November Color for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day



Little Women, a StoryBook rose

 There's all kinds of color in my garden this November Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. A couple of gray days had me questioning what color I might find for this month's Bloom Day. But Sunday dawned beautiful and sunny and the blooms and colors I found perked me right up. Above is a sweet little rose I got at the GWA Symposium in September, Little Women. It was quite small when I got it so I put it in a pot to let it grow up a bit. It's been happily blooming ever since. Though the blooms are tiny, it has a nice fragrance.


Pineapple sage, Salvia elegans

 You'll probably see a lot of pineapple sage photos in garden bloggers' posts today. Though the plants are getting leggy by now, losing many of its lower leaves, it's still blooming away. Too bad the hummers have moved on from this feast!


Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

'Autumn Joy' in its very seasonal color is another common plant. But what a trooper plant it is, never asking much from the gardener except well-drained soil and sun. 

Mexican mint marigold, Tagetes lucida

My Mexican mint marigold (also sometimes referred to as "Texas tarragon") is finally showing a few blooms after a very rocky year. I'm not sure what was causing it to suffer, other than less water than I used to give it. Maybe that was it. It kept putting out branches that then died. Strange.


Melampodium paludosum

My melampodium, an annual of unknown variety, is rarely, if ever, featured in any of my posts. I don't know why, because it's a non-stop bloomer from summer through fall. They say it will self-sow but I've yet to experience that.


Black-eyed Susan vine (with moon vine in the background)

Well, let's just continue with the golden yellows and oranges, shall we? My black-eyed Susan vine has been another less-than-stellar performer this year. The vines grew quickly after seed planting but then they never flowered. Until last month. Oh well, at this time of year, who can be choosy?


'Patrick's' abutilon

Isn't this lovely? 'Patrick's' abutilon is making a remarkable recovery from the heat and drought of this summer.


Flame anisacanthus, Anisacanthus wrightii

The flame anisacanthus is still blooming, hoping for any late-arriving hummingbirds. This is one plant that likes its ROOM. Even though it was cut back twice this year, it's still 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide.


'Lanai Bright Pink' verbena amongst creeping rosemary

 The creeping rosemary is starting to bloom and the Lanai verbena is muscling its way in. I really need to get the verbena under control! Here's a few more blooms.


'Whirling Butterflies' gaura



'Hip Hop' euphorbia and 'Little Grape' gomphrena

 

Smooshing down the new soil

 We're getting some work done on the outside of our house and I know all you gardeners can relate to this - contractors smooshing either plants or, in my case, new and once fluffy soil. Ugh.


New trellis for 'Red Cascade' miniature climbing rose

 But here's some work I'm most definitely happy about. A different person, a craftsman, is making a gate for us and part of it includes this lovely trellis. Poor guy - he took the rose off of its temporary wires in order to put the trellis up. Then he tried to put the rose back, all the while getting stuck by both the rose and the agave below it! I've since rearranged the rose on the trellis, making sure there's plenty of canes going horizontal (for those new to climbing roses, the more canes you tie up horizontally, the more blooms you'll get).

The fall colors are starting here (finally). I really should have taken a photo of some of the crapemyrtles around town instead of this weedy Chinese tallow tree. The crapemyrtles really look like they're on fire!


Oakleaf hydrangea finally starting to turn

Last year at this time, the oakleaf hydrangea was almost completely red. Look at it just turning now. Ah well, for us Southerners, any fall color, no matter how late, is welcome!

Be sure to visit Carol's blog, May Dreams Gardens, to see other GBBD posts from around the world.

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2010. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.