November 2025 Bloom Day

Pink Petunia

 

It's November Bloom Day: the day when we garden bloggers share what is blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog. Now that the overnight temperatures in our area are dropping, there is less in bloom in my Zone 6B Virginia garden, as is to be expected. 

Most of my tender tropical plants have been brought indoors for overwintering, only a few linger on the porch to take advantage of its shelter. Above is the pink Petunia that wouldn't die--it seems to me that these end-of-the-season flowers are larger than those earlier in the summer, and the color more vivid--a last hurrah, so to speak. As an annual, it will be left on the porch to die.

The Datura 'Purple Ballerina', another annual I acquired rather late in the season, I hope to keep alive indoors for next summer, but it may not make it. In the meantime, I bring it in overnight and take it out on the porch on sunny days, and it has put out a few of its lovely flowers.

 

Datura 'Purple Ballerina' 

 

I acquired another goldenrod, a Zigzag variety (Solidago flexicaulis) on a recent trip to Maryland's Eastern Shore, and while it was awaiting planting in my garden, is blooming on the porch.

 

Zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)

 

Other than these, there is little bloom left outdoors now. About a week ago the autumn-flowering Crocus speciosus I planted in early October were in bloom, but those have gone, leaving only vestiges. I think the colors of this combination by the front entrance are very seasonal: purple mums persisting in pots along with the flowers of Irish Moss (Sagina subulata) and the colorful foliage of a dwarf Nandina with dried Gladiolus foliage.

 

Irish moss and mums in pots by the front entrance.

 

My Viburnum 'Brandywine' has now lost most of its leaves, only clusters of blue berries hang on the bare branches. The Winterberries (Gaultheria) recovered enough from last winter's deer damage over the summer, and produced a few berries. I'll have to try brewing some winterberry tea with them.

 

Berries of Viburnum 'Brandywine'

 

Gaultheria 'Fiesta'

The leaves have come down from most of the trees in the woods out back, the ones that persist are not as colorful as they were two weeks ago, when they were at their peak.The mild weather has allowed me to continue my project of expanding and consolidating Herb's bed with the bed along the veggie garden enclosure, where I've planted more herbs. Only a few more linear feet to dig--hopefully I'll have time to finish it before the ground freezes hard.

 

Expansion of flower beds and new mulch path.

 

The native Witch Hazel trees in the back woods are in bloom--I can't take any credit for these, a cluster of several trees was there when we bought the house. The two Witch Hazels I planted in my garden open their blooms in early spring and the species, Hamamelis vernalis, is different. My other witch hazel tree is the hybrid, 'Diane.'

 

Native Witch Hazel trees  (Hamamelis virginiana) in bloom.

The Beautyberries are still holding on to their berries--all these subdued shades blend so well with the surrounding dried leaves to make wonderful combinations!

 

Beautyberries (Callicarpa dichotoma)

Dried Hydrangea flowers and Shasta daisies.

Blooms from my indoor garden will soon be taking the place of the outdoors as winter overtakes us. The yellow hibiscus is one of my indoor favorites. I brought in the Pelargonium I had outdoors and it put forth another round of blooms.

 

Yellow Hibiscus

 

Pink Pelargonium

Both my Bearss lime trees began to bloom once I brought them inside the house--the older tree is covered with flowers and setting fruit. The Meyer lemon is barely surviving--I can't imagine why there would be such a  marked difference between the two varieties of citrus growing in the same environment, with the same potting soil.

 

Bearss lime blossoms.

 

 That's all for today, folks, thanks for visiting!

 

July Bloom Day

 

My back yard in July.

It's July Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden Blog on the 15th of every month. Welcome to my Zone 6B Virginia garden! It's amazing to contemplate nature's bounty when I look out from my deck on this lovely summer morning at 6:00 AM, and think back to some thirteen years ago when my husband and I bought the property... this was all just an empty expanse of weedy grass. 

