Sunday, November 15, 2015

A Few Surprises for November Bloom Day

It is time for another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but I didn't think I would participate this month. Although we've had a beautiful and unusually long fall, a light frost right after the October Bloom Day put an end to most of my annuals.  Not everyone in my area had the same results, but living in the country with little shelter for most of my garden, my poor plants are pretty exposed to the elements. About the only bloom I thought I had this month was the first bloom on the Thanksgiving cactus, a pretty paltry offering for November Bloom Day.  But I decided to walk around this morning with my camera anyway and was happy to see a few surprises.


The frosty Sedum is what most of my garden now looks like in the morning.  We have had a killing frost this past week, so even my neighbors' gardens look the same.


The 'Victoria Blue' salvia stood up to the light frost, but this week was too much for it.  Today the blooms are spindly little shadows of themselves.  I still haven't had time to pull all the dead annuals, but these will stay in the garden over the winter anyway--they usually re-seed somewhat for me, and I'm not about to turn down free plants!


Amsonia glowing in the early morning sun.


While most of the garden is brown, there is some foliage still to enjoy.  The Amsonia hubrichtii in my  header photo has since faded, but the Amsonia tabernaemontana is making a run at taking its place with its now golden foliage.


Walking towards the shade garden I thought I spied some type of red bloom, but I discovered it was a Heuchera glowing in the sun.


Nearby, the Hellebores provide the only true green foliage left in my garden.  They will look like this most of the winter, providing a reminder to me that yes, spring will come again.  You might notice all the leaves in this and several other photos.  Many gardeners shred their leaves and use them as mulch in the garden.  I usually don't take the time to shred mine, however, and just rake them into the garden beds to help protect the plants during the winter.  This year I didn't have time to rake leaves, but strong storm winds this past week blew all the leaves out of the yard and into the fields and conveniently deposited just enough in all the flowerbeds.  Sometimes it pays to be a lazy gardener:)


While most of the leaves are gone from the trees, the Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy' still sports lots of little berries.  Now I am waiting for the cardinals to return this winter to see if they really like them.


With camera in hand this morning, I went in search of the one plant I thought might still be blooming.  'Walker's Low' Nepeta still has a few blooms though not many.  This is one plant besides Sedum I'd recommend to anyone wanting a true low-maintenance garden.  It needs very little care and blooms nonstop all season.


Another plant, but an annual for me, that I love is 'Homestead Purple' Verbena.  I was surprised to see a few blooms still remaining on this plant, but it will last until the temperatures dip into the 20's.  I only wish the local garden centers would carry this plant.  Even though it's not hardy here, it is a beauty--and a much darker purple than this photo shows--and lasts so long.



Not surprisingly, the geraniums and a few petunias are still in bloom in the porch planter.  I often dig up the geraniums and over-winter them, but I haven't had time to do that yet.  Judging by the forecast, if I wait much longer, it will be too late.


As I said earlier, I wasn't expecting to find anything really in bloom this morning, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this hardy little Rudbeckia hidden among the leaves.


But the biggest surprise of all was finding this clematis bloom.  My clematis didn't bloom at all this year, so I have no idea why it waited till November.  This made the walk around the garden this morning worth it!

Looking back at my Bloom Day post from last November, I discovered that I had nothing blooming at all, because it had SNOWED!  Good grief, I'm not going to complain at all this year and be thankful for the few blooms I have.  And that puny little cactus bloom will wait until December.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is hosted the 15th of each month by the ever-optimistic Carol at May Dreams Gardens.  I always enjoy participating and keeping a record of what is blooming in my garden as well as seeing what everyone else has in bloom.  Why not join us?

34 comments:

  1. That is a lovely Geranium, and I like your beautiful photos of leaves glowing in the sunlight!
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea

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    1. Thank you, Lea; I hope I can find time in all this rain to bring in the geraniums for the winter.

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  2. I love the look of your frosted blooms - very appropriate for this time of year. And the petunia and geraniums are so pretty The clematis is a wonderful bonus. Happy Bloom Day!

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    1. We haven't had a "pretty frost" like last year, Dorothy, so I didn't quite get the photos I wanted. But I am enjoying the last remaining geraniums and petunias.

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  3. Very nice photos of plants touched with frost. You have far more in bloom than I do. All my annuals are pretty much done. My 'Cassie' rose is about the only thing still blooming. I like the berries on your Viburnum. I was in Springfield last week and it seemed colder than in Chicago, but I guess that's not true around Champaign County.

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    1. I don't know if it's colder down here, but it seemed as if we were hit by frost before you were, Jason. Of course, being out in the country, the frost seems to hit us before more sheltered places.

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  4. It's interesting that they don't seem to sell Homestead Purple Verbena up north much that I've seen. Down south they sold it a lot - though maybe they shouldn't, since it grows like a weed there and can rather take over areas. Your clematis is so pretty. Mine didn't bloom much this year, but I'm hoping they are just settling in and growing so they can put out a good show next year.

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    1. I wish I could remember where I finally found the 'Homestead' this year, Indie. I think the local garden centers stopped selling it because some people would think it was a perennial and then be disappointed when it died in the fall.

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  5. Rose, this November is enough 'warm' here as well but There are no blooming plants in my garden at all. Yours are beautiful, I loved Heuchera and clematis, also petunias and pelargoniums. Nice color!
    Maybe snowy weather will come later? I hope :))

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    1. There's not much blooming here either, Nadezda; all of these blooms were tucked under leaves or sheltered by the house. The weather is turning colder this week, so I doubt even those blooms will last much longer.

