A Lovely November 2022

November brought a few unexpected freezes, but also rain. Autumn seems to have arrived late for the Triangle this year. I had to delay planting of perennials in October due to the hot and arid weather. November brought the much needed rain.

Frost on the culinary sage in the herb bed. The frost period was brief, so no harm was done.

The Sugar snap peas are also doing fine. I'm hoping to have a crop in the Spring. I tried a second sowing on Oct. 29th.

The roses have really had a tough time this year. Even the yellow knock out roses suspended bloom production until early November.

I added three Southern Charm verbascums to one of the front garden beds in October. The rain and mild temperatures (most of the time) encouraged a beautiful first flower stalk. The Truffula Pink gomphrena was still doing fine in mid-November. This photo was taken Nov. 14th.

Just before Thanksgiving, I harvested some of the blossoms that dried on the plant naturally to make this bouquet with dried lavender. I can't take credit for the dried lavender. I purchased it from Whole Foods.

The unusual cold snaps gave us beautiful autumn color this year even through Thanksgiving. This is a close up of the Japanese maple which normally doesn't have this much red.

The same maple on Nov. 14th.

Another example of the gorgeous autumn foliage. The Yuletide camellia is doing great as usual. The yellow foliage is a forsythia. This is the mother plant of the forsythia hedge next door.

I am happy to say that the cherry red camellia (unknown name) in the far back is going to outfox the squirrels this year.

It is starting to bloom in late November instead of late winter. The squirrels have eaten the blossoms the last few years.

Judging by how many blossoms look close to opening now, I think this beautiful camellia will come to fruition this year. So far, the squirrels are ignoring the flowers. They have plenty of nuts to eat at the moment.

A good friend and neighbor, Cheryl gave us two Kanjiro camellias about three years ago. Unfortunately, one died. I transplanted the other which interrupted its growth because it bloomed the first year, but no blossoms again until 2022.

It is going to be a beauty. The bush is about three feet tall now, but will grow much larger with a plethora of flowers. Its in the sasanqua family like Yuletide.

Ian enlarged the western facing garden next door for me. The video ends a little abruptly with me looking for pollinators. I couldn't find any, hence the not very elegant ending. :) I have a video from Aug. 2021 which has some great butterfly footage. Scroll to the bottom of this post.

Here's a little taste of falling leaves in the backyard.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!