Here is the photo. It didn't upload in the thread.

Thank you! I have been wondering what they are, but I never posted about it because I thought it was dead. I know these were old plants, probably dating back to the 60s or 70s, I'll look into some of the common cultivars.

Very possibly Autumn Joy ('Herbstfreude') which is one of the most popular and widely planted varieties. Forms early buds which are a pale whitish green in color, eventually opening to pale pink flowers, then deepening in late summer to that brick red color.

yes.. its a fall cut back perennial up here ...

in fall .. you see little clusters of cabbages near the ground ... yours might be planted too deep ... or be too young ..

any of the cabbages ... that hits the ground.. can root in ... if you want multiplication.. i am not saying its aggressive ..

we used to just put a shovel in the middle of a big old clump and dig out half.. and move it around.. cant nearly kill the thing...

once established.. it needs NOTHING .. not water.. not fert.. probably not even good soil ... one heck of an august bee magnet ....

ken

Sounds like the perfect plant for the spot. Really bad soil (stays dry), full sun, etc. It was a cutting, so I didn't expect it to come up. Doubt that it's planted too deep.

Unless starved of water and nutrients they tend to flop over later in the season. I cut mine in half with hedge clippers in June or so to prevent that. They do well in containers for me with no extra water at all in full sun. (PacNW sun)

When you prune them back it doesn't remove the flowers, right? That sounds like a good thing to do because I keep a very tidy and formal garden during the growing season.

The flowers haven't formed yet when you cut them back.