November Colors

November colors in my back yard.

Many leaves have fallen, but there's still a lot of color in the woods in back of my house: the oaks have reached their peak. Soon my neighbor's farm buildings will become visible through the woods, after the leaves have come down.

On the east side of the house, the Japanese maples are still holding on to most of their leaves, despite heavy hoarfrost on several mornings. I've fenced off my Rhododendron, azaleas, and other young trees for winter protection from the marauding deer. I still have a couple of new plants--last minute purchases on sale--to get in the ground.

East yard in mid-November

The ornamental kale looked particularly lovely with frost on its leaves. So did the bed on the west front by the garage.

 

Morning frost on ornamental kale.

Hoarfrost on the western front.

 

As the temperature begins to drop in earnest, and it becomes less comfortable being outside, it's time to finish my chores and put the garden to sleep. This week I harvested all the romaine lettuce except for two small heads, protected overnight by frost-proof cloth. All of the tender houseplants have been brought inside for the winter.

Plants in the bathroom.

Meanwhile, one of my orchids around the bathtub is blooming once more, along with some African violets. I haven't been able to coax any flowers from the Cattleya mounted above yet, although it seems to be happy there. Perhaps a clip-on light would help?

Now that I'm spending more time indoors, I've been working on new project--a perpetual Nature Journal. Started last month, the idea is to do a few sketches every week on two pages of the journal on year one. Then, on subsequent years, add a few more sketches on those weeks until the journal is all filled up.

 Some weeks I have interesting material to work with on hand, collected from my wanderings; other weeks, I struggle to find something of interest to bring home from my walks around the area. Here are some pages from my journal.

 

The small set of half-pans holding open some of the pages is brand-new set of some very expensive hand-made watercolor paints from Greenleaf and Blueberry, which I've been using on the journal, along with my Faber Castell watercolor pencils and waterbrush. I love this tiny new set--I can carry it in one pocket with the waterbrush and a 5" x 7" sketchpad when I go out on my walks to Blandy Farm or other places nearby, eliminating the need for a tote bag or backpack. Traveling light is essential!

 

Plant material collection.

Sunrise over our neighborhood.

The sunrise on a recent morning was spectacular--the sky was on fire, the mountains veiled in fog. Sailors take warning!

Deep Freeze in DC

The Capitol in winter.

Last Sunday I attended BASNCR's first meeting of the year at the US Botanic Garden. This year I was asked to be the Treasurer for our chapter and although I'm still struggling to complete my Botanical Certificate project, I decided to accept. All-volunteer groups such as this one always have a need for rotation of officers, and since all members benefit from the work of the organization, I am willing to take my turn at the helm.

Temperatures that morning were in the teens, and I arrived a few minutes early. The Botanic Garden hadn't opened yet so I got out of the car to take in the scene. The reflecting pool by the Capitol was frozen solid with bits of ice and snowballs that visitors had pitched on the surface. I was aware of the restoration work taking place on the Capitol dome, since images of the scaffolding are often shown on the news, but I hadn't had a chance to see it in person.

I got my camera out and took a few shots. This part of D.C. really is beautiful, no matter what time of the year. The lack of traffic and crowds this early on a Sunday morning made the scene even more appealing. The crowds would arrive soon enough, but for a brief moment, it was lovely.

The Reflecting Pool by the Capitol.

The rest of my day was so busy I had no time to take photos inside the Botanic Garden. But here's a shot of the orchid blooming in my bathroom.

Colmanara 'Wildcat' hybrid orchid.

I believe I've now identified my mystery orchid as a Colmanara 'Wildcat' hybrid, and as suspected, it's a cross between Miltoniopsis (hybrid of Miltonia and Oncidium) and an Odontonia (hydrid of Odontoglossum and Miltoniopsis). These orchid hybrids have very complex parentage!

An Orchid in Bloom

No new painting this week. Last week I was in an accident on my way to painting class--fortunately no one was injured--but now my car is at the body shop. It's hard to get out to paint when you don't have wheels and the weather is rainy, so today's posting will be different.

My sister Bea gave me this orchid plant several years ago. It has bloomed several times since I've had it, but on its old stems. This is the first new blossoming stem it has put out and as you can see, the blossoms are an unusual greenish color suffused with pink. Several other orchids I've acquired since are also budding and will soon be in bloom.

I don't know why this spring seems to be particularly good for my orchids, though I have some theories. There is nothing so spectacular in the botanical world as an orchid in bloom!