love wiht Eupatorium Chocolate too. It is such a terrific plant in all seasons. The dark foliage is a great foil for so many other plants and anything that blooms this late is a bonus. I'm looking forward to seeing the cedar coffee table you make to go with your benches.

Deanne

Marian the bugbane is Cimicifuga simplex White Pearl. I have several other bugbanes several of the dark-foliaged ones that bloom earlier, but I really like this one because it blooms so late. In the living room bed there is also some Eupatorium Chocolate blooming with it I hope, by next year, both plants will be settled in better and put on a big, late show together

Norma the bugbane is one of those versatile plants that can take a wide variety of light conditions. The one under the pines gets very little light and is in very dry conditions it would probably be bigger in better conditions as they are supposed to be in moist, rich soil. The ones I moved from the shed were in sort of medium shade, with little or no direct sun. Now that they are in the living room bed, they get an hour or so of afternoon sun but are otherwise in the shade of the house and/or the ash tree. The soil in the LR bed is likely going to be drier than theyd like too but theyre doing fine now. There are soaker hoses in that bed so they will get adequate water next year if I leave them there. The hosta is Northern Halo (I think I just plant ones I like and am never entirely sure if Ive got the names right once they are in the ground. I know I did buy a Northern Halo for the patio bed, so I assume thats it)

T all the leaves are cleaned up as of this afternoon. There is a huge ash in the backyard that produces most of them. The oak is still fairly small and holds a lot of its leaves through the winter, so the ash and the white pines account for most of the leaf litter. I wish I had another couple of trees worth of leaves! We just run the lawnmower over them to chop them first and then rake them up and dump them on the beds. We have a leaf bag attachment but I dont use it (I can never get it to stay attached!) The chopped leawes rake up easily and any chopped-up bits we miss just rot down into the lawn and feed the grass. It only took 90 minutes to clean it all up this afternoon. theres less and less lawn each year and anything that falls on the beds just stays there unchopped. Raking the paths clear took more time than cleaning up the leaves on the patio and lawn.

Woody, you've done a fabulous job with fall interest in your garden. I really like the Jack Frost with the Eupatorium. I'm surprised that the frost didn't nip your EE. That was the first thing to go for me. Yours is probably protected by the house. I too had delphs reblooming right up to the frost. Thanks for the lovely tour.

Michelle

So nice Woody, your pics remind us that fall is not just about the traditional golden colors, but enjoying every final bud and leaf ,the last few flowers , the refusal to "give up the ghost"...
Kathy in Napa

Woody, thanks for the tour. You have done a great job! Nice benches, and your New Dawn looks great. I have one, but it didn't get any blooms this late. That is a great rose. You also reminded me that my bugbane dissappeared. I must get a new one:)

Drema

Woody - Stunning.

If you're going for orangy red in your herb garden, don't forget the tender commonly named "Pineapple Sage". Mine just got bit by frost, but until then the blooms were attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, and the leaves are wonderful steeped in tea. Also can add leaves to citrus chicken blends for a bit of "sweet." Easy to take cuttings and overwinter, OR, very easy to find locally.

Martie

Great job with the fall interest, Woody! What is your zone? It must be at least 6 being so close to the lake. In the colder zones, when you've extended your garden season into late October give yourself a much deserved pat on the back. As a group, the idylls seem to be excelling as late season gardeners. I've never had any luck with the regular plain green Cimicifugas. Do you know what varieties you have?

Thanks for the tour!

Sue