Lighted Arbor

The backyard arbor/gate. The white lights are a permanent installation. I always mean to turn them on during summer evenings, and I always forget! For some reason, it's easy to remember in the winter.

Chime Bowl Thaws a Bit

The copper chime bowl is melting in our suddenly warm weather. Highs above 50 degrees have quickly melted over a foot of snow.

Snow Hats

Fuzzy snow hats on the black-eyed Susan seed heads.

New Bird Feeder - First Customer

The first customer of the morning after hanging a new platform bird feeder the night before. He did a great job of brushing off the snow, too.

Recovering After a Window Crash

One of my feathered friends resting in a snow-covered hanging basket after going "thwock" into a window. I kept an eye on her. She did fly away and I hope she made a full recovery.

Bird Seed Chair

This is a little bird feeder. The cushion of snow looks comfy.

Rose Icicles

These mini icicles are hanging from a mini rose bush.

Oregon Juncos, Finches and House Sparrows

Little birds scooping up seed I scattered this morning. We received about 4 inches more of snow last night.

Another Good Hiding Place for Small Birds

This is a mini-rose bush sweeping over the fence. It's gorgeous in summer, and a good hiding place in winter for house sparrows, finches and Oregon juncos who need a quick place to duck when a hawk, or cat, appears on the scene. I think the house sparrows roost there all night.

Let it Snow....let it snow....etc.

The reddish-brown vine is a clematis plant. Little birds find shelter in the leaves in the winter on days like this - with plenty of snow falling. Maybe another 7 inches tonight, and as the cold temperatures make us shiver, I'm really hoping the squash bugs are freezing to death...literally. I'll be browsing the seed catalogues. I'll germinate petunia seeds next month.

Snow on the Pumpkin

More snow today. About three inches should fall tonight.

Planters Covered with Marshmallow Fluff

Fluffy snow frosting on the front-door planter.

A Skiff of Snow

We've had a couple of skiffs of snow, but no "real" snow yet. My grass is still green!

Candy-Colored Sky

Sunset looking through the crabapple tree.

Congress of Crows

A very noisy racket outside my office window yesterday. Crows don't usually hang around our neighborhood. They must be hungry, they were eating fallen crabapples.

Kentucky Lime Mint

Kentucky Lime Mint peeking through fall leaves. This is the perfect mint to add to a glass of ice water.

Frozen Rose

A rose covered with ice crystals.

Messy Bird Bath

A semi-frozen bird bath. I'll clean it up when it warms up. The birds that love it are house sparrows, which come to winter in the yard.

Sugar Frosted Rose Hips

Frosty rose hips in the rose garden. A very hard frost last night after a day of fog.

Lost Little Leaf

A little stray leaf in the front yard. Most of the leaves have been raked up, or mowed up. The lawn is just starting to go to sleep for the winter. It will almost completely lose color with more cold weather.

Maple Tree Naked

The backyard maple as it looked yesterday. Compare to this just a couple of weeks ago.

Welcoming Owl

This is an owl carved out of a log with a chain saw. It was given to me as a gift for doing a civic duty project. He welcomes people in the entryway.

Winter Hanging Basket

I like to fill the hanging basket in my entryway with cinnamon-scented pine cones for the winter.

Another Mini Rose Survivor

I found this mini-rose fall survivor this week. The color of this particular rose is never this bright in the summer. It becomes this bright with the cold weather.

Buggy Rose

A mini rose in my front yard has become home to gnats or fruit flies. I can't tell which. I think they're hiding from the rain and cold.

Visiting Neighbor Cat

Meet Damon. He lives next door, but spends a large portion each day in our yard. We're used to him, and take care of him when his family is out of town.

Flowering Fruit Tree

I think this is a flowering plum. Just a guess, it came with the house. It's a slow-gower.

Somebody Should Get Out the Rake

My backyard leaf carpet. If it will stop raining long enough, we will do some cleanup.

Fall Banner

I put up seasonal banners on the yard lamp post arm. When I took this picture yesterday, I didn't realize the grass was still so green. We've had a bit of rain to keep it awake.

A Wave Petunia Survives in November

A purple wave petunia in one of my entryway planters is still alive - weathering some hard frosts and not-so-sunny weather. My petunias in un-sheltered areas are confirmed dead.

Yellow Christmas Cactus

Another Christmas Cactus is blooming. This is the first year I've seen the yellow one bloom since I've had this plant.

The Winter Geranium Nursery

Look at these sickly geraniums. Even though they don't look the best, they will survive in a spare room in my house until May of next year - when it will be safe to put them outside again. Some of these are scented geraniums, and they're worth nursing through the cold months.

Weeping Dwarf Cherry

A weeping dwarf cherry tree. This tree in my front yard has come close to getting cut down because of frustration over controlling bugs. It's infested every year. But then it charms me with this autumn show, and the spring flowering show, and I decide it can stay for a while longer. This tree is probably close to 10 years old. It doesn't get taller. It does grow wider if I don't keep it trimmed.

A Healthy Garden Weed

Look....somebody didn't weed the garden bed. I don't know how these got away from me. They look good, though, and so I'm leaving them!

Halloween Garden Decorations

Halloween lights I put up to let the trick-or-treaters know I had a big bowl of candy!

Maple Tree Ablaze

Our backyard maple tree was ablaze last week. Leaves are falling like rain this week.

Christmas Cactus in Bloom for Halloween

A sign of an early winter? All of my Christmas Cactus plants are blooming right now. I don't usually see that until the middle of next month.

Back Patio

My back patio with scattered leaves. My friend cleaned it all up the other day and it looks so inviting.

Black-eye Susans Gone to Seed

The glorious black-eyed Susans are done flowering. Now, I'll leave the seedheads for the birds. Oregon juncos are already feasting.

River Birch Losing its Leaves

A river birch that we planted a few years ago. We're happy with this tree. It's a double-trunk version, people usually get a three-trunk. It's thriving. When we fade into our colorless winter, I'll get a close-up of the bark - which has shades of purple on it.

Late Season Lavender

A couple of fresh lavender blossoms late in the season. This is my favorite lavender plant. The blossoms have a lilac note to temper the sometimes-stringent lavender. This is a Munstead variety.

Dead Tomato Plants

My dead tomato plants. They wilted earlier this month during the first hard frost. Some people tear them down at this point. They are more ambitious than I. I like to say I leave them up so the birds have something to snack on all winter.

What is It?

Bees and bees' knees. A glass-sided honey bee hive. It may be autumn, but they're still busy.

Another Hardy Rose

A rosebud lurking in a mostly dormant rose bush that faces East.

A Lingering Yellow Mini Rose

This is a mini yellow rose, one of just a few lingering into the end of the growing season. This one looked like it was glowing the other night.

Peony Leaves

These are peony leaves with a little autumn color. Notice their notched edges. They really get chomped during the summer after they bloom.

Last Call for Mini Roses

The color of these mini roses always intensifies with the cold weather and first few frosts. Other flowers lose their color with the first blast of cold.

Leaf Compost

It kind of looks like a bale of hay, but this is leaf compost. The gray-brown leaf matter at the bottom will be a prize for someone's garden beds. I hope they can tip this whole thing over to get to the good stuff.

Funny-Looking Lupine

This late-season lupine makes me laugh. I don't know what it's doing with that bunch of leaves sprouting from the top of the flower.

Coreopsis is also Frost-Hardy

A bright spot in my mostly frost-killed garden beds. This is a coreopsis - sometimes called tickseed.