Intro to the winter garden

We set the clocks back this weekend, got an inch of rain, and saw temperatures fall in to the mid-50s. For all practical purposes, winter has arrived.



The days get a little bit shorter for another month, but things don't change that much between now and March.





I wasn't expecting this cordyline to sprout from the roots. What should I do? Please advise.



I'm starting to see the effects of massing monocots (plants with parallel venation in the leaf) on this side of the garden--the grasses, cordylines and one phormium are all doing well. I may need to move two Asclepias curassavica that I just planted, and add more grasses to extend the theme.



Nothing captures wind and light in the garden like massed monocots. I need to start thinking carefully about color. There's the red cordyline back there, and the black phormium up front... In between I seem to have mostly green grasses. Maybe I could add a few orange-y Carex testacea. There's a whole world of colorful Carex cultivars.

Echiums are not monocots, but the bladed leaves are similar enough.





For sure, it's time to put the dahlia pots away. I left them out to soak up whatever residual sunlight they could get. They're dormant now and the clutter only accentuates my hoarding tendencies.



Let's look away. There is some fall color on the grape vine. As long as there's still some fall color to enjoy, we know it's not really winter.















The witch hazels are too small to have any fall color impact. (But note Salvia 'Jean's Purple Passion' in the background. Nice, huh? She's a small, lanky thing now but I think she'll fill out well.)



Witness the sorry state of my vine maples. Sigh.



Even though we're sliding into winter, we still have flowers. I think Tithonia diversifolia could go for months.



Same thing for Cestrum elegans. For what it's worth, this has been a much better Cestrum for me than C. auranticum or C. nocturnum. (I don't have any experience with C. newellii.)



More pink from three Nerines blooming very late in the year for Nerine.



Dahlia imperialis is blooming, but not for me. The tall stalks lean out of my garden and into my neighbor's view.



Same thing with Montanoa grandiflora whose flowers are way high up on tall stems.





An unknown white rose from Annie's Annuals (they call it 'Marble Gardens Mystery Rose') has a few flowers.



Looks like Rosa mutabilis did not love recent rains.



The rains did not wash away the spiders. That would have been nice.