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  6. Clematis are so surprising with their blooms. I can imagine how you felt when you found this little bloom. I have had them do this to me too. Not this year, this year it has been too dry here. Happy GBBD.

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    1. Lisa, I was so happy to find this bloom! My clematis is usually covered in blooms in late May, and I was so disappointed this year when I didn't have a single bloom. I thought I had pruned it too severely, so I'm happy to see it recovering. Hopefully, next year it will return in full force.

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  7. I always like sedum around the garden ... this plant provides a whole year round focus somehow... as it shares it's different growth stages.

    You do still have some lovely colour around at this time of year to enjoy... I know I have seeing your photo's.

    All the best Jan

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    1. I've really come to appreciate sedum, too, Jan. It's one plant that looks good all year long, including winter, especially covered in snow. And it really is low-maintenance. Right now I'm hooked on some of the smaller sedums and have been adding more of them as groundcover.

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  8. How lovely to find the clematis in bloom......now that is a bonus for November.

    We have not had a killing frost yet Rose........late for this garden, very late.

    I always leave leaves on my borders.....for protection and mulch. I have never bothered shredding them, it works for me.
    We all do what is best for us.

    Love your garden Rose.......

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    1. I was so surprised to find the clematis bloom, Cheryl; such a welcome sight. I've always just piled leaves on my flowerbeds, when the wind hasn't done it for me. It does mean more work in the spring having to rake them all out, but it certainly seems to help protect the plants from heaving during our winter.

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  9. I have really been enjoying this warm November! We had snow by this time last year too, so I'm very grateful for the warmth and blue skies we've had. My clematis didn't bloom this year either, but it has not honored me with a November bloom. I think I need to move it. Yours is very pretty. The only thing I've found blooming over the last week is one of my perennial foxglove. It has never rebloomed before, so I imagine it's quite confused.

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    1. Cassi, several people have mentioned finding something blooming lately that usually blooms in spring. I think this warm fall must have confused a lot of plants!

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  10. How fascinating that the Clematis is blooming now! Mine appear to be going dormant. I agree, though--how incredible to have flowers this year when last year at this time we were facing snow! You have quite a few beautiful blooms still going, Rose. Sounds like we'll all have a taste of November reality by the end of the week!

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    1. I didn't even remember what last year was like at this time, Beth, until I looked at my November Bloom Day post from '14. I guess we can't complain about this fall! Yes, I think this may be the end, however--I noticed the "S" word is even in the forecast:(

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  11. Hi Rose, one of the most important things I've learned from other bloggers over the last eight years is that foliage is so important to a garden, probably more important that flowers. Your frosty foliage is beautiful. Happy Bloom Day!

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    1. I've learned this lesson through blogging, too, Dee. I'm still all about flowers and blooms, but have come to appreciate foliage so much more, especially at this time of year.

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  12. Rose - that is really impressive. Just some wonderful late blooming chrysanthemums. My new winterberry is covered with red berries, and I hope my viburnam will look like yours next year.

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    1. How nice that your winterberry is covered with berries already, Pat. My viburnum has taken a long time to grow, but I think it's finally living up to its potential.

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  13. Hi Rose - nice that things are still blooming in your garden - I don't remember an early snow fall last year, but glad that this fall has been nice and warm! Where did you get your purple verbena, if not from your garden centre? I'm curious to know where others buy their plants. I hope the cardinals feast on your red berries - they look spectacular against when the snow comes (both red berries and red birds. LOL).

    Thanks for your kind comments on my blog. It feels good to be back!
    Hugs

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    1. Wendy, I finally remembered that a friend brought me the verbena from a trip to southern Indiana. It's probably hardy there, which is why it was available. I shop for plants everywhere I go:) I'm hoping, too, the cardinals come to visit the viburnum--wouldn't that be a cool picture in the snow? So glad to have you back!

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    2. Thanks Rose - it's nice to be back. Not sure how I can juggle FB and blogging, but you seem to be doing it well! Anything they both have their "moments." My brother is off to Taipei and he will probably bring back seeds of some kind (he travels to Asia a couple of times a year). Sometimes the seeds take and others not - but it's always good to experiment.

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  14. Clematis blooming in November? That is a welcome surprise. We haven't had a killing frost yet in Maine which is odd. I'm enjoying the extra days of fresh herbs from our garden, but I'm a bit worried about climate change.

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    1. The weather does seem strange this year. I'm surprised that we are colder here in the middle of Illinois than many other places. Snow is in the forecast for tonight--I'm definitely not ready for that!

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  15. Even though the flowers are diminishing by the day it makes the ones still hanging on even more precious Rose. You must have been over the moon to discover that clematis. It looks as if we will get our first frost of the autumn tonight but like you I'm being cheered by thoughts of spring when I look at my hellebores. It looks as if you have a few seedlings too :)

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  16. You still manage to put on a good show! Lovely as always.

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  17. Hi Rose, You still have some interesting things in your garden My garden is toast for this year. I got caught off guard by the snow so there are still lots of things I need to do outside when we get some warm days and the snow melts a little.

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  18. That Homestead Purple Verbena is beautiful! I shall look into growing that next year. We've had our first snow here, but the sun has returned. It's as if the autumn is fighting back and refusing to die out graciously, which is great for our vitamin D levels! I know what you mean about red-leaved plants in the sunlight, looking as if they might be a bloom - I get caught out by that one every year!

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  19. I was struck by the beauty of the amsonia in your header photo. The ones in the post are beautiful, too. I'm sure enjoying mine as well.

    I need to check my hellebores for foliage. I'm thinking they go dormant here.

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