Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day—November
‘The Fairy’ rose
Warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico keeps Austin feeling not-quite-fallish. Despite the warm temperatures, I see fall reflected in the garden, although it may not appear so to more-northern gardeners. The ornamental grasses wave their feathery, tan seedheads in the breeze, and red berries, peppers, and cherries ripen on yaupon hollies, coral honeysuckle, Turk’s cap, Barbados cherry, chile pequin, and pigeonberry.
You’ll see little of that in this Bloom Day post, however. I focused my camera exclusively on the remaining flowers in my garden, ’cause if you got it, flaunt it. That warm, muggy air keeps my garden in bloom for now, though many of the flowers pictured are past peak. Still, they provide spots of color in this November garden. Enjoy! Remember to visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens tomorrow (I’m posting a day early) for links to more Bloom Day posts.
Blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum ) is still in flower but setting seed.
Trailing purple lantana (Lantana montevidensis ) sprawls lazily with a few purple blooms.
The only bloom on ‘Marie Pavie’ rosebush
Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ shows its cheerful face still. I’m not tired of it yet.
Fall aster (Aster oblongifolius ) hangs in there with a smattering of purple “daisies.”
‘Indigo Spires’ salvia rarely disappoints with its long season of bloom—provided I cut it back by 1/3 every time it slows down.
It looks great next to a glazed pot that echoes its saturated color.
‘Valentine’ is dueling with ‘Belinda’s Dream’ to be the best-blooming rose this fall.
A close-up. No scent but no thorns and a fabulous red color.
A partly shaded Salvia leucantha recently burst into bloom.
One of the bottlebrushes (Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John’) has put forth another bloom. I’d hoped for more of these spiky, red flowers by this time.
I’ve got a paler red, though, in the reblooming Texas betony (Stachys coccinea ).
Orange cigar plant (Cuphea ignea ) contrasts with the blue bottle tree.
Prostrate rosemary sparkles with tiny, pale-blue flowers, which usually persist all winter.
The annual narrowleaf zinnia is still blooming. I love this plant.
Bulbine (Bulbine frutescens ) hasn’t been the carefree bloomer it usually is this year, perhaps because of the heavy summer rains. It’s lightly blooming again now.
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ) gives new meaning to the term “perennial.” It’s nearly a year-round bloomer in my garden, though it slows down considerably at this time of year.
A closer look. I love the spiky ball, ballerina skirt, and orange/hot pink color contrast of this prairie flower.
Shrubby white boneset (Eupatorium havanense ) is nearly in full bloom. It hangs over the cedar bench in the front garden, but it hasn’t yet attracted the usual mob of dun butterflies.
Here it mingles with the leaves of a muhly grass.
Pink skullcap (Scutellaria suffrutescens ) has a few tiny, fuzzy blossoms.
Autumn sage (Salvia greggii ) is beginning to fade. In the background is a single ‘Carefree Beauty’ rose in bloom.
Heavy-headed ‘Belinda’s Dream’ roses nod over the fence, looking a little weary.
Ground-hugging pigeonberry (Rivina humilis ) shows off its Barbados cherry-like combination of pink flowers and red berries.
An ivory Salvia greggii ‘s flowers look great, but the plant itself is a bit straggly, the result of too much shade.
What’s this? A spring bloomer? Yep. The Carolina jessamine vine (Gelsemium sempervirens ) sports a few early fragrant flowers.
Happy Bloom Day!
Yes, if you got it, flaunt it. Still a lot going on in your garden, I see. And real blooms, too, not the frozen in time blooms I’ve got!
Carol at May Dreams GArdens
November is still a good month for Austin gardens. We’ll get a freeze sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. —Pam
Well, you sure got me beat for both in quantity and quality. I even have some of the same plants, but they’re not blooming in my yard.
Isn’t it strange how a plant will be in bloom on one side of town but not the other? Sounds like the subject of a scientific investigation for you, MSS. —Pam
Pam: WOW! So much in bloom at this time of year. I love the shot of the Cuphea with the blue bottle tree behind it but your opening shot of the pink rose is divine! I’m stuck with the browns until the black and white starts. I can wait for that!
