ABC Wednesday: A Panoply of P's

This week ABC Wednesday celebrates the letter P, a perfect one for any Plant lover like myself.







While most of the Perennials, like these Purple Coneflowers, are now hibernating for the winter, there are still a few brave blooms in the garden.

The Pelargoniums ( I usually call them geraniums, but of course that doesn't begin with a P!) seem unfazed by the first frost this past weekend.

A few brave Petunia blooms hang on amidst the dying foliage.

The now Purple-tinged leaves of "Let's Dance in the Moonlight" add another dimension of color to this beauty queen who is aging gracefully.

Not to be outdone, even the "Endless Summers" are now sporting rosy-tinged foliage.

This year has been the prettiest I have ever seen the hydrangeas.

The Purple Petals of my poor confused clematis are undaunted by the cold.

A last trip in search of bargain plants yielded this basket of Pansies.

They look especially good with a display of Pumpkins.

And speaking of pumpkins, I have a confession to make. The photo of the jack o'lantern I posted last week was actually carved by my daughter last year, since I hadn't yet had time to carve one. The jack o'lantern above is the one I made this year. Not too bad, huh? It's actually quite easy to create intricate designs like this using a Pattern.

There are still gardening chores to be done, like planting bulbs and cleaning out Pots. This one, though, may stay like this all winter; it actually looks rather pretty covered with snow and provides some "winter interest."

And this sedum still needs to be transplanted to replace the one I suspect was eaten by voles. I couldn't pass this one up, purchasing it at the bargain Price of $.39!

P is also for Praying Mantis, of which we had much fewer this year than last. There were plenty of grasshoppers, though; I'm not sure if I were this guy, if I'd get too close to Mr. Mantis:)

And P is for Pine Cones, which are in plentiful supply here . . .

. . . thanks to all our Pine trees that stand guard around the Perimeter of our yard.

I would be remiss if I didn't include at least one Pet. Tarzan, my constant gardening companion, is just one of the pets here who make life always interesting.



And finally, on a much more serious note, P is for a Prayer for Peace.

Our community lined the streets on Tuesday to welcome home a fallen hero.

Let us pray that scenes like this will soon come to an end.

For a plethora of other P posts, check out the ABC blog hosted by Mrs. Nesbitt.