November Muse

November

"November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring."
- Clyde Watson -

Happy Gardening Everyone!

She's A Little Early

Hope everyone had a safe Halloween.
I only had seven little visitors out here in
the hills. They usually opt to go into the
towns where they can really haul in the
treats.
I tried to 'Trick or Treat' for flowers instead
of candy but that did not work out at all.

We had a really hard frost this morning
and the ground was white but at least we
are not getting the snows that are piling up
all ready in Colorado.
Just a few plants are still left outside that
seem to keep going that are under the eaves
or near the house but it looks a sad sight now.
The leaves were raked again and the tomato
plants were pulled up and tossed on the pile.





The only thing that is blooming up a storm
now is the Cactus. It usually blooms around
Thanksgiving but it is a little early this year.






Joseph at Greensparrow Gardens
has the funniest posting up now
on an 'Illustrated Guide to Gardener's Quantities'.





The two new Streptocarpus plants arrived last
week and I will be posting them latter.
Other than that the only thing that is in the
beds at the woods that is standing are.....



....the plant markers.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Anemone 'Charlotte'

The Sweet Scent of Phlox

Is there anything that smells as sweet and gives
you days of beautiful blooms as phlox does.
I love the tall 'Adonis Pink' that has been in my
garden for years. It doesn't mind the clay soil
and it keeps getting better every year.



When I step out the back door the fragrance from
it fills the breeze.

To add to this summers weird plant habits around
my gardened it does appear that the pink of the blooms
is much deeper.




This little gem is suppose to be a tall 'Polka Dot'
phlox, but looks nothing like the picture of it.
In the picture the petal edges were not jagged.




It is new this summer to the garden but I am
not sure I am going to like it, but maybe it will grow
on me as it matures. It blooms earlier
than the others that I have.




Also new to the garden this summer is "Nora
Leigh' . She will be beautiful in a few years..

I wanted a variegated leafed Phlox to add to
the edges of the flower bed which gradually
goes into the shade to add some light at night



I am really going to like this one and will be
looking for some more different variegated
varieties. Do any of you know some others
that might be nice to add to the beds?



The "David White' phlox is slower this year
and is just now setting on some buds so it
will be a few days before it is in full bloom.
I have also added a "Starfire Red' and
a purple one new to the garden that will
probably be next year before they bloom,
but I can always hope for at least one bloom.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Some Blooms Happening For Fertilizer Friday

Hello Gardeners! I do not know where this week has
gone but it has sped by so fast that Fertilizer Friday is
here. If you want to see some great blooms from some
great gardeners go to visit Tootsie @ 'It's Tootsie Time'
and join in on flaunting your flowers. I have to admit
that I fertilized my flowers yesterday because it was dry
and they needed a good drink of water.

This is another surprise lily blooming from the assorted
bulbs I bought last Fall. She is very yellow!



The new Monarda or Bee Balms that were planted
last Fall are starting to bloom. They are not too bushy
right now but in another year they will be wonderful.
The butterflies,hummingbirds and bees are loving them.



The blooms one the white ones are not as big and fluffy.
Since I have never grown it before I am not sure whether
this is normal or not.



This petite pink ones are growing so wonderful despite
my moving them in mid growth to another more sunny
spot. Their sturdy and great for the front of the butterfly bed.



The 'Double Delight' rose is turning a cherry red as
the blooms age and I have had to knock the pesky beetles
off of it every day.



Finally the 'Black Leaf Rose ' Geraniums are starting
to bloom and I am loving the rosy colored blooms against
the dark leaves. I should not complain about them taking
so long to bloom since they were grown from seed. I guess
I want that instant gratification of blooms that are already
blooming instead of waiting.



The 'Adonis' pink phlox is starting to bloom now
and the fragrance from this phlox is so amazing.



The Stachy's Lambs Ears are not blooming yet but
maybe it will yet or maybe she needs another year of growth.
It is new also and I am not familiar with its habits yet.
I love the velvety, silver leaves though even without
any blooms.



