Monday, November 16, 2009

November Blooms at Our Little Acre


In spite of our extremely mild November weather - almost record-setting warmth, in fact - there is relatively little blooming here at Our Little Acre for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. But in November, you never know what you're going to get, so we enjoy each and every bloom, because we know it will be some time before we see these again.

The ornamental strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa 'Pink Panda') has never stopped blooming since early summer.


This Viola has been in this hypertufa planter for three years now and blooms faithfully all summer long, into fall.


Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Oranges and Lemons' is one of my favorite Gaillardias and one of the longest-blooming. The one I bought last year didn't survive the winter, so I replaced it. Let's hope this one is still around next spring.


I got a late start planting these Xeranthemum annuum seeds, but they eventually bloomed and I want to be sure to get some seeds for next year. They're extremely easy to grow from seed. I even saw a few volunteers come up in last year's location.


The Ivy Geraniums (Pelargonium x peltatum), both this 'Global Stars & Stripes' and the solid 'Global Red,' are still blooming, probably because they are in baskets up against the brick, which absorbs the heat of the day and keeps them warmer through the nights.


No need for me to plant Calendula seeds this year. Enough volunteers came up to brighten one little corner of the garden.


This Scabiosa ochroleuca is a very strong grower and I shared some plants this spring with other gardeners. They've got beautiful seed heads, too.


The Larkspur that I planted from old seed that Mom found in a drawer came up just fine and is blooming right through the frosts.


This annual, Osteospermum ecklonis 'Sunset Purple,' is one of my very favorites of the summer. The coloring and striping are just luscious! It's the only thing left after a couple of frosts from a container planting.

It was planted with Sweet Potato Vine (
Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie') and Asparagus Fern (Asparagus densiflorus 'Sprengeri'), with a Cordyline australis 'Red Star' that I'd overwintered last year. I wish I'd taken a photo of the container when it was in its prime, because the color combination was fabulous.

Speaking of Sweet Potato Vines, when I pulled the frost-damaged vines, I also dug up the roots to try and save them over the winter. I've done this successfully once before and with roots like these, I'm hoping to do it again this year. LOOK at these! (I think they look like stomachs.)

For size reference, that is a normal-sized Buckeye (Aesculus glabra) nut laying to the left. These are from Ipomoea batatas 'Margarita.' Those from 'Blackie' look the same, except they're a very dark burgundy.

I forgot to take a photo of it, but the Asiatic Primrose (Primula capitata 'Salvana') has put out another bloom. I've also got a few roses blooming smaller, distorted blooms, as well as some mums enjoying a second flush of color after deadheading earlier, such as these 'Camina Red.'

Chrysanthemum 'Camina Red'

As I said earlier, the dandelions are blooming, too. There was one exceptionally warm fall (and into winter) when I remember hanging clothes out to dry on December 1st. The dandelions were blooming then, too. Among those clothes I hung out were those of a certain adorable 2½-month-old little girl. The year? 1982. My, how time flies...


20 comments:

Carol Michel said...

You have several nice blooms still hanging on in your garden! They are like us, not willing to admit that the end of the season is here. Thanks for joining in for bloom day!

Ruth Trowbridge said...

first time visitor, lovely pictures you certainly do have an eye - peace

Nutty Gnome said...

You've just prompted me to go try out me new camera in the garden whilst it's not belting it down with rain ...... back soon! :)

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Kylee girl my goodness you have such beautiful blooms left yet !
I am totally jealous .. those sweet potatoes are amazing .. I didn't check to see if anything was at the end of the vine with mine .. now you have me wondering about it ? LOL
Next year for sure I will be checking after the frost kills the poor vine .. maybe I will have a surprise waiting for me ? : )
Joy

sweetbay said...

You have a lot of beautiful flowers for this time of year. I love the delicate colors of the viola. The white Scabiosa is lovely.

Rose said...

I agree, Kylie, that this time of year we have to appreciate every little bloom we find. But you have so many blooms! I'm surprised to see your gaillardia still blooming; mine gave up weeks ago. I planted these "Oranges and Lemons" a year ago and love them, too. But mine didn't return this year, so I bought more to replace them. If they don't come back next spring, I may give up on them. I had to chuckle, when I saw your sweet potato "roots." I was so surprised to see the same thing when I cleaned out a planter. Wish I had read this before I threw mine in the compost pile. But who knows, maybe they will grow there?

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I'm not familiar with Xeranthemum, or maybe I am under a different name. They are such a great spot of color for November. I'll have to look them up.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

The strawberry bloom is a stunner. Hang on to this beautiful fall weather as long as you can. Happy GBBD.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

love the blooms. Your stomachs are super. I saved mine one year and replanted them the next and they came up fine!

