We have had no hard frosts yet, but as autumn slides into winter the chilly, damp and grey November weather has put an end to any colour in the garden…. or has it? Let’s look a little closer and see what we can find.
First of all, my patio planter. This plant with berries is called Gaultheria procumbens, and they are common seasonal plants here sold for winter containers.
A silver leaf in the planter adds to the festive look – all we need now is some snow!
A few steps further across the patio, and we can see the Persicaria amplexicaulis in the rockery, rising up against the golden Euonymous.
From the patio this apricot rose is also drawing attention to itself – just the one bloom still.
And across the top lawn we pass the Clematis tangutica – it was new in spring and flowered moderately, with all the silky seed heads remaining intact.
Just opposite the clematis the Rugosa Rose hips still look lovely – I couldn’t bring myself to pick them, so no rosehip syrup again!
In the dry part of the rockery the Euphorbia are now a lovely sight, where almost everything else has died back.
Physalis alkekengi – like golden lanterns suspended on their ghostly stems.
The occasional red leaf..
And a couple of wild strawberries…
Weeds (Fleabane) on the compost heap…
And some lush green moss!
Who said there’s no colour out there? I just needed to look a little harder!
Words and Herbs 
I enjoyed your fall colors. In our garden we now have a lovely leaf mosaic carpet.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Thanks Wendy – I enjoyed seeing our leaves on the ground too. They really brighten up the garden, especially the yellow ones. They have all fallen now, and mostly have been raked up over the flower beds or the compost heap. 😉
I have one apricot rose left too in my garden. Looks quite a bit like yours! There are a few stray dahlias, lots of color from the Nandina and the deep wine shades of the hydrangeas that were a magnificent purple a month ago. Oh, and some penstamon and a lot of gardenias in a deep rose. It always makes me happy to make one more bouquet out of what is left.
It sounds like you have lots of colour still too Susan, and gardenias too! That’s a good idea to make a bouquet… I must see if I can find anything to bring indoors, as we have been forecast colder weather next week. Have a great weekend!
good evening Kathy, You autumn colors are nice. We had a really cold weather for three-four days with a hard frost. The only thing I can find is the Creeping Jenny growing on the eastside of our home. It is still green! I like your apricot rose.
check out this sunset I caught; Sunset and Icicles
Hi Michael. Creeping Jenny is pretty tough! We have been promised colder weather next year – and about time too, as we have not had a proper frost yet. Love your sunset photos. 😀
You found some cheerful color Cathy. The apricot rose is perfect. I checked my garden earlier today and found no surprises–Husker’s Red Penstemon foliage is looking nice and some pansies add color.
Penstemons are such pretty plants for so many months, but I have only once managed to keep one through the winter so I gave up. Have a good weekend Susie!
You have a lot of color! I love the reds! And the leaves alone are just beautiful. We still have roses, so that’s where I’ve focused when I want to see color, but you’ve given me the idea that I perhaps haven’t been looking as closely as I might. I’ll take another peek! And we had rain today! Hooray! 🙂 Beautiful, Cathy!
I will shout hooray if we get some frost! I’m impatient for some real winter weather – I hate the grey and damp, and long for frost and blue skies! I was amazed at how much is still green out there, so I hope you find a few surprises too. Have a lovely weekend Debra!
Lovely Cathy, as you say we only need to look to find lots of lovely things, what is the silver foliage plant you showed in the second photo.
Hi Christina. I had to look it up as it is simply called “silver leaf” here! : Jacobaea maritima or formerly known as Senecio cineraria (Silver Ragwort?). It’s sold for summer and autumn planting here, but in summer it produces yellow flowers if it’s in a very warm and sunny position.
You certainly have lots of colour still, your rose is so beautiful! I had to search for my flowers last week but managed to find a few. Most of the colour in the garden now is from the foliage with autumn tints, we haven’t been wet and grey, more bright sun, wonderful blue skies and cold at night, but not much frost where we are.
That sounds like my kind of weather Pauline. 😉 I also was convinced there was nothing left to look at in the garden until I went out hunting!
Such lovely colours. I think my Arbutus unedo is giving me the best show at the moment with it white flowers and bright red strawberries. I have some Physalis that I have neglected and left in a bad position. You have reminded me to get it sorted and put it in a better place for next year. I was given it and told it was “Pommes d’Amour” and had no idea what it was !
That is such a lovely name! Does your Physalis spread like mad? Mine has become a real thug, so mind where you move it to! 😉 Are the Arbutus fruits edible or do the birds like them?
The autumnal colours are still looking really good in your garden. My neighbour has a beech hedge running the length of the garden – the yellow and copper leaves look just beautiful in the afternoon when the sun is shining through them from behind.