 

Looking west from the deck.

Looking east, the vegetable pagoda and Herb's bed.

 

The grass is still weedy, but as for the rest, what a change! It's taken a lot of hard work, heartbreaking trial and error to bring what you see here into being. And yet, my garden is young by garden standards--my trees are still small. I've done it mostly by myself, with a bit of help from Herb. It's finally starting to look like the garden I had envisioned, despite the deer's voracity, three years of drought, and seventeen-year locusts. This year's plenteous rains have done wonders for it. Let's get down and take a closer look at what's blooming.

 

Agapanthus 'Blue Nile'

 

Agastache 'Blue Boa, 'Apache Sunset' and 'Pink Pearl' with 'Karl Foerster' feather reed grass.

The Agapanthus 'Blue Nile' in Herb's bed is blooming, along with Clary sage and 'Texas Red' sage. Farther back in the same bed, my three Agastaches are also starting to bloom--'Blue Boa', 'Apache Sunset' and a pink one I think is 'Pink Pearl'. For some reason, despite growing for several years and re-seeding, 'Blue Boa' doesn't seem to want to spread much--it should be much larger by now!

 

Vitex (Vitex agnus-castus) shrub in east garden.

Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)

 

Bottlebrush Buckeye flowers close up.

My Vitex shrub, AKA the Chaste tree or summer lilac, is in full bloom--I love the cooling effect of the color.

The native Bottlebrush Buckeye comes into its own at this time too. The airy delicate spikes are loved by butterflies and hummingbirds. Speaking of which, we saw a hummer buzzing the Clary sage--had no idea they'd go for this sage which has such a medicinal aroma. 

 

Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii) and Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

 

The Butterfly bush is growing back well despite a huge set-back this spring from an April frost right after a hard pruning.

Coneflowers in the back bed.

 

Hybrid daylily.

The deer left me a few coneflowers in the back bed (orange Sombrero I think) and one lone daylily flower--I spray them with deer repellent regularly, but they eat the buds anyway. They've also eaten every bud of the wild Bergamot I planted from seed last year. I thought that Monardas wouldn't be particularly palatable to deer, being in the mint family, but they eat the red 'Jacob Cline', while the Anise hyssop and narrow-leaved mountain mint are not to their liking. I'm gradually becoming an expert on deer-impervious plants.

 

Mountain mint, Anise hyssop, Monarda 'Jacob Cline' and oat grass.

This year I grew some Cleomes from seed, but only three plants survived--very pretty annuals,though, I'd like to try them again next year--perhaps they'll oblige and re-seed themselves?

 

Spider plant (Cleome)

West foundation plantings: Salvia yangii (formerly Russian sage), Catmint and one Cleome.

The Chinese iris in the long island bed in back is not palatable to deer, neither are the pink Dianthus or the minty green plants (some sort of wild Calamint?), but they go for the blue flowers of the bush Clematis behind. They've about extirpated my Asian lilies and finished off most of the black-eyed Susans in this bed.

My heather grows under a wire cloche, which distorts its growth, but I'd have no plant at all without it--I should prune it this fall to see if I can get rid of the leggy branches and re-shape it. But perhaps early spring is a better time to prune heather--any advice?

 

Chinese iris and pink Dianthus.

Heather in bloom.

 

Further down this bed a lone spike of orange Gladiolus survives under the Weeping Butterfly bush (Budlleja lindleyana). The broken upside-down flower pot is a toad-house.

 

Orange Gladiolus with Buddleja Lindleyana

My potted plants on the porch are those most susceptible to deer: an avocado tree grown from seed, a bi-color leaf Sunpatiens my sister gave me, a Platycodon waiting to be planted when the weather cools, a yellow Hibiscus, purple basil, Begonias, Caladiums, succulents and other house plants that live outside during the summer. I even brought my Cattleya orchids outside in hopes of some budding.

 

Potted plants on the front porch.

Plants on the porch.