Kathleen said...

I wish we could swap places Kylee. I'm jealous of your unseasonably warm temperatures ~ we've been the opposite. You have so many pretty blooms left, it amazes me. I've saved my sweet potatoes before too but I didn't this year.
btw, I posted a few photos on my blog today of that clivia I thought would flower. It never really was a bloom stalk, just two buds that have stayed squished in the foliage. I plan to move them into the basement soon in hopes of having a real (full) bloom head.

Kylee Baumle said...

Carol ~ Yes, I could stay in November all winter long. Thanks for hosting GBBD once again, and thanks for visiting Our Little Acre!

Ruralrose ~ Thank you! And welcome to Our Little Acre! I hope you'll come back often!

Nutty Gnome ~ Yes, you have to capture it while you can!

Joy ~ Check those sweet potatoes! Aren't they just bizarre? Do you still have what they were potted in? Maybe you've got stomachs, too! ;-)

sweet bay ~ Thank you! :-)

Rose ~ We aren't the only ones that lost 'Oranges and Lemons' over the winter. Wonder why it's listed as zone 5 hardy? I can grow the other Gaillardias with no trouble.
My pink Echinaceas were done quite some time ago, but when I went into work today, I saw the pink ones in the courtyard were still blooming quite nicely!

MMD ~ They are called Immortal and Everlasting. Perhaps you know by one of those names?

Lisa ~ I wish there were berries forming after these later blooms! They're normally quite tasty - like wild strawberries!

Janet ~ Oooh, good! These are the largest tubers I've ever gotten, so plants for next year should be pretty nice.

Kathleen ~ I saw your Clivia and as I mentioned in my comment on your blog, mine did that too. I hope you get a nice, big bloom when the rest period is up, too!

Lona said...

I saw the ornamental strawberries at a nursery last spring. I was amazed at the beautiful pink blooms on them.I wondered ow they would do in the blooming department but if yours bloomed all along it is a fantastic bloomer. Is it an annual here Kylee I have forgotten.

Lucy Mills said...

wow - what gorgeous colours!

Hostabuff said...

It's so nice to see your Larkspur Kyle. I love that shade of blue in the garden and have not grown this plant for years. It's time! I enjoyed your nice selection of pictures.

Sharon Lovejoy said...

Your dear Mom told me about your blog and it is indeed wonderful. I'm still learning how to do things and will add you to my blog roll.

I truly enjoyed reading this and past blogs and will check in with you regularly.

November garden blessings to you,

Sharon Lovejoy www.sharonlovejoy.com

Kylee Baumle said...

Lona ~ It's a perennial! :-) I planted mine last year and it wintered over beautifully. I bought 'Lipstick' this year and I expect it to do the same, especially since it's in a strawberry pot in my basement greenhouse. LOL. I'm sure it would be fine outside in the ground though, too.

Lucy ~ Thank you! We're sure enjoying them!

Hostabuff ~ Thanks for visiting! Yes, that vivid blue Larkspur thrills me as well. :-)

Sharon ~ So nice of you to visit! I remember my mom telling of sharing breakfast with you when she was in Atlanta. That was before I even had an interest in gardening, but I remember how much she enjoyed that and your books.

I found your site and need to do some catching up with you! Envious that you have a place in Maine. My husband and I visited Sebago Lake at the camp of some friends in 1979 and I brought back a little white pine seedling in my suitcase. That tree is now more than 30 feet tall. :-)

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

You seem to have a lot of pretty color. The photo of that ornamental strawberry is breathtaking! Do you cook those cute little sweet potato tubers?

Muum said...

I enjoyed your blooms. Are you going to try and save/replant those sweet potato tubers? I am working on trying to grow mine inside, but mine are smaller.

Anonymous said...

Well it all looks so grand. Time does fly and I wish my kids were little again.

Kylee-Thank you for participating in Operation Christmas Child. We raised $800 and made 20 boxes. The giving is over and the boxes will be delivered on Monday. i'll post about it on Tuesday. You can take down the widget if you like.

TC said...

I've tossed "stomachs" into the compost pile only to have them sprout over the winter. I then remove them and replant in a hangin basket. I just adore osteospermum, but for some reason I never get around to potting up any during the summer. Why is that??

(Over the past couple of days, I've visited other bloggers "Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day" pages and found that it's quite popular. I'd like to chime in with my own GBBD post but so little is ever in bloom during the cold months here.)

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