On this chilly Bloom Day, temperatures in our Zone 6a reached a whopping 30 degrees Fahrenheit. This seems to have been the weather theme for 2014. Everything has been cooler this year. This type of chill in November reminds me more of the Zone 5a where I grew up in the countryside, not in our current urban microclimate. Our trick-or-treaters had red noses and snowflakes in the air this year.
We’ve had our first hard frost already and the majority of the colorful Fall leaves are on the ground. Most of the perennials in the garden are looking quite fatigued if not completely wilted from the cold temperatures. I only have a handful of pictures to share, but thought it’d be a good idea to log them anyway.
This first mess of color is of an old-fashioned spirea we have in the backyard bed. I pruned this one back hard after it bloomed in the Spring. The growth was old, overgrown, and collapsing from the center. The shrub sprung back throughout the season with healthy new growth.
Here is a bit of Lamium that is sheltered by the fence and house at the southeast corner of the backyard. Behind it is foliage from a Heucherella ‘Sweet Tea’ and a little Labrador Violet to the left.
And here is our single pumpkin the raised veggie bed decided to grow this year. We were going to carve it for Halloween but never had time to do so. It’s currently under the bird feeder as a snack for the squirrels. You can see they have already started to nibble on the back corner a bit.
So, only one plant is blooming right now on the Lot. Everything else seems to be settling in for the Winter. Head on over to May Dreams Gardens and maybe you’ll find a few more blooms from the more toasty areas of the world.
Thanks for the morning laugh! (This first mess of color.) November is such a sad time in the garden as there’s no pretending anymore that fall is a fluke and that the warmer summer temps will return any day. Winter, although it’s not really winter until Dec. 21st, has made it clear that it’s definitely going to put on it’s frosty performance once again. You’ll have nice snow flowers all winter long! Happy GBBD!
Yes, there definitely is no more pretending as we received 4-6 inches of snow last night. I felt a bit foolish even posting the Lot’s measly showing of color! I hope the snow (poor man’s mulch) will keep the new, Portland born Lot residents safe from our icy Michigan winter.
Hooray for good old Lamium! Does it never stop flowering?
I agree, Sarah! It can be a bit of a thug depending on how much it’s loving the growing conditions of the current season, but I just whack it back with the pruners once or twice to slow it down. It has remained happy and the silvery variegation adds a nice, bright pop in the part-shade bed.