“November is usually such a disagreeable month...as if the year had suddenly found out that she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it. This year is growing old gracefully... just like a stately old lady who knows she can be charming even with gray hair and wrinkles. We've had lovely days and delicious twilights.”
~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea
This November has actually been a beautiful one this year, with long spurts of warm, sunshine-filled days in between frosts. Because of this I've met a milestone - it's the first year that I've gotten all of my spring bulbs in the ground before Thanksgiving. Since I usually still have bulbs laying around by Christmas, this is quite monumental for me.
Guilty confession: I still have some of last year's bulbs sitting in my basement fridge. My plan was to pot them up and force them. Now they should probably be classified as a science experiment: will they come up when I finally pot them up or won't they?
Talking about me and procrastinating, I had also meant to post some of these flower pictures last week during the monthly Garden Blogger's Bloom Day that so many garden bloggers participate in...
The bees and other pollinators were soaking up the nice weather, too, swarming over any blooms that have withstood the sporadic light frosts.
But the warm spells had to end eventually as winter marches inevitably closer. The past few days have seen chillier weather, and light frosts have given way to heavy ones.
But I guess there is a silver lining to the end of the warm spells and gardening outside...
Maybe I'll finally get around to potting up those bulbs waiting in my refrigerator.
Happy gardening as always,
and for everyone here in the U.S., I wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, Indie! That quote is a perfect one for this pleasant November. I had blooms until about 10 days ago, and then we got snow! Goodbye growing season, hello winter. But it had to happen sometime, and this past spring/summer/fall has been an exceptional stretch of pleasantness. ;-) All the best to you and yours for the holiday weekend!
ReplyDeleteI saw your pictures - that's a good amount of snow! We haven't gotten snow just yet, though the forecast keeps flirting with it. Happy Thanksgiving!
DeleteWe've had frost here too now, but most of the blooms had already long gone. Happy Thanksgiving Indie.
ReplyDeleteMost of those blooms are gone now with the heavy frost. There are some alyssum blooms and sporadic yarrow, but the rest is brown and crispy!
DeleteI love the quotation at the start - so very true. I look forward to hearing how the bulb experiment goes. Congratulations on getting all the bulbs planted this year and a very happy Thanksgiving to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Hopefully I'll get those bulbs planted up before too awfully long!
DeleteI like the quote immensely! Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
ReplyDelete.
Greetings from Poland.
Thank you! It was very enjoyable. Greetings from the US!
DeleteOh don't feel bad about not having bulbs in the ground, we finally got four trees planted last night which I'm afraid may be too late. We'll see, if winter isn't too harsh we may be okay with it. I was the same way, running around in November taking long walks on the weekends and just enjoying the weather instead of working. It's been raining here all day and snow is forecast if the temperatures drop enough. We've had over an inch of rain already tonight which would have made a LOT of snow. I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteIt's raining here too today! I hope your trees make it, and I'm crossing my fingers for a nice mild winter this year after the last couple of crazy winters!
DeleteOh, Indie, what beautiful photos of your November garden, which is indeed like a graceful old lady who is beautiful despite her age! It is amazing for me to still see butterflies and bees in my own garden, and yours too! It seems I never get all my garden projects completed; they simply get pushed forward to the next year. I think your bulbs should do well, as long as you get them planted!
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to see a butterfly out in November too! I saw a couple of them out during the warm spell. Now it's finally getting too cold for them though!
DeleteIndie!!!!!!! thank you very much for your visit and comment.
ReplyDeleteI am happy that I regained your address.
Have a nice weekend.
Kisses and greetings from Polish.
Lucia
That would be terrible to lose the list of everyone's sites! Hope you can get it all back quickly!
DeleteHello Indie! The grass in my urns is Egyptian Papyrus AKA King Tut Grass. I had the tall version this year, I'm thinking of looking into the dwarf one next year. I did bring three of them in the house for overwintering, we'll see if they make it as houseplants. I bought one big pot of King Tut and took a knife and cut it into several hunks and they all survived. And yes! Feel free to paint some twigs white, it's great faux birch, lol. Good luck with the snowshoeing, I do that sometimes too. Burns a lot of calories and keeps you warm too. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, that grass is so cool looking! I brought a few plants indoors for the winter, but I am honestly pretty terrible with houseplants, especially as I have to tuck them in out of the way places away from my cat. They end up neglected, so we'll see if any survive the winter!
DeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who has trouble with houseplants. When someone gives me one as a gift, my heart sinks, poor thing probably won't survive my dark rooms and inconsistent attention. :-(
DeleteVery pretty images, Indie. November was mild for us too. When I got home mid-November, there were still a lot of flowers. We got snow though and only a few remain now. I did not plant bulbs this year, but never did leave any from the year before. I hope the ones you saved will bloom.
ReplyDeleteYou've been too busy traveling to plant bulbs! No snow here yet, just rain and cold now.
DeleteMarvelous captures of beautiful flowers. The autumn has been very mild here in Norway too. Very unusual, but happy to enjoy such a long and rich blooming in the garden. You have a wonderful blog! Great to find it.
ReplyDeleteJannicke
Thank you! Glad you enjoy the blog, and welcome!
DeleteOh how funny you still have bulbs from last year to pot up....I love the hell strip in decline.
ReplyDeleteIt honestly looks the best out of all of the garden because it is planted so fully and has some interesting grasses. I put a lot of alyssum out there too, which is miraculously still in bloom!
DeleteBeing a Floridian, I liked that photo of the frost on the plant. Don't get too many opportunities to take a photo like that.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you don't!
DeleteI enjoyed seeing all these photos of bees on your blooms, Indie. It seems like a long time ago that the bees were here, but it really hasn't been--it was a good November here, too. I still have a few crocus bulbs I was going to plant at my daughter-in-law's--I'd forgotten all about them till I read this:)
ReplyDeleteI still see sales for bulbs going on and think to myself, no more buying bulbs because then I can't say I'm done anymore! I haven't seen anymore bees now for a couple weeks. It's finally getting too cold and frosty!
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