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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day November 2015

It's been a wet November so far and for the last few days, the rain hasn't stopped at all.  It alternates between heavy rain and pounding rain that bounces off the pavement.  Did I mention the wind?  Add to that the cold temperatures and the fact that the skies are so gray that it shaves off a couple of hours of daylight and it feels as if nature herself is mourning the tragic loss of life in Paris. My thoughts and prayers are with the people affected by this horrible act and for the twisted minds that devise and perpetrate such heinous crimes.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace.


The video below is of the Faure requiem if you're in the mood.

But today is bloom day and amidst the dark and wet, we can still find beauty.  

 Grevillea victoriae  is covered with buds and is just beginning to bloom which it will do all winter.

Vinca minor.  I inherited a slope covered in this which has spread as it is wont to do.  It's removal is a winter project.

If we have cooperative weather, the tetrapanax blooms might beat the frost this year. Fingers crossed.

The spots that appear bright are actually raindrops falling on the camera lens.

Viburnum × bodnantense ‘Dawn’ actually started blooming last month but is now covered with blooms emitting a sweet perfume.  This one will also bloom through spring.

Surprise!   Helleborus argutifolius 'Pacific Frost'  looks like it will be blooming a bit early this year.
 Abelia 'Kaleidoscope'

Mahonia 'Charity' 

Of course Abutilon megapotamicum is nearly always blooming in my garden.

'Marjie' rose has delighted me with fragrant blooms all summer and now fall.   

That crazy hot-colored pelargonium is now in the greenhouse for the winter where it will most likely continue blooming again this year.  Do these things ever take a break?

Brugmansias in the greenhouse.


Abutilon 'Hot Pink' recently in for the winter. 

A recent addition, this Hydrangea macrophylla 'Rie 09' AKA 'You and Me Romance' is a dwarf variety that appears at first like a lacecap  until all flowers are open and it has a mophead appearance. It'll stay inside since it's blooming out of season but will go to a permanent outdoor location in the spring.

A perennial Impatiens. 

The last of the Cyclamen blooms for this season.  In case you were wondering, that's not leaf litter left by a lazy gardener, it's organic mulch. :)

'Fragrant Cloud' rose must be as strong of constitution as it is of fragrance to continue to live with my neglect.

Fatsia japonica 


Hardy Fuchsias will continue blooming until we get a heavy frost. 



Just realized that I forgot to photograph the tuberous begonias still blooming.  Oops.

Last but certainly not least, the Thanksgiving Schlumbergeras are starting to bloom reminding me of my mother's November visits when she was still living. It was during one of these visits 20 or so years ago that she gave me a couple of these.  If you missed the full story a couple of years ago and are interested, look here.

This one, living in the greenhouse, is a little slower to start this season. 

This one, brought in from the greenhouse to it's traditional home in the unused upstairs bathroom is blooming it's head off.

I've since added to the collection some of these that bloom around Christmas, some at Easter, and was given one that blooms around Pentecost.

I'm reminded of the poem "A Farewell" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson which reminds us, among other things, that nature continues even as we depart this plane of existence.

Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea,
Thy tribute wave deliver;
No more by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.

Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea,
A rivulet then a river;
No where by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.

But here will sigh thine alder tree,
And here thine aspen shiver;
And here by thee will hum the bee,
For ever and for ever.

A thousand suns will stream on thee,
A thousand moons will quiver;
But not by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.


Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is hosted on the fifteenth of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.  Be sure to click on over there to see what's blooming around the world today.



23 comments:

  1. Beautiful shots! Is that a Fatsia 'Camouflage'?

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    1. Thank you, Wendy. It is indeed a Fatsia 'Camouflage.'

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  2. Thanks for the music, Faure Requiem is one of my favourite pieces of music and I have used Pie Jesu and Sanctus on my own blog as background music for movies. Lots of beautiful flowers still around in your garden and indoors too – I love Schlumbergeras or Christmas cactus as we call them here in UK regardless of which type (as most of them flower around that time over here).

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed the Faure, I've sung it, done the baritone solo part, and directed it so many times that it seems to fit like a comfortable pair of old jeans, kind of a comfort food of music. We call them Christmas cactus here too but it's fun to play with the botanical name every now and then even though it's not as pretty as the plant.

