Still remarkably mild here in Aurora.

Today: Rudolph and spring perennial friends.

Still a chance to do a bit of weeding.

Wondering what the name of that weed is (now was) just below the primula. It's a seeder which comes in with potted perennial purchases.

woody .. if you get a better pic.. with a scale... the peeps in the name that plant forum can probably ID it for you ...

ken

Ken, if you click to enlarge the photo, the weed should be quite clear. It is shotweed/bittercress, Cardamine hirsuta. It is an annual weed with a very heavy fall into early winter germination period.

I'm a big fern lover that tends towards those that are semi evergreen and hold up until covered over by snow. Lady ferns are natives to this region and I keep telling myself that I must dig several from a forested area at the back of my property ... though, I now need look no further than under my north facing deck to the many babies that have developed from spores blown in on the wind. Thousands grow in a birch grove at a nearby lake and I really should see if I could find any variants among them.

Yes, Cardamine hirsute is a nasty one with exploding seed pods that sows itself in zealous abundance.

I have that weed too, but didn't know it's name. Nasty, pesty thing...,, grrr.....

I think it's what I call peppergrass. Extremely invasive and no matter what I do, my neighbor has plenty of it and it just flies into my yard.

I've been particularly aware of what green there is recently as well, Woody. Over the weekend I read something about native evergreen perennials in NH. The author commented that intermediate wood fern, Dryopteris intermedia (and perhaps some of its crosses), is the only lacy looking fern that will stay fully green all winter. The other common evergreen fern around here is Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides, but is has less dissected pinnae (leaflets) and so doesn't have the lacy look of many ferns. There are both in the woods here, and they do really stand out at this time of year against the brown of trunks and leaf litter. Sorry I don't have a photo of the Christmas fern.

We have quite a bit of wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) which doesn't lose its leaves, but turns a lovely reddish-mahogany when it is cold. It requires acid soil, so I don't think would work for you, Woody.

My favorite woodland is evergreen partridge berry (Mitchella repens), which isn't too fussy about pH IME. It grows a bit more densely than wintergreen and is a good slowly spreading groundcover.

In the garden I have quite a number of evergreen perennials and shrubs to help alleviate the various shades of brown and gray at this time of year. Many of the perennials are groundcovers that may have a short period of bloom, but really shine at this time of year when most of the perennials have died back.

Groundcovers front to back are cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) which grows in ordinary acidic garden soil quite well, Carex 'Ice Dance' and perennial candytuft (Iberis sempervirens). There are also a couple of rhododendrons with different color and size of leaves.

Veronica 'Georgia Blue' has its main bloom in the spring, but usually has a few flowers now. It's a dark green in the warm months, but becomes increasingly maroon as the temperature cools.

The plant below is some type of Saxifrage that has white spring flowers but it adds some nice texture whenever there isn't snow near the front entry along with wooly thyme.

Many of the groundcover pinks (Dianthus) have beautiful tight blue foliage that looks good as long as the voles don't get to them.

The Vinca, lovely as it is, is just too aggressive for the spot it's in and so I am ripping it out, working from the outside in. As you might notice from the spot of dirt near the bottom, the voles love its shelter, though unfortunately don't seem to eat it. They just use it as passageways to my more delectable plants!

A few other plants that look good and are green at this time of year, though they may not be green when the snow melts in spring include Sedum 'Angelina', Pulmonaria, Tiarella, and Heuchera.

Thanks gardengal, peren.all, laceyvail.

Now able to look it up. My cutting back summer perennials in early fall, (to get sun and water to the spring perennials), the (predominantly?) fall germination of the weed and its being green-under-the-snow all make it easier to target it for removal. Reaching and raising it out with on old style hoe works for me. Obviously need to get seeding weeds quickly.

The fact that we don't have it in our grass/lawns suggests a degree of success.

It's very annoying that it comes in from the growers and retailers.

