This photo was taken on a mid-November morning. Some of the plants from left to right are little bluestem, New England aster, purple top (grass) and Canada goldenrod. |
Sweet everlasting, Pseudognaphallium obtussifolium, has a particularly long-lasting presence in the garden. Even after the seeds are dispersed the white, star-like sepals remain intact well into January. This plant is an annual and depends on this seed finding a spot on the ground to continue its presence in the garden.
The spent flowers of sweet everlasting show off well in front of a dark back ground. Mixed in here are the seed stalks of the native grass, purple top, Tridens flavus. |
Virgin's bower, Clematis virginiana, is one of our native clematises. It has a very long vining habit, growing to about 20 feet in sunny location in one season. Many consider it weedy because its thin stems go just about anywhere. I like it because it does a good job of covering fences with foliage without becoming heavy and damaging like the exotic sweet autumn clematis. The flowers in the second half of summer are small and rather subtle compared to many cultivated clematises. Where this plant shines (or glows) is in the fall when the feathery seed heads form.
After the fluffy white seeds of New York ironweed are dispersed these rust colored capsules will remain for several months. |
Besides all these flowering plants, the grasses also make a graceful contribution to the fall and winter garden. Last fall I wrote a blog post about fall grasses. I won't go into a lot of detail again, only to say that some of them really do use the winter light to great effect, such as pink muhly (Muhlenbergia capilaris) and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium).
Appreciating plants in the fall is not just an outdoor activity. We brought in a few to enjoy as a table center piece. While pretty this has proven to get a little messy. The seeds on the little bluestem stick quite tightly to the table cloth and the hosta seed head is still shedding seeds. Our biggest problem is that our cat likes to get in and rearrange things, even the spiny branches of the invasive wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius).
Some of the plants from left to right, Northern sea oats, a wineberry stem, little bluestem, false indigo pods, tall ornamental garlic, hosta and wild bergamot. |