if you didnt know scale ... that last pic.. almost looks like a pumpkin ...

i never noticed how the wax that makes plants blue does weird things in fall ... well.. actually it did nothing.. the green plant under it turned yellow ... go figure ...

thx for the pix ...

ken

I’ve got some still worth looking at. All pics taken two days ago, October 28.

Gosen Sunproof—this Hosta could be plastic considering how it handles any extreme of weather, actually probably holds up better than plastic.

Luna Moth—pretty hardy for a delicate looking little thing.

Tequila Sunrise—this Hosta is beautifully yellow in the spring. It’s flowerscapes are long and hang down in the way of the path, but I think I’ll leave it where it is. That smudge of a thing in front of it is all that’s left of my Lakeside Paisley Print.

Fire and Ice—the best of the three that I own. It seems to love it here, fairly heavy shade and overhead watering.

And one of my most successful beds, Praying Hands, Electrocution, Curly Fries,

Same bed from the other end, Pineapple Upsidedown Cake, Wings of a Prayer, Alakazam (much flatter Hosta than I expected) and back to Curly Fries.

Kathy, I am amazed at how beautiful your hostas are so late in the season! Were it not for the autumn leaves on the ground you'd never guess it's end of October in your garden. Remarkable! I was just outside checking out Ivory Queen to post about and almost all of my hostas are in the fugly stage, lol!

This one came as a surprise to me - Frances Williams is holding up extremely well...compared to my mature Krossa Regal which is literally down for the count.

Well colour me green with envy. Pieter 'Frosted Mouse Ears' does look special. Mine did not go out in such an attractive way.

Kathy yours are still awesome. That Caladium is really impressive too. It would have been toast a couple of months ago here.

Jo mine are way beyond the "fugly' stage for the most part. I really only have one left that looks good. There might have been a few others if the deer had not eaten them.

'Summer Squall' has lost its blue but has held up very well considering we have had frost many times.

'Jaws' is a mix of perfect leaves and not so much...

'Lakeside Cupcake' took a beating with frost in Sept. then it warmed up and put out new leaves.

'Lakeside Cupcake'

'Zebra Stripes' as a whole looked perfect until last week. This ones longevity has been a complete surprise since it has a fairly thin substance. Then the deer and frost had their fun. All these pics were taken yesterday Oct. 30th.

Nov 2..some of my hostas today..

June..one of my favorites
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Fire Island with blooms!6 young First Frosts are living up to their name..(and a new ratty Blue Angel top left)..

Snow! Yikes! Love the pattern on the fern. Always love to see hummingbirds.

Pieter..beautiful pics..curious - is this early for you to have snow?..

Yes. Never mind early, most winters we have little to no snow at sea level, in the mountains only to keep the skiers happy! Last year the first snow fall for us was early December and by the time spring finally rolled around we'd had a fair bit of the stuff over the winter, we had snowfall in January, February and March. In the 45 years I've lived here it's been snow perhaps once or twice over the winter and never too much and it warms up fairly quickly again so the stuff doesn't linger. The weather prognosticators have been calling for another cold winter and this is the earliest we've seen snow in many years.

Pieter

it surprised me to see hostas and ferns covered with snow!..when we have snow (January usually) our hostas are long gone..I was out most of the day..was cloudy and warm..might have been 70 degrees (didn't hear the weather)..it's raining now..GLAD it's not snow..it seems that the weather everywhere is unstable..I bet your snow will be gone soon right?..

Snow and a hummingbird? Did she forget to leave? Will it live?

Anna's hummingbirds are a native species and are here year-round. While we all think of hummingbirds as nectar eaters, they actually have quite a varied diet which allows to stay here and not migrate south.

Anna’s Hummingbirds eat nectar from many flowering plants, including
currant, gooseberry, manzanita, and many introduced species such as
eucalyptus. They also eat a wide array of insects from understory
leaves, crevices, streambanks, or caught in spider webs, plucked from
the air, or taken from flowers. Primarily they target smaller insects,
like midges, whiteflies, and leaf hoppers (one female was found with 32
leafhoppers in her stomach at once). They also help themselves to tree
sap (and insects caught in it) leaking out from holes made by
sapsuckers.

The above quote is from All About Birds. Go to the link and read some more about this species and how it copes with colder temperatures.

And yes, snow's long gone, it was an overnight snowfall and it was thin enough that by mid-morning there was nothing left to see.

Pieter

Nice hosta pictures.

Very interesting about native hummers. Thank you.