'Moonbeam' Coreopsis is in full bloom with its airy
stems and dainty yellow flowers.



Has anyone ever grown this 'False Leaf Hibiscus' before?
I started some seeds and this is the only one that survived
my attempts. I am loving the dark burgundy foliage.
It has not bloomed yet and I am wondering how big
they get before they start blooming. Mine is in a
pot so it may not get as big as it normally would?



The Gerbera Daisies are still blooming away.



The Lantana is getting so big and full of blooms.
She likes fertilizer Fridays and the small dab of
compost I added to her roots.



The poor basket the baby raccoons kept dumping
to the ground below is trying to come back. Poor
looking thing.



The planter in front of the garage is staring to fill out.
Looking at the pictures I do believe my top planter is
leaning a lot. I will have to fix that. Isn't it
weird that something completely misses your eye until
you take a picture of it. ;-)


This window box with the pansies still amazes
me. It is still growing away while I have had to
cut them from the other three boxes.



The 'Rose Lobelia' is looking pretty.



The pots of white wave petunias and tobacco flower
is also liking the fertilizer and compost.

Have A Wonderful Fertilizer Friday
and Flaunt those Flowers!

One Weird Petunia

I mentioned in my previous posting about the
weird things that the plants seem to be doing
this year. Some of you who read some of my postings
know about the beautiful 'Irish Gold' yellow roses

which have bloomed yellow for three years had suddenly
this year turned to the color of my Ebb Tide Roses which
is now in fact more red and not the deep pretty purple
that most of you have.
As pictured below everything is red including the|
once yellow roses on the trellis to the right.

I also showed in another posting the pretty 'Orchid Mist'
double blooming petunia's that I had grown from seed.
They are a fluffy light bloom with just a touch of lavender.

Well while taking a walk around the house checking
out the flowers and looking for some Japanese beetles
to squash I spied a bright pink bloom in one of my
window boxes.



I went to get a closer look because I had never planted
any bright pink petunias. When I got to checking it out
the bright pink petunia was on the same plant as my
Orchid Mist petunia plant.



Not only that but between the bright pink bloom and the
light lavender blooms on the bottom was a striped bloom
of light purple and lavender.It was on the same plant too.
So this weird little petunia plant has three different blooms
coming out on the same plant.
That has never happened to me before!
Of you that have been growing from seeds longer than I,
has this ever happened to your flowers?
I really like the idea of having all those colors on one plant
and it makes me wonder what the weird little plant will
do next. Curiosity got to me so then I had to naturally
go around and check to see what my other seeded petunias
were doing and if it was all of them. I checked them all but
none of the others were blooming three different colors of
blooms.
But one was slightly different. Keeping in mind now that
these are from the same seeds.....



It is the right color of the Orchid Mist but it has single
blooms on it and not the double that it was suppose to
have. This I could figure was a stray seed even if it is
the same color or that it was just not going to put on
double blooms.
The three different blooms on the one plant was an
oddity to me. It sure makes the petunia plant more
interesting to say the least.
If I save some seed from this plant what will
I get plant experts ? All Orchid Mist or three
possible colors of double tulips? ;-)




I also went to a local nursery that was having a 50% off
sale on their perennials. They did not have many left
and most were some that I already had but I did force
myself to bring home only three new ones.
Remembering the advise some of you had given me
on what I could add to the shady garden beds, I got
a Coral Bell heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple'.
It has wonderful deep burgundy leaves. I also got
an Japanese Anemone ' Party Dress' that will have
pink blooms. The third plant I had to just bring home
was a Columbine 'Aquilegia Alpina' which will have
it looks to be blue blooms. I am hoping they are a
true blue and not purple.
I sometimes get aggravated at plants that are named
blue or red and turn out to be purple or rust.
Like the 'Little Business' daylily's I planted that were
to have red blooms and are rusty orange to my old eyes.




Happy Gardening !