November 2010 Bloom Day

November garden bloggers bloom day is here and we are lucky enough to still have flowers blooming in the garden.  Still no frost here, although I did see that the National Weather Forecast has predicted a chance of snow for the weekend.  Yesterday I planted some more bulbs that I found at the grocery store (I wasn't looking for bulbs but they were right there at the entrance calling out to me), Tulipa greigii 'Quebec', and planned to take more pictures of flowers after I was finished but by 2:45 pm it was already starting to get dark, a little earlier than usual because it was so overcast out.  During the summer at that time it's too bright to take pictures, now at that time it's too dark.

 Rose 'Tamora' didn't grow much in height this year, but has produced lots of blooms for it's first year in the garden.

 'Kimberlina' is covered in opening buds.

 The Lavender has a new round of flowers which is surprising.  I planted these as 2 inch plants last year and they are huge now.

 The Abelias are covered in flowers.

 Cosmos still blooming.

 On of the longest blooming perennials in my yard are Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber).

Tiarella - I think this is 'Neon Lights' is just starting to bloom.  In fact all the Tiarellas have new blooms on them.

Also in bloom are some Heucheras, hardy fuchsias, Mexican Orange (Choysia ternata), Geranium 'Rozanne' and 'Wargrave Pink', Daphne 'Summer Ice', Calendula and Pansies.

To see who else has flowers blooming now visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens who hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day the 15th of each month.

Is it really November?

After record setting rainfall on Monday we've been spoiled with springlike weather since.  It's currently 70 degrees out with blue skies, just beautiful.  I was able to get some more clean up done today, although the bulbs still haven't been planted, and I'm already thinking about what I want to do in spring.  Hopefully when it's spring those very bulbs that are still waiting to be planted will be blooming. 
For much of the summer I felt like I'd lost interest in gardening.  This summer was probably the least I've gotten done in years.  I'm not sure if it was the weather or just a phase I was going through.  But, I already feel that excitement that I usually have for gardening returning, and days like today really help allow me to make up for lost time.
Look what I found blooming today:

 Salvia 'Golden Delicious' which is an annual here is finally blooming now that it's November.

 Hardy fuchsias are still blooming very nicely.  It's difficult to see in this picture, but the Water Hawthorn is blooming in the pond now.

 My newish Hydrangea 'Limelight' still has several fresh flowers.

 One of the new Daylilies which I didn't expect to see flowers from until next year has thrown up a bud.

 Lewisia has a new flower.

 Rose 'Kimberlina' has lots of buds, I wonder how many will get to bloom?

 A Hollyhock in November is very unusual.  I found this one when I was picking a couple of pears nearby.

Cosmos and Rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton' are blooming quite a bit even though the area they are in has gotten quite shady now.

Did anyone else notice how beautiful the moon was early this morning?  I wish I would've tried to get a picture of it.  It was followed by a beautiful gold sunrise.  I wish every November day could be this nice!

July garden bouquet of the month.

The monthly garden bouquet idea started by Noelle from Ramblings from a Desert Garden has been so much fun.  I don't usually consider myself very artistic, but going out and putting together the bouquets has been a good way to be creative.  I usually go out with one flower in mind and then have built a bouquet around it.  This month I wanted to do all flowers from the butterfly garden but realized not enough were blooming there, so instead I found these flowers throughout the front yard.  Again this month the colors seem to be pinks and purples and several of these have a nice fragrance as well.

In this month's bouquet is Butterfly Bush, Rose 'Kimberlina', Lavender, Larkspur 'Shades of Blue' and Cupid's Dart.

I added 'Kimberlina' last year and can see why it won 2009 floribunda of the year.  It just continues to put out new blooms and is very healthy.  It's flowers have a light fragrance.

A closeup of a Butterfly Bush(Buddleia alternifolia) flower.  This picture shows the color very close to true, it does have an orange eye at the center.  Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds love this plant.  The scent carries all over the front yard.

If Washington state ever declares this a prohibited noxious weed like Oregon does I'll be sad to not have this plant anymore.  I'm not sure if mine is considered a "weed" though because it is not  B. davidii.

Cupid's Dart (Catananche caerulea) is such a great plant.  Apparently the Greeks and Romans used the flower as an ingredient in love potions.  The flower buds are very dry and it's hard to believe that a pretty flower is inside.

But look at how this crazy plant grows!  It's in full sun and still flops over every year, and every year I forget to stake it until I see it looking like this.  I guess I know one job I need to do today.

I hope you'll visit Noelle to see her bouquet and maybe be inspired to join in or at least go outside and bring a little of your garden indoors.

Notice anything different?

There have been times I've been asked that question and gotten a little nervous.  What is it... a new hairstyle, lost weight, new clothes?...  But this time I think it's pretty obvious from looking at my pictures what's different.  Blue skies and sunlight!  I think the garden is jumping for joy the same as the rest of us around here when the forecast was right on target.

That's the bluest sky I've seen in many months!  Not a cloud to be seen.

 Rose 'Kimberlina' has done really well this Spring and Summer, but looks even prettier with sun on her petals.

 Yarrow is as bright as the sun shining on it.

Scabiosa is blooming in front of Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'.  The sun really brightens up that foliage which will soon have flowers the same shade as the Scabiosa.

Monarda 'Jacob Cline' just started blooming.  It is well over 5 feet already.  I think the reason so many plants are taller than usual this year is all the rain that we had.

 Hot enough for the Littlest Gardener to play in her wading pool and have a popsicle. 

Warm and sunny enough for Gracie to want to stay outside with us.  I think she drank half the water from the wading pool.

It looks as if it's supposed to get warm enough that we should break a couple of records for our highs.  What a nice change it will be.  We're heading out to a spray park today.  I guess I'll have to finally get the hoses out to water more than just a couple of containers.  

Sunny weekend.

What a great weekend we ended up having. The weather really improved, although I don't know if we actually reached 75 degrees. Just having two days of sun and having a chance to enjoy it was just perfect. In fact it was just the right temperature for digging, weeding and even gutter cleaning ☺. The girls had a sprinkler out and had a lot of fun. Around here lately if it's above 65 degrees it feels like Summer.
We also made a trip to the Antique Rose Farm, which I mentioned in an earlier post, and chose a new David Austin rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton'. It's full of buds now, but when it blooms I'll post some pictures.

I was so happy to find that the Oriental Poppy 'Princess Victoria Louise' is blooming. Last year in the heat of the Summer I decided to chance moving it to a sunnier place where it could get bigger. Later in the year I found that I had left roots behind and new leaves were coming up. I happily dug that plant up and moved it to another place. Now the original roots have sent up leaves and flowers as well as the two I moved. So, not only did the plant survive the move, but I ended up with three total.

Salvias are blooming and covered in bees.

Spireas are full of flowers. This one's tag has been lost, but I really love the bright pink flowers on it.

The 'Endless Summer' Hydrangea I planted last Summer is doing well, still small, but lots of blooms.

Rose 'Kimberlina' has lightly scented flowers.

Campanula 'Summertime Blues'. I've read these flowers are sterile so should not spread as much as some Campanulas do.

One of the hanging Fuchsias. The hummingbirds have been at the Fuchsias off and on all during the day.

I've been trying some new things out on my blog. I wrote this post in Blogger in draft where you can load pictures much quicker and choose extra large for the size. While these pictures aren't quite as large as before, loading them this way saves me time and is easier to put them in the post. I'm also changing the blog layout some. Please let me know if anything seems out of place or is difficult to read. I've noticed some Blogger blogs loading very slowly lately too, not sure if it's just my computer or if others have noticed that as well.