Babs - wintergreen was one of my favorite plants when I was a kid in NB - it grew on the rocks by the 'fishing spot' by the lake at Grandpa's. I have fond memories of chewing on the leaves and eating the pink berries while fishing for trout with Grandpa! :-) I have tried growing it here, but no luck in our definitely-not-acid soil! The cranberries didn't grow at Grandpa's but did grow all over the rocks in a public park in the nearest town. An aunt always picked lots of them to make jam/sauce. I don't remember partridge berry from 'home', although we certainly had partridges :-) Maybe I should try growing that. I have a few Christmas ferns here (and holly ferns and red shield fern - sort of a botanical Christmas joke!) The fern in the picture I posted at the top is not as evergreen as the Christmas ferns but does stay green well into winter and makes a bigger mound of foliage. The red-purple heucheras I favor also look good well into winter. Pinks are, for some strange reason, something that have not done well here. There was a bit of Vinca here when we bought this place, but I have removed it.

The mild autumn means things are still lush here...but by February, our eyes will be starved for green, like an oasis in a desert. The woods seem to lose all colour, turning monochrome...which has it's own severe beauty, but yep, green...the most soothing colour there is.

Don't have any pics right now, but I can tell you Autumn Fern (Dryopteris) is still a beautiful spring-y green. It normally look great until pounded by snow. Bergenia looks good too.

Bergenia...the celery of the plant world (love it or hate it). Beth Chatto was famous for saying she could never garden without them. They get used as filler a lot in the UK and because they are tough, evergreen and low to the ground, they are often overlooked and neglected, becoming large slug hotels with scabby stems and layers of slimy old leaves A shame because they really benefit from some love. I have never had them in my gardens - too small, too unsuitable but might have a re-think for the woods. Might have to be white flowered...or even flower-less though.

I did come across an alpine bergenia from Mt.Omei in China which was breath-taking - bergenia omeiensis (aka b.emeiensis). Gorgeous...but fussy. Not like it's tougher cousins but one I will certainly be looking out for - a real beauty. Might just be hardy enough for you mxk3 and I know it is available in the US and Canada.

HAHA celery of the plant world!

I love bergenia! Especially with fine-textured plants. Looks terrific as an underplanting to laceleaf Japanese maples.

Still green on brown, but noticed "the flower" on Dec 10, 2015.

LOL Cole has one of those too (a bit larger...) that 'blooms' in the garden sometimes too.

Thanks Woody.

No pets or kids here, so had been inclined to suspect aliens.

Mitchella repens is one of my favorites too. It really is a wonderful plant that I usually find growing under maples. Love it in the garden and I will be adding more.

Ruta graveolens, Limonium latifolium and Yucca f. are still green also. Arabis c. and Euphorbia myrsinites are not bothered in the least either

woody you must grow Lamiums? They grow almost too well but are a pleasure now because they are completely unfazed by cold. Lychnis coronaria and Stachys b. are a couple of troupers too.

It stopped raining for a few minutes so I went out and snapped these.

Lamium Aureum, not showing it's golden coat of summer.

Heucheras at the base of a birdbath.

The Nandina domestica I grew from a cutting.

Annette

SB - those balls have quite a bounce.... Do neighbours on the other side of your fences have a dog or cat?

perenn.all - yes, I have both 'White Nancy' and 'Beacon Silver' Lamiums. Originally I had it growing under the eaves in the north alley since it could take the dry conditions there - at first at least! Only a little bit of it is left now and white corydalis has seeded itself in as a substitute. Since there is a lot of the corydalis in the backyard, there are still large swaths of green out there. The corydalis is almost evergreen here. I had Lamium near the south alley gate, under a dwarf Korean lilac. The copious lilac suckers seemed to out-compete the Lamium. In July I pruned out a lot of the lilac, and the remaining Lamium seems to be recovering well. I added a 'Magnum' heuchera there in September which looks good so far. Hopefully it'll survive the winter there. It it's fine tomorrow I'll go out with the camera.

Annette - I have some 'Beacon Silver' Lamium in the front garden that has reverted to something that looks like that one, without the yellow cast to it. I keep trying to rip that one out whenever I'm working near it! What is the name of the heuchera with the very red leaves?