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  3. I love roses and abutilons that bloom in your garden Peter. I also liked your fuchsia collection!
    "A Farewell" is very touching, I thought about cruel and merciless act in Paris, terrible...

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    1. Thank you Nadezda! I wish people could live peacefully together.

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  4. Love that Hellebore coming into bloom! I so clearly remember planting daffodil bulbs after 9/11 and thinking of them as memorials to all those lives lost. So often I've gone into the garden when the world seems too difficult to cope with.

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    1. What a wonderful golden tribute to the lives lost on 9/11, Somehow, our little pieces of nature can be therapeutic, reminding us that life will go on.

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  5. What a beautiful tribute, Peter. There is nothing like a garden to remind you that - even after devastation - life continues. I saw a great bumper sticker the other day. Not being religious, my first inclination when seeing religion-themed stickers is to ignore them, but this one was different. It said "God is air, prayer is breath." I liked that so much, I told my friend William about it, when I saw him shortly afterwards. After the tragedy in Paris, he added "Breathe deeply" to it. So, that's what I've been doing - breathing deeply and sending all the good thoughts I can muster to all of those thousands of people affected by ISIS's ongoing slaughter - regardless of nationality. It is so sad. I wish we could offer the members of ISIS a few seeds and a shovel, as we take away their gun. You know, teach them to respect and cherish life (as I'm sure their Allah would encourage too.)

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    1. Thank you for sharing that bumper sticker! In most meditative practices, it's not so much the words but the breathing that matters, centering and sending goodness into the world. The words sometimes help achieve the breath. So much harm has been done throughout history by man's use of holy writings of many faith traditions to justify violence and hatred. I like your idea!

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  6. Happy GBBD! Love the colors on that Pelargonium. I haven't had great luck in the past with Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus, but the one I bought last winter is starting to bloom, so I did something right with it.

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    1. Hooray for your blooming Christmas cactus! They're such a nice splash of bright color at this time of year and ask for so little care.

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  7. Wow! Your Tetrapanx is so close to blooming! This is the year...it's got to be.

    Sounds like you guys are drowning up there. It's wet here but not as bad as you describe. Only 125 days until spring...

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    1. But who's counting? Other years I've embraced the beauty of autumn and looked forward to the wonders of winter but this year, I'm eager for those 125 days to pass quickly. Although, I am enjoying keeping warm under blankets and lighting candles, filling the house with light and spicy fragrances.

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  8. Thank you for your wonderful post, Peter. It made me cry but then I've been doing that at regular intervals since Friday night anyway. Your photos are beautiful, as always.

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    1. Sorry to make you cry. I cling to the hope that somehow, someday humankind will evolve beyond hatred and mistrust

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  9. Quite a parade of blooms for November. No words can salve the pains of Paris, but yours come close...and Anna's: yes! trade guns for shovels and seeds. In a better world beauty will trump evil every time.

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    1. It was surprising to find so much in bloom but there's still plenty of foliage which carries us through the long dark. There's a song lyric or poem in my memory that goes something like: In fair desire thine earthborn joy renew, Live thou thy life beneath the making sun, till beauty, truth, and love in thee are one. A beautiful thought. I wonder if we, as a species, will ever achieve this better world. Star Trek gives us hope, right?

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  10. All that organic mulch is probably one reason your cyclamen are so happy. Love the red Thanksgiving cactus!

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  11. Wow, you still have lots of color. Love the Fatsia and Abelia.

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  12. In know what you mean about the Vinca--I have a patch of it that wants to spread out. I really need to rein it in a bit, too. It's such a beautiful bloomer, though. Hellebores already--wow! Beautiful sentiments and video, and just right for the time.

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  13. A great post Peter and thank you for Faure' s Requiem and the tribute to those who lost their lives in the devastating attack.
    Always lots of interesting plants in your garden no matter what the season. I love the hydrangea, such a pretty flower.

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  14. Beautiful blooms, Peter, especially the Mahonia, which is one of my favorite plants I wish I could grow here. It's been rainy and gloomy here, too, which as you say seems appropriate for these sad days. Thank you for the music and the poem by Tennyson. May we all find some comfort in nature as we try to make sense of the tragedies in Paris and other places in the world recently.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.