This year the hanging baskets on the porch have mostly Petunias, with red Pelargoniums and sweet potato vines. One variety of Petunia, the 'Pretty Grand mix' emits wonderful perfume at night--the dark purple ones in particular. I've never come across scented Petunias before--though some varieties I've grown before were advertised as scented, none had proved to be so until now.

 

Petunias 'Pretty Grand Mix'

Porch baskets

Other plants bloom along the front walk: a miniature yellow Dahlia, and white Heliotrope. The Australian red finger lime is setting more fruit. The tropical salvias ' Black and Blue, 'Amistad,' and 'Faye Chapel' haven't put up much of a show yet--the deer ate all the buds of 'Faye Chapel' before they had a chance to develop!

 

Plants along front walk: Puya alpestris on the right.

Miniature yellow Dahlia.

White Heliotrope.

Australian red finger lime

Irish moss (Sagina subulata) by the front walk.

 

Returning to where we started on the rear deck, the two Cupheas are putting on a show: 'Torpedo' and 'Honeybells.' Next week my contractor starts on the deck repairs and refinishing, so I'm trying to keep the back deck clear of plants. Ordinarily, my deck would be filled with potted plants.

 

Cuphea 'Torpedo'

Cuphea 'Honeybells'

 

Thanks for visiting, hope to see you next month!

November 2024 Bloom Day

 

French marigolds.

French marigolds

We'd had a few nights with temperatures below freezing, but until this past Wednesday Nov. 13, we hadn't experienced a hard frost here in my Zone 6B garden in Virginia. The temperature dipped to around 20 that night. Before that, some of my annuals were still displaying blooms: French marigolds in the veggie pagoda, some potted Nasturtiums, Irish moss, a Calendula that sprouted as a volunteer, and a few beat-up Chrysanthemums (I took these photos a few days ago, before the hard frost).

There are still a few flowers left for November's Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog. It being mid-fall, colorful leaves and berries can sometimes take the place of flowers. Let's take a stroll and see what is blooming in my garden.

 

Caleandula 'Neon' volunteer still blooming in the veggie pagoda.

Pink mum

Nasturtiums on the porch

Irish moss still blooming.

The deciduous trees in the east garden have dropped most of their leaves, but there are still a few hanging on. I discovered a small bird's nest on the upper branches of one of the Japanese maples there, and wondered which bird had built it--a chickadee, or perhaps a titmouse? I see them flitting about the back yard at this time of the year a lot more than at other times. I guess they're more noticeable because most of the migratory birds have already left.

The east garden mid-November.

Bird's nest on Japanese maple branch.

The holly 'Nellie Stevens' has set more berries than ever this year for a wonderful display. 

Holly 'Nellie Stevens'

Dried flower heads of hydrangea 'Incrediball'

 

I like to leave the dried flower heads of the Hydrangea 'Incrediball' through the winter season and cut them back in the spring--they present a lovely point of interest during the winter season.

Our unseasonable warm weather prompted the white lilac to produce a few blooms once again and the lavender was sporting a few of its spikes. But the big chill is coming, and I'm trying to prepare for it.

 

White lilac blooms

 

Lavender 'Hidcote'

As the weather turns colder, the great annual migration of tropical plants into the house is now complete. Winter interest will necessarily focus more on those. My Thanksgiving cactus is starting to show buds; I hope it may still have some flowers left for December's Bloom Day. A friend gave me this beautiful dark-leaved Capsicum with bright orange fruit.

After an entire month with no rain whatsoever, we finally got about a quarter of an inch from the past weekend's storm. It wasn't enough to eliminate the danger of fire--there have been a few forest fires near us, but mercifully, not a whole of of acreage has burned. We can only hope for more rain soon.

 

Decorative Capsicum indoors.

I leave you with a photo of what will likely be the last rose of the season...

Shrub Rose 'Petal Pushers'

Happy November Bloom Day!