Mahonia aquifolia

Here is one of the season’s special beauties!  I now have this Mahonia planted near the front door, not only so that we can see the blooms, but also , in order to enjoy the fragrance!

This is a most useful plant as it is evergreen and very structural. It appreciates protection from the hot sun and will, in fact do very nicely in all shade. It is now on the north side of our house, where it is about to bloom.

Hellebores in Planters

Yes, here on the West Coast, with our very mild winters, we can maintain beautiful gardens. In fact, we can even have flowers throughout most of the winter. Right now, in my own gardens, I have the lovely flowers of the Mahonia. They are not only striking, visually, but they are also fragrant! But the main beauties in our gardens, throughout the winter, starting in late January, are the Hellebores. They are some of the most impressive flowers, anytime, but are especially appreciated when they are almost the only stars in the garden. Below are a few that I had put in my front planters last year. They continued to grow and bloom until April!  This year I have put them in my front gardens and some are budding up already.

Well into November, as I was finishing up a few final chores in the garden, I was so pleased to see my white Enkianthus looking quite beautiful. It is one of my special treats when it blooms as I have not seen all that many white ones. Ususally they are like the one on the other side of the property which is the pink-veined cultivar, and so, it is always nice to see it, here, in the Woodland garden, summer or autumn. It had a chance to turn these bright colours before its leaves were all swept away a few days later when we had our first real wind storm. If you will look carefully, you will see the ‘spirit’ of the garden overlooking this lovely plant.

Peeking Out! Beautiful Begonias

Although it is October, I just cannot bear to pull out my tuberous Begonias yet….They are all looking so pretty that I think I will have to leave them at least for one more week. I am still having clients come through my gardens to point to and choose favourite plants for next year’s garden design ideas. It is very helpful for them to see the types of plants that I like to use and they can see them in a mature garden setting which helps them visualize these plants in their own gardens.

A Mix of My Favourites

A Favourite by the Front Door

This Clematis  is a very striking colour and is a special reminder of a loved one. It is Clematis  ’Ernest Markham’ and the flowers lasted a long time.

Clematis ‘Ernest Markham’

  One afternoon, while walking through our ‘Woodland

Garden’, I noticed that the contrast between the soft,

almost dull texture of Brunnera ‘Looking Glass’, and

the very shiny, glossy leaves of the Asarum was really

particularly effective with the crisp white tulips, which

were just emerging.

Note: Texture of Brunnera ‘Looking Glass’ with the smooth Asarum.

White Tulips amongst the Green