Cait's Garden

I haven’t posted in a while because when the growing season winds down, I spend less time in the garden (and let’s face it, there is precious little daylight now to see the garden before or after work). But this morning, while out at 6:30AM feeding the birds and squirrels, I picked the last perfect rosebud from my climbing rose. And I was so excited about it (it smells just as sweet as the summer blossoms) that I snapped this photo of it on my kitchen counter. The flowers we took for granted just a couple of months ago are now special and rare surprises. Imagine the frosts this little rose has survived already!

I’ve also been meaning to post about the beauty that is left in the yard this late November day. Most of the showy fall-colored trees are done performing for the year, but there are still plenty of colors to enjoy. The Crimson Pygmy Barberry bush, usually a lovely dark red, is now bright pumpkin orange. The Golden Vicary Privet, usually bright lemon-lime green, is now an amazing eggplant purple tinged with green. And the Purple Smokebush still has its usual red-purple leaves, more visible now that its neighbors in the yard are leafless.

Chicago winters are unpredictable. When it remains mild like this, we can enjoy little pockets of green things in our yards indefinitely, even if it’s just a little foliage here and there. Or one perfect rose on a November morning.