November 15th, 2010
GBBD 201011: Nov 2010
Hybrid aloe ‘Grassy Lassie’.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.
November 15, 2010
The day began gray and gloomy, real November weather. Mid-afternoon it finally cleared a little but the chill remained. We built our first fire of the season tonight.
Lots of forward-thinking Austinites are scurrying around preparing for our first frost. One of the earliest freezes in recent years was on November 17, 2005. I’m hoping this will be the warm, dry winter forecast; I have a lot of tomatoes hanging in the balance. The ‘Gold Rush Currant’ tomatoes open scores of flowers every day even though I pinch them back daily.
The leaves of most of the trees are beginning to turn. They aren’t dropping off fast enough to suit me, though. I’m anxious for the leaves to drop, so I can clean up, and plant my meadow flowers out.
Almost everything flowering today is new for this month. The Pacific chrysanthemum and the butterfly weed started opening today.
Pacific chrysanthemum, Ajania pacifica
Scarlet milkweed, Asclepias curassavica
The ‘Elves Blend’ sunflowers are in full bloom now. So is one wild sunflower. I planted another variety for fall but it hasn’t bloomed yet. Last year, Austin got its first freeze before the sunflowers opened.
Elves Blend sunflower, Helianthus annuus
I planted some other flowers for fall color but I forgot how bad the shade is still in November. The zinnias and cosmos were a complete failure.
The rest of today’s flowers were brought to me by other Austin garden bloggers. The white cat’s whiskers are a passalong from Robin at Getting Grounded.
Cat’s whiskers, Orthosiphon stamineus
The stunning Salvia madrensis is a passalong from Renee at Renee’s Roots.
Salvia madrensis
And now in its second year, the Mexican mint marigold is a passalong from Annie at The Transplantable Rose.
Mexican mint marigold, Tagetes lucida
November 15, 2010
The list of all plants flowering today, November 15th 2009, at Zanthan Gardens.
- Abelia grandiflora (2010)
- Ajania pacifica (2010)
- Aloe ‘Grassy Lassie’ (2010)
- Antigonon leptopus (2010) almost all gone to seed
- Antirrhinum majus (2010) rebloom, survived summer
- Asclepias curassavica (2010)
- Dianthus ‘Fandango Crimson’ (2010)
- Duranta erecta (2010)
- Galphimia glauca (2010)
- Helianthus annuus ‘Elves Blend’ (2010) wild
- Helianthus annuus (2010) wild
- Lantana montevidensis (2010)
- Lantana ‘New Gold’ (2010)
- Nerium oleander (2010)
- Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’ (2010)
- Orthosiphon stamineus (2010)
- Pandorea ricasalonia (2010)
- Parkinsonia aculeata, Retama (2010)
- rose ‘Blush Noisette’ (2010)
- rose ‘New Dawn’ (2010)
- rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2010)
- rosemary (2010)
- Salvia madrensis (2010)
- Setcresea (both purple and green) (2010)
- Tagetes lucida (2010)
- tomato (2010)
by M Sinclair Stevens
November 15th, 2010
Those Cat’s Whiskers are so cool. I didn’t properly protect the baby Salvia madrensis I got from Renee last year, so maybe I can talk her into another donation–love its pale greenish-yellow color. And thanks for the reminder about waiting for leaves to fall before sowing my poppy and larkspur seeds.
November 15th, 2010
I’m so glad your Cat’s Whiskers not only survived, it bloomed! Protect it from a freeze or dig it up and bring it in…it’s a tender perennial. oh, and Iris, I can give you a Cat’s Whisker baby if you want…
November 15th, 2010
Love that aloe and the cat’s whiskers. Oh, heck, I love everything! Beautiful autumn blooms.
November 15th, 2010
Wow, talk about fall color – this post glows golden, MSS. The cat’s whiskers look a little like cleome in your photo – but more delicate. Is this the normal bloom time for the aloe? My only bloom stalk (on African Aloe) was in March so I thought they were spring flowers. Grassy Lassie is beautiful!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I thought aloe bloomed in the spring, too. This is the first time that ‘Grassy Lassie’ has bloomed for me. I bought it in fall of 2009. All over my neighborhood, however, a different type of aloe is also blooming…I don’t know the variety. It’s got orange-red flowers held in a flat umbel, proportionally long stalk for short plant. –mss
November 16th, 2010
Nice bloom on the Grassy Lassie – I’m liking the intense color of it. Might have to consider one of those.
November 16th, 2010
You have a lot blooming in your garden! I just saw the cats whiskers yesterday for the first time. It is very pretty.
I was looking through your posts and saw the overview of your garden. It is lovely!!
November 16th, 2010
What great diversity you have, any time! Love all of them, but your aloe convinces me to give them another looks.
My S. madrensis hasn’t bloomed at all. Next spring, I think I’ll move it into more sun.
November 16th, 2010
Love the ‘grassy lassie’ aloe flower. Was that the ajania you bought at the rose emporium last winter? The flowers are lovely-a little like santolina buttons. Lots of lovely blooms in your November garden.
Wow! You have a great memory. Yes, it is the ajania I bought last year during our Garden Blogger field trip to the Antique Rose Emporium. I have a difficult enough time remembering what I bought–I don’t think I could keep track of what other people bought. The ajania has gotten very leggy and I’m glad the flowers are starting to open. I thought they never would. I plan a followup post soon. — mss
November 17th, 2010
Wow, your Grassy Lassie blooms are so sculptural and beautiful. I adore the cat’s whiskers, I’m glad that it’s a relatively small plant that doesn’t mind some shade, I might have room to tuck it into my mini garden!
My cat’s whiskers is small now because I planted it just a couple of months ago. I think it gets into a salvia-sized bush. — mss