Black Magic Hates Frost

The time has come to store the Black Magic plants for the winter. The first picture shows one of the Black Magic about a month ago with large healthy leaves. The second shows the same plant this week after several freezing nights - totally killed back. We removed them from the pond and put them in the greenhouse for the winter. This year, I am going to let them dry out over the winter instead of keeping them damp. It remains to be seen if this is a good process to over-winter the plants.

So Sad Elephant Ears

We've had several nights in the high 20's and as a result our Elephant Ear plants are looking really sad. Remembering back a month ago, these plants were beautiful with huge rich green leaves. I'm still considering whether to dig up the bulbs and store them in the garage over the winter or just leave them in the ground and hope they revive next spring.

Crape Myrtle Fall Change

All of the sudden 10 days ago, the Crape Myrtle leaves turned from green to yellow, red, and orange. Here one of the three trees is holding onto it's green leaves a little longer. The second picture shows some of the seed pod bounty produced by these prolific trees. It won't be long until the trees drop all of their leaves and the wonderful bark is fully exposed.

Two Camellia Bushes Replace Dogwoods

We finally gave up on our Red Twig and White Twig Dogwood trees. While interesting, they have been decimated every year by caterpillars. The leaves get stripped leaving just the stems. We replaced them with Camellia bushes. If they work out, they should get pretty large and provide some beautiful flowers in the fall. It will be a couple of years before we find out if these plants work out.

Sad Looking Beauty Berry

While we haven't had a hard freeze yet, some of the plants are looking pretty sad. The leaves of the American Beautyberry which were looking good a couple of weeks ago are now drooping badly. Just across from the Beautyberry is one of the bunches of Elephant Ears where some of the giant leaves are turning yellow. Once the freeze comes these plants will die back for the winter.

Moved Plants Just in Time

We moved the plants into the greenhouse just in time. The last two nights the low temperature was 33 degrees so we just missed the first freeze of the season. Many plants moved into the house with the rest squeezing into the greenhouse. The greenhouse seemed big when I built it but it seems small after filling it with plants. After moving the plants, the small pond looks plain and lonely. Of course the problem is this gives the neighborhood predators a clear shot at fresh seafood.