Bloom Day-November 2009

From In the Garden

November in Tennessee has been a bit above normal this year. Normal would mean we'd have had a very hard freeze by mid November and most flowers would be gone. Not so this year. While we have had freezes my garden is fairly protected by an overhead canopy, additionally the freezes did not last more than a few hours so the plants were able to come thru unscathed. The above cosmos is growing in a plant pot on the south side of the house. It is most happy but most of the cosmos have gone by.

From In the Garden

Pineapple sage I wintered over as cuttings last year is in its full glory. It grows on the north side of the house in the Northside Shrub border. The red is most welcomed here. These will not winter over for me but I've got new cuttings growing in the garage under lights.

From In the Garden

The angel trumpets still shine. This particular one is huge! Probably about 8 feet tall which amazes me. I think it is so big because it has been in the ground for two years. I do not do anything special for it as in adding fertilizer, but I do add compost. I have purchased bales of hay in preparedness for winterizing these angel trumpets. They need to be cut down once the freeze gets them. I then place either a bag of compost or a hay bale on top of the root ball until spring. It worked well with this orange angel trumpet last year and I hope it will work with it again this year. I have added three additional ones I need to cover this year as well. Two have not bloomed but I am hopeful that if they winter over they'll reward me next year. This orange one is also still putting out a lovely fragrance at night. Both this one and the pink one are still growing new blooms. Unusual but most welcomed. The bananas are still standing tall behind the angel trumpet. They are a bit shredded but still a welcomed bunch of green. I'm not looking forward to cutting them down.

P.S. Jane, I'll save you a cutting for next year if you'd like one. Just email me in the spring sometime so I can hand it off to you.

From In the Garden

Azaleas still bloom. This particular one is an Encore 'Autumn Chiffon' and is most happy. We shall see how it does this winter.

From In the Garden

The butterfly weed is still going strong and bringing in the butterflies though I haven't seen any monarchs within the past few days.

From In the Garden

As pitiful as it may be, the heliotrope has finally bloomed. I've been growing it in my garden for two years now. I wintered it over by taking cuttings but will not do so again this year. It is just not worth the trouble for the very little it adds to my garden. A pretty bloom though.

From In the Garden

The Sunny Perennial Border is still quite a focal point. Here I show you the begonias which are going strong. Cannas are also still blooming here but are not pictured in this angle.

From In the Garden

A hedge of yellow mums blooms. This 'hedge' started life as cuttings last summer. Running out of space for them I wound up sticking the cuttings in this new bed. Little did I know the cuttings would grow into a hedge. I kind of went overboard with taking cuttings. At the time it seemed like a good idea but now I have so many yellow mums I think it may be overload. I'll be thinning the yellow mums soon as they are taking over my gardens.

From In the Garden

The front foundation garden. This garden still makes me smile when I come home. Walking to the front door means walking through a cloud of butterflies. They love the lantana, salvia and zinnias that grow here. The cool shaped tree that has an awesome shadow on the house is 'Lavender Twist' redbud. It used to grow in the backyard but like most gardeners, I decided it needed to move. So one dark night I recruited Mr. Fix-it to help me dig it up and transplant here between the two windows. Even though this tree had been growing in its prior spot a mere two years, the roots extended six feet out from the plant. I fear I may have killed it by digging it up and severing those roots. For that I'll be most regretful because it is such an awesome little tree. Hopefully spring will prove me wrong. Cross your fingers that it comes back to life somehow, someway.

From In the Gard

A teenaged bloom in the form of the Jimster. He is busy here concentrating on his design for his pumpkin during our annual tradition. You can see the concentration on his face and I love this picture of him.

Finally, some other blooms not pictured: alyssum, camellias, dahlias, zinnias, foxgloves, 'Diamond Frost', calibrachoa, montauk daisy, pinks, some phlox, pansies, and impatiens.

in the garden....