Garden Share Bristol

European mountain ash, Sorbus acuparia

the mornings are downright frosty these days!

fox squirrel enjoying my Fraxinus americana 'Autumn Purple'

This American Red Squirrel  Fox Squirrel is one of many that call my neighborhood home. I enjoy watching their antics in the garden, but don't appreciate their persistent attacks on my bird feeders!

Are squirrels a part of your garden's ecosystem? Do you consider them friends or foes?

ETA:  Thanks to Connie who correctly identified this squirrel species!

Freeze-dried:  Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'

Remember this?

The lovely 'Autumn Joy' sedums that I photographed just a few weeks ago now look like this:


  They had not had enough time to dry out and harden off before we were hit with a couple of heavy snows. Some years they will stay perfectly upright and the flower heads will dry to a rich, brick red, adding texture and color to the winter landscape. 



 This year it was just not meant to be!

Design fail!

this "lawn" is about two feet wide

Wouldn't this planting strip be so much MORE if it were filled with billowing ornamental grasses,  colorful perennials, and texture-full shrubs?


They managed to get it right on the other side of the walkway, so what went wrong here?


A wasted opportunity is now a waste of resources, too.

despite last week's crushing snow: Glaucium flavum and Schizachyrium scoparium