November 15
I cut back the Karl Forester grasses today and did some more pruning of the rosemary for shape and to be able to get by it along the walk.
It's hard to get the form right in such a tight spot -- and I knew it would be when I planted it there, it's way too big -- but it will take some pretty severe pruning.
While I love the smell of rosemary, the intense oils are all over my clothes and my pruning gloves and tools and it's too strong. Ugh.
There are still more things to cut back in the dining room window garden and a little bit of clean up in the back still too. But for now it's tidier along the walk.
And along the back fence by the potting bench, the neighbor's crabapple continues to shine, still arched over after the snow left, and next to it the Major Wheeler honeysuckle foliage is fresh and green, looking great.
November 11
It is densely loaded with crabapples and the whole tree just arched over with the weight.
I see it through the aspen trunks, viewed from the kitchen window. It really is quite a sight.
My small crabapple doesn't have much fruit this year -- I'm beginning to think it flowers and sets fruit only every other year. The leaves were still on it as the snow arrived, but the sturdy little tree held up well, with no bending or breaking.
As the snow melts more and more it appears the only damage was to the Chinese privet by the garage.
November 9
Damage review: the sun is out and some melting has occurred but it's still very cold, so many things are getting iced in. It will warm up later this week, but before that I took a little tour to see what things looked like.
The Japanese maple is fine, no damage and all its fine leaves are still on, and rusty red now. Next to it the giant mounded juniper is completely buried under snow. I don't know if it has any damage to its arching branches. They're pretty sturdy, so I expect this to be okay when it is finally revealed.
The tall grasses along the walk have shattered, but I'll cut those back when the snow is gone. The rosemary has some breakage on one side, but it can be pruned.
The privet by the back fence looks a little droopy but I don't see any damage and it should perk up in time.
The privet by the garage, however, has to go. I'll ask Jeronimo to take it out when I get him back here to clean up leaves later in the season.
The breakage is all on the right side, and the fullness remains on the side that crowds the door. It looks terrible and even with some clean up and pruning it won't be much to look at.
I tried to knock off icicles but that just broke some of the canes.
I have been wanting to train this rose up over the nearby door canopy, but the damage to the emerging long stems may set that plan back.
I'll have to see what's left after conditions warm up, and figure out how to prune this scrambler rose in some kind of direction.
The big rambunctious Peggy Martin rose on the fence has drooped and fallen down. Those long canes can be chopped back and I'll do that when it warms up.
The new upright juniper by the fence is upright but branches are all drooped down. Such a sad skinny thing.
The ironwood tree by the guest room window survived okay, still holding all its leaves but not so bowed down now.
(The other little new ironwood is fine, freed from snow and holding its leaves too.)
And here's the closing shot of winter in early November:
Kind of beautiful but so wrong for this time of year.
November 8
What a mess. And what a concern for my little trees. I went out in the ongoing storm yesterday and shook snow off the Japanese maple, the little ironwood, the three boxwoods and other laden down things.
But the snow continued and today, in cold bright sunshine, they are iced over and will break if I do any more shaking. The redbud, at least, lost all its leaves, so it's standing up okay now.
The worst hit are the twiggy Chinese privets, especially the one by the garage door. I already found broken branches all over, and even if it bounces back a bit, it may be oddly shaped now.
I wouldn't mind taking it out. Maybe I will next spring. It crowds the garage door, looks lollipop shaped mostly, and dwarfs the redbud.
On a beautiful fall day in 2023 you can see how odd it looks even nice and full. I want the redbud to be featured, not tucked in beside the privet.
Much of the time it was sparse in the middle, and did nothing visually up against the wall. It needed constant pruning for control. I'll take it out for sure. I think.
But the other Chinese privet by the fence was really pleasing me after I limbed it up a lot this summer. It had gotten huge and ball shaped, so I brought up the lower branches and trimmed back the sides to give the crabapple room, and I was just marveling this fall at how I liked the new vase like shape.
I liked being able to see the round pot and small curve of new amsonias planted under it, which tied the birdbath circle and the privet together.
I hope this privet will bounce back. Limbing it up so much probably made this massive snow load worse.
I just hope as it does melt it won't break the Japanese maple branches as the melting snow turns to hard ice. The little tree is still holding onto its thick mass of fine leaves -- which had been starting to turn a glorious red before this.
And the skinny Blue Arrow juniper by the fence is standing upright since I pushed a chair up against it to keep it from lying down, but the long branches are all severely arced downward. Will they recover?
