Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - November 2012

Um wow...I didn't realize it was Bloom Day today until last night...this one REALLY snuck up on me! Of course, that's partly due to the fact that I never really think the garden will still be doing much in November. Where I grew up, we were generally well into winter by the time November rolled around, with several hard frosts under our belts.

Luckily, here in Portland, we haven't had any frost yet, and the weather has been pretty nice...I haven't even needed a jacket outside yet. As a result, the garden is still alive...if not exactly the picture of lushness it was a month or two ago.


Sadly, I got word from the camera repair guys the other day that it would be 3-4 weeks before my camera is fixed...and since I've been working late every night for the past few weeks anyway...well, I don't really have ANY super-recent photos for this post! These few I mananged to scrounge up were from the few times on previous weekends were I got out for a bit to snap some shots.


I'm always amazed at just how the Persicaria in my garden just don't give up until that first hard frost turns them to mush. Above are both Persicarias 'Golden Arrow' and 'Inverleith'. They are slouching a bit, to be sure...having been lashed by a few torrential downpours, but otherwise are blooming happily. Here they provide a skirt for the autumnal beauty of Panicum 'Shenandoah', Eutrochium 'Gateway' & Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'.


This is Persicaria 'Firetail', mingling with Panicum 'Blood Brothers'. While many plants have slowed down considerably, the Persicaria in my garden act as if they couldn't be happier...they are full of gorgeous scarlet blooms.


While Fall in Portland generally means generous rainfall, most days still have a few hours of bright autumn sunshine...and if you're in the right place at the right time...MAGIC!


The front border always seems so bare once the 'Tiger Eyes' Sumac drops its leaves...it really starts to seem like fall...and for the first time since June or July, you can actually see bare ground again.


While a few of the Agastaches still have blooms, 'Golden Jubilee' has transitioned into full-on seed production. Aster 'Prince' is still blooming...although its starting to fade a bit as well. I love the arching wands of Muhlenbergia rigens in the background.


The backyard jungle sort of collapsed in on itself after our first rain last month...and it received a brutal cutting-back to open up the path once more. I have to admit...it seems slightly luxurious to be able to walk through the backyard once again! I've made a firm resolution with myself that next year I WILL cut back all these plants in mid-spring to keep them under control...and I'll probably thin them out a bit...moving the plants that are now obviously too big for the space, which, sadly, will probably mean relocating my beloved Stipa gigantea. Back here, Geranium 'Rozanne', Knautia macedonica and Agastaches 'Blue Blazes' & 'Ava' are still throwing out the occasional bloom. While smothered in wonderfull, fluffy seedheads, Clematis tibetana also started reblooming this past week.


After I chopped back the majority of the plants back here, I noticed the mini-forest of Knautia seedlings. Naughty Knautias, indeed!


So, there you go...lack of a camera certainly makes choosing photos for these posts much quicker! For more bloomy goodness around the world, check out Carol at May Dreams Gardens.