So pretty, Marie. I love the look of fallen leaves (we leave ours until late spring) and I hope to have some flowers as pretty as your next year.. I have planted the front yard with native perennials and some small native shrubs-I am hoping for a beautiful spring, summer, and fall next year. Yours look great. I am not very good at design, so we shall see. I just hope they all survive. ;-)

These are lovely, Marie — those pink mums glowing against the red maple leaves are such a cheerful sight for November, and your hellebore foliage looks so fresh. Like cyn, I leave most of my leaves down until spring too; they make such good cover for the beds over winter. After three days of rain everything in my garden looks pretty soggy as well, so I know exactly how you feel!

Except for the acid yellow Patrina umbel, all the plants are perennial mums from Bluestone or Avant Gardens . i have a few others that did not get planted until mid October. We’ll see in spring if they survive tardy planting. This phone does not pick ip color well. Several plants have more intensely colored flowers than shown here.

There's still plenty blooming here.

Looks like I might finally freeze in about a week, which is within the normal range for me. (second half of November)

Now that it is sizing up and above the level of the damn lop-eared rats, Camellia 'Robiraki', created in Japan (therefore, certainly not selected for hardiness) and the first intentional hybrid between tea (C. sinensis) and another Camellia (C. japonica ssp. rusticana in this case) - is proving to be an excellent plant. The bloom season seems long, spreading out over almost 2 months, as it started in mid-Sept.

They are smallish, like all C. sinensis flowers, but, honestly, better looking that the Camellia sinensis 'Rosea' I had for a few years. (one of the only Camellias I lost, although with that one, it was to a poorly drained spot, not cold) 'Robiraki' has been outside about 3, maybe 4 years and was quite damaged after last winter, losing many of its leaves, but recovered quickly, as you'd expect for a variety with heterosis.

Also, Hesperantha 'Deborah's Red', I got at Cistus on site in 2011 and had to painstakingly size up from a tiny division after it died out in a bad site outside. Now, on a south facing slope, I expect it to survive all but the very worst winters (it was fine in the last two, which were chilly), but I will still keep at least 1 qt. pot in my 'greenhouse' over winter, just in case.

Since nobody else ever marketed this and Cistus has apparently stopped, I'm starting to wonder if it's really another better known (insofar as any of them are!) red cultivar like 'Torero', or H. coccinea 'Major'. Beautiful whatever it's called.

It's a very pure red without a touch of purple.

One more update - some calla lilies still blooming, this is one of the larger selections like 'Hercules' or similar. These have never needed protection since 2007. I think because they are in a ditch that never dries out, they are protected from freezing to death.

Interestingly they've never seeded because they bloom late summer onwards. Now I have a couple other Zantedeschia cultivars that bloom in early summer so have time to mature seed. Those have a few babies nearby now.

Lovely

i have never seen these in a cold climate garden ( 6a) thanks.

i hope more people post

Thanks Marie.

If you ever are over on the RI coast check out Issima Plant Nursery. Ed has a Zantedeschia that I believe he rates fully zone 6 hardy. It's white with a black eye - very pretty.