Also a worry: the canales everywhere are fully blocked, loaded up with snow. They won't drain and so much snow on our flat roofs may be a problem.
What a storm.
November 7
This is crazy. Heavy, wet, steady snow all yesterday and all last night and it's still going.
I am really worried about my little trees -- the brand new tiny ironwood is drooping over, the redbud is heavily laden and the Seiryu Japanese maple is bowed down. Branches may break.
The slender new juniper by the fence was practically lying down on the ground. I propped it up with a chair to keep it upright, but its thin branches are sagging.
The Chinese privets are bending low and the elegant branches of the ironwood by the guest room window are pulled down and smushed up against the window now.
Will my trees survive without breakage? Most have not lost their leaves yet, so this extreme heavy snow is dangerous. I went out yesterday to shake some snow off the redbud and the new ironwood and the Japanese maple but within a few moments they were laden again.
And it's 28 degrees today and still snowing.
November 4
Rained and snowed all day. Half inch total.
November 3
Cleaned up the gardens, moistly -- I left a few things still standing. Snow is coming tomorrow and freezes and more snow during the week. It's time.
But how beautiful and fresh some things were. The Radio Red salvias that I had not yet chopped back had beautiful green leaves and brilliant scarlet flowers -- the red monardellas too. Orange zinnias looked bright and fresh.
All of the fragrant sumacs have colored up now and all are completely yellow. Not a sign of copper or red this year.
I brought the hoses in and took off the birdbath bowl to store, and emptied the rain barrel. Brought the patio cushions in the garage too.
I cut down the anemone, it will blacken in the freeze. Other things I left. I trimmed a lot off the rosemary, it had gotten big and was encroaching on the narrow walkway.
It was only 42 degrees out and it sprinkled lightly. A chilly, damp morning for these chores, but I got it all done.
Now we wait for snow.
November 1
It's a nice size now, rounded and full and leafy, but not big enough to fill the lower window for the bit of privacy I wanted.
The foliage gets a bit tattered and if it is not watered enough it crisps. In a good freeze it blackens and needs to be cut back and of course all winter there is nothing to look at.
The flowers aren't much. This is September Charm, not the more upright shell pink flowered Robustissima. The flowers are down facing and brief.
But the real problem is that it is sending out runners like crazy. I thought it would be more controlled in this dry environment, but of course it gets watered.
It is seriously invading the plumbago beneath it. I pull up runners constantly. I really think it needs to come out. I'll still have to pull tiny runners if I do get the main plant out, but eventually I can get rid of them all I think.
I had babied this along for the first years to get it to do anything!
What to put in its place that would be full and a little taller, with more visual weight and less maintenance? A shrub. Evergreen. I just want to screen the lower part of the big window, where I sit on the couch, fully visible to the outside and framed.
The spot gets shade from the cottonwood, and eastern sun in winter. The only evergreen shrubs that would be small but tall enough to cover the lower window are . . .
Alberta spruce?
Another Green Tower boxwood?
What about a viburnum there? A showy big shrub rose?
Sooner Plant Farm has this really cool evergreen viburnum, narrow upright, called Yardline, only 3 to 4 feet wide but 10 feet tall. That would fill much of the window and anchor that end of the garden with the plumbagos beneath.
It's a zone 7 viburnum, so a little iffy for our winters, although the map now says we are 7a here.
But that may be too much.
I'm liking the idea of a rose bush, although it won't be evergreen. Andrea's garden has big bush roses tucked in and around all her plants all over and they look great. Roses are workhorse plans in Santa Fe.
I liked the Blushing Pink Knockout in my old garden a lot -- the cherry red Knockouts not so much and those were taken out.
But the Blushing Pink was so fragrant and delicate and had a lot of form and presence. How would it look here under the window?
Lemon yellow columbines would be blooming at the same time -- the knockout rose flowers in mid May when the columbines do, but then keeps going long after the columbines are gone by.
Pink and yellow, not great?
But both the columbines and the pink knockout are a clear, sugary looking color, so they might be nice together.
And then later the red lambsear blooms and a few of the white veronicas and I can even transplant some of the clear white Crystal Peak obedient plants I just potted up. That would all go well together.
Blushing Pink Knockout should be easy to find. The height would come up over the sill of the window at least. The fragrance might come in the open window in summer. The fullness and form would be nice there.
Right now in early November, that's my plan. Take out the anemone (and all its little runners) and plant a Blushing Pink Knockout rose. 💥