My rapturous opinion of November hasn’t changed much over the years (the cooler days, the slanted light, the chance of rain!), but certain patterns in the garden do escape my notice. Perusing past November entries, I find that Berkheya purpurea sends out the odd flower bud in November, as it’s doing now. The tetrapanax is sending out blooms right on schedule, which was anticipated, but I didn’t remember that berkheya felt comfortable blooming in November as well. Something else I’ve noted: reseeding clumps of Ruby Grass, Melinus nerviglumis, only begin to flower in November in my garden and not before. Maybe I will stop being surprised by this fact next November.
And these posts (here and here), talking about the effect of sooty smoke on leaves and the palapable relief garden and gardener experience post another hot, dry summer, could easily have been written this November as well. So some things remain consistently the same — and like all Novembers, I indulge in quite a bit of plant shopping.
I found this one local and thought the colored tag meant it was on sale like other nearby sale plants — which didn’t mean that at all when I inquired — but I was offered it half price anyway because of my “confusion.” Confusion never paid off so well!
Bought this bromeliad in summer already in flower, which lasts forever, and now a couple new pups are forming — chartreuse flowers and bronze-flecked leaves is a delectable pairing
The brownish shrub in the background is Berzelia lanuginosa, moved back to a pot because it really craves more lush growing conditions. ‘Blue Hobbit’ eryngium have replaced the berzelia.
The buzz is we’re going to get some rain for Thanksgiving — thank heavens! Have a great holiday yourself.
Perfect timing. First raindrops in 6+ months just falling now. Plants should be happy -as long as we don’t get quite as much rain as last year 😉
I wish my ruby grass would reseed and bloom in November. Maybe the rain will work some miracles. Weather Underground cites a 99% chance of rain in my area at 9am tomorrow so you should certainly get some of that too! I turned my back on the interior of the house today and spent the entire afternoon working in the garden.
Raining here as we speak. Happy to wave goodbye to both hose dragging and fire season. Oct and Nov are definitely among favorite garden months for me, though the fire thing has put a negative edge on it. Still the light and the temps are so very pleasant.
What a bonus to have the Ruby Grass reseed itself. A really pretty accent. Always fun to go back and see what was happening in the past and how the garden evolves. Happy Thanksgiving.
A rainy Thanksgiving it was–hope yours was a happy one.
Just got a ‘Julietta’, a “complex hybrid” of among other things Alcantarea imperialis.