Flower Gardens in November

 I've been delinquent on keeping up with my blog during December. I have a good reason though...I'm an academic and was being crushed with grading and end-of-the-semester demands. I have been keeping a mental list of new blog posts that I would like to make and thus, I begin.

Unless you keep a garden, (as I had not for most of my life), you'd be inclined to think that there isn't much going on in gardens in November. But, in fact, there is a lot of magic to gardens in November and in the fall, in general. It's a time to prepare for the new and to appreciate the old.

Just as everything is fading from its glory and I start to miss the blossoms, I begin to plan for next spring. Last year I planted 300 bulbs. I think that the squirrels and skunks got to them and only about 50-70 came up. It was disappointing. This fall, I planted 450 bulbs and this time, after I mulched the gardens, I put down chicken coop wire. As usual, I did a lot of my fall plantings in the dark, because I ran out of daylight. It's not the best time to plant, but in the spring, the flowers assure me that it made no difference at all.

Here I am with some bulbs from Reny's. In fact, I  still get all of my bulbs from Reny's, despite living in Massachusetts.

Boy, do these bulbs look cute. Can't wait to see them in the spring.

Here is one of my flower beds. All ready for winter. See you in the spring!

Here's another flower bed. This is also home to a large dahlia bed. I can't count how many times I took a picture standing in this same spot - looking into the dahilas - July through September.

The other wonderful pleasure of gardening in November is seeing the beauty in the old. I think that this is a blessing that comes with age, life experience, and (more) patience. I used to tear up old plants and throw away blossoms long gone by. But, so many of them continue to offer beauty throughout the remainder of year, which offers a different kind of delight. 

Our tall grasses left us with this pile. I also love our gravel pile in the background.

The Dorothy Wycoff Pieris still looks wonderful, even in November (and now, even in January).

The yucca plants are still a radiant yellow - even after a hard frost.

I have always wanted a snowball tree, in part because they keep their blossoms all winter long.

Our wonderful Silver Grasses continue to inspire us.

This is the time of year when we can really start to see and enjoy our river without foliage to block the view.