A Garden in Autumn

A garden in autumn, thoughtfully planned, carefully tended and illuminated by a softer light, is a joy to walk in.

Salvia leucantha, or Mexican sage, is a frequent sight in gardens all over Northern California 

Especially if a garden is as serene and unassumingly lovely as the one at Carmel Mission (for a tour of the Mission and the garden in spring click to look at this earlier post).

The colors are not as exuberant as they are in spring, but the garden is still pretty in a gentler way, like an old jewel in its lovely setting of old stone and tiled roofs.



In my garden, I am still struggling with maintaining color and interest throughout the year.

Spanish lavender is a classic pairing with l. viridis (green lavender). In my garden viridis never reblooms in the fall (unlike Spanish lavender).... 

 Spring is easy, and so is winter with camellias, cyclamen and daphne odora providing lots of color and fragrance. But at summer's end, the garden often looks tired and messy. Perhaps I lack experience, or perhaps a staff of helpers to deadhead and trim the plants for me :).



It is always useful to observe how well-planned gardens fare throughout the seasons.



I can see how indispensable grasses are for texture.



Repeat-blooming roses still look lovely.

Iceberg rose can be depended on to provide color almost year round

And fall-blooming perennials and shrubs, such as sages, Japanese anemones and tibouchina urvilleana, provide a welcome burst of fresh flowers.

These Japanese anemones are most likely Honorine Jobert, which I also have in my garden

Tibouchina urvilleana "Princess Flower"

Even though Carmel's climate is gentler than that of San Jose, I am able to grow most things that I have seen at the Mission. In particular, their plantings of Japanese anemones inspired me to include them in my garden too. They create lovely flower carpets underneath my climbing roses which don't bloom well in the fall. If only I could also replicate the wonderful background of old adobe walls, fountains and statues...



This visit to Carmel will probably be our last trip for awhile. The school year is in full swing and all of us are getting busier and busier.

 I might even start writing about my own garden again :).

A western scrub jay in a rose that does not seem to be doing so well...