Happy Monday GPODers!
Today we’re seeing how Carla Zambelli Mudry’s garden is handling some uncharacteristically warm weather this fall. Carla sends regular updates on her garden in Malvern, Pennsylvania (some submissions from this past year are: Ahead-of-Schedule Flowers in Pennsylvania, Hydrangea Season in Carla’s Garden, and A Weird Summer in Carla’s Garden), so we have a great record on how her space has evolved over the years. Despite the ups and downs that climate likes to bring to our gardens, Carla is always able to create and capture plant magic.
Unbelievably, it is November and it’s over 60°. It has been a very stressful fall gardening season because we’ve been in a drought. We are under a burn ban for the county I live in Pennsylvania through the end of this month, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they extended it.
We’ve had a little bit of rain in the last week, which softened the soil up enough for me to get the rest of the bulbs planted. I think about 500 bulbs again this year, a lot of of them are in the lawn. I have been working on a Stinzenplanten the past couple of years. It’s more of a common occurrence in European countries, here in the US so many people just bow to the lawn gods and I remember when I was a child there were all these lawns of these houses where I lived that would explode with little daffodils and crocuses in the spring, and as the years went by and people started using chemical laden lawn services and developing larger parcels of land into multiple small parcels of giant McMansions, it disappeared.
The drought is really stressing my shrubs and trees. I believe I’ve lost some deciduous azaleas, but I’m not sure. I won’t know about the tree damage until the spring. As we adapt to climate change, I hope our gardens will do so as well happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there at Fine Gardening.
Despite drought, the trees really put on a spectacular show this year. I saw similar scenes here in Connecticut where we experienced similar drought and burn bans.
The resilience and beauty of trees is always inspiring, and Carla has an incredible mix around her property. Her landscape has all the must-have colors of the season, as well as plenty of green to keep everything grounded.
Colorful foliage is even more magical up close.
Fall gardens can be a little more understated, which brings out a simpler kind of beauty. In the summer, garden art like this beautiful copper bird bath often becomes accents to more bountiful blooms and lush foliage. In the fall, this bird bath is able to stand on its own while becoming a frame for some pretty fallen leaves.
Of course, there are plenty of lasting blooms in Carla’s garden as well. This hydrangea may be fading, but it’s still providing a little muted pink to the landscape.
While some flowers are fading, others are just amping up. A bright pink Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica, Zones 7–9) is starting to bloom.
Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather, lots of roses are still putting on a show in Carla’s garden!
More cold-weather classics are starting to make their appearance. Like the Japanese camellia above, this American witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana, Zones 3–8) should be covered in its unusual blooms into winter.
I always love seeing this garden sculpture when Carla submits her garden. It looks great in all seasons, and is an incredible feat of craftsmanship that connects the garden to the wooded landscape that surrounds.
Carla sent in so many sensational photos from her garden, that we’ll be back in Pennsylvania to see more of her fall scenes tomorrow. We’ll take a look at more flowers that are still putting on a performance in the late season as well as Carla’s hanging baskets and containers full of edibles.
Have a garden you’d like to share?
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