Little ‘Fairy’ usually gets lost in the shuffle, but this month it’s really taking a star turn. Thanks for the nice words, Layanee. —Pam
Happy indeed…Flaunt it Pammy baby.
Oh yeah! —Pam
Flowers in November? Mon dieu. I have some Dianthus buds yet, but I doubt they’ll see the light of day. Might have a moonbeam coreopsis, too.
My wife has been pushing me fora bottle tree–do you know of any lazy ways of getting one without spending an arm and a leg?
I’d send you seeds, Benjamin, if it had set any this year. Actually, my tree came very cheap. MSS at Zanthan Gardens gave me her stash of blue water and sake bottles from her shed, and the redwood post was left over from a playscape I’d dismantled. All I had to buy were short lengths of rebar, which make up the “branches,” and a bag of concrete to set the post in. If you have an old, dead tree, it’s even easier. By the way, before I came into a wealth of blue bottles, I used a variety of wine bottles—green, pale blue, and brown. It was pretty that way too. The key is quantity. More is more. —Pam
Way to flaunt it–because you definitely have got it. So nice of those two beautiful roses to treat you to their flowering duel, by the way. *grin* All of those pictures were wonderful as always, but I love love LOVE that orange cuphea next to the blue bottle tree. What a fun combination!
Thanks, Kim. That image seems to be the most popular among commenters. Orange and blue—who knew? —Pam
You’ve done a great public service for those of us facing a rainy, dreary day here in the northeast, Pam. How cheering to see that there is still so much color gracing your garden. I agree with the others that your cuphea shot is amazing. I’m not familiar with pigeonberry, but it’s a beauty too. And that bulbine is simply charming. Thanks for sharing!
Well, I’m happy to have done a little cheering up today! I’m feeling pretty cheery myself this morning because a cold front blew in last night, dropping us into the 50s—much more fall-like! —Pam
Pam, your blooms make my heart sing on this cold November morning, they’re beautiful. You make me long to be in the deep south again.
Thanks, Robin, for your kind words. Getting through the South’s hot summer does pay off at this time of year, with a temperate, extended season in the garden. —Pam
We’re wet and windy and mostly flowerless here in Virginia this morning. Thanks for the virtual warm-up!
You’re welcome, Entangled. It’s much cooler here today and windy too, but no rain, alas. —Pam
In addition to us garderers who like orange and blue, I’ll bet every fan from the University of Illinois would want your orange cuphea/blue bottle tree combination, Pam. If the bottles were closer to navy blue you’d attract Chicago Bears fans, too ;-] Everything looks wonderful!
Your flowers do bloom longer – coneflowers, asters, pigeonberries, lantanas are in my garden too but aren’t doing much – more shade? Less soil amendments?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I would never have thought of planting based on a sports team’s colors, but I’ll bet others have, probably even some Longhorn fans here in Austin. What could you plant that would be burnt orange, I wonder? —Pam
Wow, Pam, what beautiful things you have blooming and your photos are stunning. A friend that lives in Austin sent me some bulbs for my birthday from their garden. Schoolhouse lilies. The pictures he posted of them in bloom was fabulous. Old-fashioned, for sure, but gorgeous. I’m a sucker for the lily types anyway.
Schoolhouse, or oxblood, lilies are reliable and beautiful fall bulbs here. MSS (stunningly!), Annie, and I all posted about them back in September. How lucky you are to have some of your own! Thanks for stopping by. —Pam
Fabulous photos!
Thanks, Molly. —Pam
Hi Pam, thanks for the head up on my blog, I changed the setting now anyone can comment. Your pictures are fantastic.
Thanks, Rusty. Don’t worry, I’ll be back. Your Miami garden intrigued me. —Pam
I love the cuphea and bottlebrush photos. The bottlebrush looks like the bloom is literally pushing to send those little tendrils out.
Thanks for the post.
You’re welcome! Enjoying the cool weather today? I am. —Pam
I love the blue flowers & the blue pot. Is that pigeonberry related to Tiarella? The flowers look similar.
