Between the rain!

"The day is cold, and dark, and dreary; 
It rains,and the wind is never weary; 
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall, 
But at every gust the dead leaves fall, 
And the day is dark and dreary."

By  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Today was dry 'hurrah' here in Worcestershire, I ventured out into the garden, with the camera, to see what, if anything was providing us with some winter colour.The Euphorbia's appear to be enjoying this winter, 

we have Blackbird...

...a young E. wulfenii...

...and E. Glacier Blue providing some colourful foliage.

Against this fence, we have from left to right,

Cornus sanguinea Midwinter Fire, Cornus Alba 'Westonbirt' syn C. alba 'Siberia' and Ilex x Altaclerensis  Golden King...

...even though it has the name 'King' is is a berry producing female...

...also providing some berry colour is, Iris foetidissima 'Citrina'...

In a corner of the Oriental Garden colour is provided by the

Phyllostachys Spectablis and

Hamamelis Moll  Pallida (Witch Hazel)...

Hamamelis.

On the other side of the path:

Corylus avellana 'Contorta' is producing a few catkins...

 In the main borders...

Mahonia Bealii is providing some early pollen for the bees...

 ...with

Clematis cirrhosis balearics scrambling over it...

 ...the ornamental grasses are surprisingly still standing, there are three

Calamagrostis x a. ' Karl Foerster ' at the front with a Miscanthus sinensis behind...

Two welcome winter visitors recently photographed while feeding in the garden...
A Long Tailed Tit...

...and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker.

What is cheering you up in your garden today?

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Tree Following November 2015 (Acer negundo Flamingo)

The  Acer negundo Flamingo I have been following this year has now lost all its leaves, if you haven't visited before it grows in our small Oriental Garden.

The stems come into their own this time of year with their slate & blue colouring...

...growing in the centre is a small amount of moss, which I had not noticed before.

This photo was taken, at night, from out side the Oriental Garden, with the garden light on and the camera flash turned off.
A White Wisteria, whose leaves are just changing, is trained over the arch behind and then along the bamboo fence underneath the tree.

The tree following meme is now hosted by Pat please visit to see what other trees people are following this month.

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Tree following October.

There has not been much change during the last two months, in the Acer negundo Flamingo I have been following this year.

 If you haven't visited before, here it is growing in the Oriental Garden.

 I pollard it every January Here  to prevent it becoming too big while encouraging the slate blue branches and fine pink stems that you can see in the pictures, to develop.

Unfortunately the white variegated edges of the leaves have been scorched by either the sun or more likely the wind.

I thought this was a good time to introduce you to the never ending woodland path here at Our Garden19. Walking through the main borders towards the Banana Bench...

...you come to the start of the path, here you have a choice to make, left or right?

I seem to nearly always turn to the left, I don't know why, passing the Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tripcuspidata) on the trellis just turning red and the apple 'Kid's Orange Red' on your left.

Boston Ivy

It is, I think, a lovely eating apple.

Following the path round behind the bench...

...you pass Rose glauca.syn. Rose rubrifolia...

...and Sorbus Eastern Promise, both growing through Aucuba, Dogwoods, and a variegated Holly backed by a Sambucus nigra.

A little further round you have Ligularia przewalskii, on the right, behind the Banana Bench trellis, this produces lovely spires of yellow flowers. Hiding in the corner of this picture is an apple tree Worcester Pearmain, we had to have one of those.
The first tree on the left is Liquidamber slyraciflua 'Stella'...

...whose leaves are just starting to turn a 'buttery' yellow, soon to turn red...

...a little further along the never ending path is what I refer to as our 'Champion Tree', the Prunus serrula...

...with its wonderful coppery peeling bark.

And here we emerge, back where we started in front of the Banana Bench where you can sit and rest looking out over the garden before you start again following the never ending woodland walk.

On your way back to the house if you look over the fence you can see the neighbours' Liquidamber in all its Autumn fiery glory...

...every year it turns earlier than the one in our garden, which means we can enjoy theirs before ours puts on a show.

The last picture is a close up of a Boston Ivy leaf.

If you wish to see which trees other bloggers are following please visit Lucy at Loose and leafy Here

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Tree following June. (In the pink!)

"In the Pink"...meaning...in perfect condition...especially of health.

 The leaves of the Acer negundo Flamingo that I have chosen for the tree following meme are now fully open revealing their pink edging... 

...pretty in pink, nicely contrasted by the copper beech in next doors garden.

Flamingo is in the Oriental Garden, this is the new gravel river...

...flowing from the bamboo water spout, backed by two Cranes, those Japanese symbols of good fortune.

Somewhere to sit and relax..... (In the pink!)

Where are you sitting... ('In the pink'?)

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'We're almost there'...

A quick tour before open day to see what is catching the eye:

The self seeded Foxglove has just opened in front of the Siberian wallflower and Allium 'Purple Sensation'...

...along with the Anchusa azurea...

...cooling things down on the patio is the Polygonatum x Hybridum Striatum...

...along side the Iris pseudacorus 'Variegata'...

...and a delicately marked water Iris ( may be 'ensata' Japanese Iris)...

...the white Wisteria creating a welcome entrance to the restyled Oriental Garden...

...now with the Trinity Stones repositioned and a gravel river running from the water spout to a whirlpool...

...in the White and Green garden...

...Allium 'Mount Everest'...

...the white Hesperis matronalis...

...and the white Aquilegia are obeying the rules.

By the arch the Viburum opulus (guilder rose)...

...with the Clematis 'Nelly Moser' peeping out from underneath.

Through the arch purple Hesperis matronalis... 

...an unusual 'nature' created Aquilegia...

...and a cheeky Welsh Poppy, Meconopsis cambrica seeded amongst the Lysimachia ciliate 'Firecracker'

In the 'Woodland Walk' Geranium sylvaticum 'Album' is lighting up this shady area...

...along with Iris 'Holden Clough'...

...and Clematis mont. 'Broughton Star'.

The Box has had its summer trim...

...and so have I.
It took a lot longer to trim the Box!

Scones and cakes are being baked, cream & jam is ordered, plenty of tea & coffee in stock.
All we need now is good weather.

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