My garden is making me very happy right now.  It looks great.  I don’t say that much, being my own worst critic, but I feel good about what I’ve accomplished since the spring. Even in this tough summer, I worked hard on it.

But, I realize it won’t be long before the blooms stop and plants go dormant as we usher in a short winter’s nap.

Many of the plants in my garden this year are not perennials.  Unless we have a very mild winter, I’m likely to lose some of my new favorites in the garden.

Like the variegated begonia in the right of the picture above.  It was fussy and had to be watered every day, but so did all my pots just about 10 feet away, so I babied it.  It was so pretty with its cranberry colored stems and juicy cream and lime colored leaves.  I want more of these next year.
This Persian shield is also one of my new faves this year.  I finally got a few close enough to the house and big enough that the deer aren’t eating them to the ground.  Love that vivid color.

This salvia madrensis below isn’t in my garden, but my friend and fellow garden blogger, Renee of Renee’s New Blog, gave me three cuttings of hers and I know I’m going to want more, so I will root some more over the winter. They are really hard to find in nurseries.

The variegated plant in the photo below is Cuban oregano – a strong smelling herbaceous perennial that is cold tender.  I lost my first one last winter, but promptly went out and bought several more.  And I stuck at least 6 little stems into the ground and they immediately started growing.  So, I will prune some off before the first freeze and have my own collection growing over the winter.

Don’t you think all of these plants would love getting to spend the winter in my greenhouse getting lots of TLC?  I do!