Good question. They do look similar. I don’t know though. Thanks for dropping by, McGregor’s Daughter. —Pam
There is still a lot going on in your garden Pam. Love that sweet little white zinnia, so pretty. I used to have Rosa The fairy too, a lovely and healthy rose and long blooming too but no scent. This time I opted for only scented roses in my garden. 😉
The flowers of that ivory Salvia look very pretty. It would look great in my white garden.
‘The Fairy’ is so low to the ground in my garden that I wouldn’t be able to smell it even if it had a scent. 😉 And yes, those ivory salvias would make a nice addition to your white garden. As would the white narrowleaf zinnias. —Pam
I love all the different varieties of Salvia you have. The Carolina Jessamine looks so fresh and exotic. I really like the Bulbine too!
Salvias are the workhorses of my garden. I’m glad you enjoy them too. Having grown up with Carolina jessamine—the state flower of South Carolina, you know—I’ve never thought of them as the least bit exotic. Thanks for the momentary change of perspective, Kate! —Pam
Happy bloom day indeed! Lovely photos of your abundant garden. Interesting to see the rosemary flowers. The blooms are quite lovely. And, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bulbine before.
Hi, Ki. The photo of the rosemary doesn’t do it justice. All those tiny, powder-blue flowers seem to sparkle amid the dark needles. Bulbine is a cold-tender, clump-forming, evergreen succulent from South Africa. It does really well here in Austin’s hot summers, but a hard frost might kill it. —Pam
Everytime that I see images of your garden, I see something that I meant to write down before – strange, I have lots of salvias – but no Salvia greggii – nuts, nuts, nuts. Yours looks gorgeous. And the roses! I love how happy the roses are in the fall in the south. Your Fairy rose does indeed look happy.
Salvia greggii is the most commonly planted one in Austin, I think. It’s everywhere. Funny how some plants become so popular that way, isn’t it? Bamboo muhly is little miss popular right now, as evidenced by the fact that even home builders are planting it. —Pam
Wonderful photos of your lovely blooms….but the Fairy Rose tops them all!
That’s what I thought too, Connie. It was nice to see it take the starring role this month. —Pam
Beautiful pictures.
You garden is really rock’n.
Enjoy.
Thanks, Chigiy. I’m glad you dropped by for a visit. —Pam
You have so many of my favorite “tender perennials”! I especially love the Salvia leucantha (I had a variegated one in my garden this year – it melted this week) and the Cuphea – great shot with the bottle bush. I also love the bulbine – I wonder though if it’s a menace in the garden? We’ve got baby bulbines coming up in a lot of the greenhouse pots!
The bulbine has been well mannered in the couple of years I’ve had some. It gets wider every year, but I haven’t had any seedlings. It does require regular dividing, which I need to do right now! —Pam
Your photography and flowers are simply divine, Pam. The thing I miss most of all is the long growing season of my native Alabama. As you no doubt know they’ve had the worse drought in over a hundred years.
I know that you’ve had some rough weather this year as well with the heavy rains.
I am putting my garden to bed for the winter and pray we get enough snow cover to keep everything alive.
Thank you! Yes, the long growing season is nice, especially when the weather’s finally cooled off enough to enjoy gardening again. I sure have heard about the Southeastern drought, and I worry about it. I also worry that drought will affect so many of us in the coming years. I’ll take heavy rains any day. —Pam
I love seeing the Salvias in your garden and Annie’s. I’m going to do some research on which ones I can grow successfully up here, and which ones, if any, are perennial in our NEastern climate.
You have a little bit of Australia in your Bottle Brush plant!
The Fairy Rose, and the others too, are just beautiful. I miss my roses already…and all the other blooms too.
We had snow that stuck today! Brrr…. (I really dislike the cold weather!).
It’s so nice to be able to pop in and see what’s blooming…it’ll keep me going until spring rolls around again, and it’ll be interesting to see what the first frost does to your gardens.
Well, Kerri, thanks for your kind words, and come back anytime you need a warm-up until spring returns. —Pam
Wow, Pam 😀
What a fantastic number of flowers for GBBD!
I do love the The ‘Fairy’ rose and the cone flowers. It is very hard to believe it is November in your garden – I do beleive you though 😀
Thanks, Shirl. Yep, it’s really November here too. It is interesting to see how varied climates can be though, isn’t it? It’s one more fun thing about Bloom Day. —Pam