Woody, the heuchera with the red leaves is 'Cherry Cola', I'm loving the heucheras, it's a plant that looks decent through out the whole year here. I'm sure I'll be picking up a few more the next time I go plant shopping :).

Woody, a dog and kids; mystery solved.

I almost like "the flower". Do I have to give it back? Certainly a step up from the all-plastic flowers I've recently seen in a local front garden.

Below Lamium 'Beacon Silver' more than holding it's own, today.

Annette - I'll definitely keep an eye open for that Cherry Cola heuchera!

It's wet and sloppy out there today - we had some more rain - and even thunder and a rainbow to boot! I took some pictures in the backyard from the porch or in the house, an a couple in the front yard from the driveway when we went out to walk Cole:

Most of the green in the backyard is corydalis:

North beds looking from the porch+

south beds from a window (you can see the big mound of green fern near the shed; wost of the rest of the green is corydalis+

looking up the north alley by leaning out over the porch railing! You can see that corydalis has filled in nicely under the eaves in very dry conditions:

This is the area outside the south gate in the front where we cleared out a lot of the dwarf lilac's sukers and hope the Lamiums will recover enough to fill in under it again:

I took this photo just today of one of our Carex Ice that we planted this past summer. It is looking perfect.

Oh lord what next, I just went out to pick a bit of fresh thyme to add to homemade chicken soup we're having for lunch today, I looked up into the top garden bed to see the ground covered in these mushrooms. I don't know my mushrooms but possible they may be 'Death Caps', I'm waiting for a mushroom picking friend to confirm my suspicions. These are coming up in some mulch we bought and put down over 2 years ago. In any case they will be history shortly. I won't eat any mushrooms that haven't been bought in a super market.

There's clumps of these all over, kind of pretty to look at this time of year but if they're poisonous I want them gone toot sweet.

Annette

Still do look like attractive culinary presentations, Annette.

Do any fine chef proud!

I wouldn't risk an identification from a photo - would really like to see the gills and stalk though. We do have shaggy parasols, puffballs and penny buns in our woods (if only we had morels and chanterelles?). I am partial to mushroom on toast but only with the local 'shrooms I know well.

Camp I took this picture yesterday.

My son picks mushrooms, has loads of white Chanterelles on his 10 acres, he might know which one it is but he's up working on the ice roads right now, in any case edible or not I'm going to go out and dispose of them. They get quite flat when they open up.

Annette

Not a deathcap - for sure (the gills would be pure white)...I would be inclined to suggest yours was a boletus type and quite probably edible but, as you say, it would be madness to try without a proper ID including spore print. Bought in mulch often contains spent mushroom compost so it is quite usual for a new mycelium to develop.

Thanks Camp, what with all the critters that run through my garden I was hoping it wasn't a poisonous type. There's a mass of it popping up under the yellow cedar in the back corner of this raised bed, looks kind of pretty in amongst everything else that has died down. A fellow we know who forages for mushrooms doesn't know either, thought it might be a 'Prince' or a lookalike. In any case it doesn't matter as they will be disposed of, I was just curious as to what they were. I hope the seed I sent you arrived safely, if not I can send more.

Annette

There isn't really any point in 'disposing' of them. They are just the fruiting bodies of a mycellium which is all under the ground. And you can't get rid of that. They will be gone soon and may not reappear again. Their being poisonous or not isn't really an issue either. Wild animals won't eat what will hurt them. So unless you suspect that the local humans will eat them it doesn't matter if they are poisonous

BTW since this has gills I don't think it is a Boletus. They have a spongy looking underside.

Thanks Floral, didn't relish the thought of rummaging around under all the wet and soggy vegetation. I might take a couple more pictures, they keep popping up, not a solid carpet by any means but there's quite a few now. As far as critters getting into the garden, we feed the birds in the winter so the garden is alive with them waiting around for the next meal, we've had squirrels, mink, otter, racoons and once we had a deer jump the fence. Not to much of a problem with rats or mice of late, too many cats roaming about. We have a river (really only a stream across the road from us), so far the beaver haven't made it over the road but one did manage to get into the elementary school not far from us :).

Annette