The beech has been lovely here too Sarah. Thankfully it has almost all come down…the fallen leaves all tend to drift towards our front door, so I’m doing a lot of sweeping. I could do with one of those witch’s brooms! -)
Most of our color blew away last week, but a few shrubs are hanging on to their leaves…Your late colors are lovely 🙂
Hi Marie – lovely to hear from you. The trees are nearly bare, but the shrubs are still hanging on!
No need to look to hard in your garden, Cathy. I always find the rugosa hips far too pretty to pick and the foliage is great too. Beautiful seedheads of the Clematis. We’ve had a touch of snow and it’s very grey but Acer griseum, Virginia creeper et. al still shine. Have a nice a weekend 🙂
Thanks Annette. I’d love some frosts now. Hope you have a lovely weekend too!
You still have such gorgeous blooms and foliage going on in your garden! Strawberries and roses, too! Our landscape here is considerably…whiter, LOL! 😉
I tried one of those strawberries Sheryl… it was not very tasty – sour and watery!
I’m dreaming of snow, but we should at least get some frost next week. Have a lovely weekend!
What a lovely apricot November rose in your garden …! In our garden there are pink roses still blooming. And when I today was looking a little bit closer I discovered a blue and a white Campanula persicifolia, orange and yellow “Löwenmäulchen”, one white flower of “Schneeball – Hortensie” and a young sprout of larkspur with buds.
But frost will be coming and – these last cheerful colours will be fading away soon …
Have a good weekend, Cathy!
You have lots of colour still too! It’s time for a freeze though. Perhaps we’ll see the sun again if it turns cold. 😀 Hope you have a lovely weekend as well Elisabeth!
I’d say things shut down here about two weeks before where you are. There really is very little left in the way of color. A few late-turning leaves is all …
I think we will all have to start showing pictures of summer flowers that we never got around to posting! 😉 Doesn’t summer seem so long ago already?… Have a great weekend Jason!
You found quite a few splashes of color, your photographs really do a great job capturing the colors of late fall.
Your pansies were still holding on to a fall/spring feel…. I think you’ve switched over to Christmas now with the greens and silvers! 🙂
Thanks Frank. Could do with a bit of sunshine though! And yes, Christmas is not far away now. 😀
Your apricot rose is stunning, such a treat as winter starts to descend on us.
Hi Charlie. It’s nice to have a couple of “hangers-on” until the frosts finish off the blooms! Have a great weekend!
I think we prize the colour we find at this time of year more than any other, even in February as the snowdrops and hellebores flower we know spring is almost here. I love that Physalis alkekengi, what a magnificent plant.
They are magnificent – and terribly invasive! For a year or two I loved them… until they got a hold. Now it’s a love-hate relationship! I agree about colour. The tiniest speck is so welcome in winter – we are so spoilt in the spring and summer!
You do have lovely fall colors. It is interesting what we find when we look closely at nature.
Yes Karen, especially the mosses in the winter. They are fascinating close up! Thanks for stopping by Karen!
Oh still plenty of colour Cathy – it’s just quite not as in your face as at other times of the year. Time to slow down and notice all the fabulous details like those clematis seed heads 🙂
I’m looking forward to the slowing down part… just a few things to cut back or cover up this week and then the garden will be truly put to bed for winter. Then I can enjoy some frost on those seed heads!
Oh, my, what a fabulous display of color for November! I’m not sure which is my favorite, they’re all so beautiful, but I think I love the satiny clematis and the rose hips. So you will or won’t be making rose hip syrup?
Hi Barbara. I think I’ve left it too late for rosehip syrup again! One of our dogs likes the hips and has often tried to bite them off the very prickly stems… successfully too! 😉 Hope your pup is not getting up to too many tricks!
Oh Cathy, this is lovely, like a soft “colour fall” ~ of fall colors 🙂
Thank you for such a lovely comment Uta! It’s getting colder now. Have a good week, and stay warm! 😀
Yes my garden is now white 🙂
😀 Now white is a really pretty colour at this time of year!
Those little strawberries are hardy and tasty, I leave mine for the raccoons. Nice pics Cathy. You have a lot more color than we do but there are snippets–mostly scarlet red from the maples and fuchsias. I hope you are keeping warm.
It seems you fell out of my reader again…damn WordPress. 😦
I’m glad you have a little colour too Nancy. The colour here was white for a couple of days this week! But it’s all melted again now. 😦 I’m going to do lots of baking the next few days to keep warm – Christmas Cookie season starts with Advent on Sunday! 😀