Ku'ulei 'Aina

Fall is pau in the mountains of WNC. A new season is upon us.

Admittedly I was a bit concerned that the nakedness of the land would be unappealing. I have not found that to be the case so far. There is still much to see and the bare forest really exposes the habitat of man that stays hidden during the summer green.

If I had seen it earlier this would not have to be a post Garden Blogger Bloom Day picture. On the drive down to town yesterday I spotted several Witch Hazels, Hamamelis virginiana in full bloom. They were quite striking in an ethereal sort of way. I had been checking mine and had not seen any action, but went looking again anyway and I found some very tall ones that I had not noticed before in bloom. By next Bloom Day the others should be in bloom and if not I think us northern gardeners should be able to fudge a little on the actual day of the 15th.




















My Penstemon strictus 'Midnight Blue' is one cold hardy sucker as is the companion red Penstemon next to it. I hope the cold will kill what ever bug has been bothering them. They were getting tip die back. It was causing them to branch and they seemed to be surviving it well enough so I ignored it for the most part.




















Beyond the Chamaecyparis, Junipers and Rhododendrons there are smaller things that are hanging on through the beginning of winter. I am testing some of them for my future textural hillside. In large drifts these Sempervivums would be very nice, pretty low maintenance I hope and drought tolerant.


















This Delosperma nubigenum has been doing quite well and has already been multiplied into five plants. It is a yellow flowered one. The Sedum 'Lidakense grew, bloomed and seems to have crapped out a bit for the winter. The Sedum tetractinum is still looking good.




















There is life after fall. I just need to gather some more of it up and plant it in my garden.

This is what I have really been doing as opposed to gardening of late, replacing a section of the decking at the resident gardeners house. I'm almost done. Then I will start on the walls for the basement patio at my cabin.

Tomorrow it is time to head back to my new clients for another visit and then I can plant all the bulbs that arrived in the mail today from Elizabeth at Garden Rant. Yippee! More details to come.




















Promises of an abundant spring are etched in the branch tips of the Dogwoods right off the western view side of the deck. That is easy to see in a tree without leaves. It is harder to feel when you get news of a friend who had a heart attack and died. It should not have been her time.

I can imagine that a good portion of Maui showed up for her memorial.




















And I imagined a name for my garden, Ku'ulei 'Aina, "My Beloved Land" or "My Flower Land." I will let this name live with me and see how it feels.

Ku - u - lei - Ai - na
Coo - ew - lay - I - nuh

My best attempt at phonetic pronunciation of Ku'ulei 'Aina. The sound as it rolls off the tongue is as important as the meaning. It must be a pleasing sound.




















There is more possible snow in the forecast for Thanksgiving night. This is doable. In between blasts of Arctic air are days in the 60's and lows in the 30's and 40's. In the next few years I may be wearing shorts until November.






















Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono
"The life of the land is preserved in righteousness."