"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress and keep it". Genesis 2:15

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Early to Middle November Update - Flowers First


















Blackeyed Susan vine climbing on the rose instead of the trellis. Lantana.

I'm a little late with November pictures but here they are finally. I am breaking this into two posts because I have a lot of pictures; one for flowers and one for vegetables.

My aim with flower gardening has always been to have something blooming every month of the year possible. Toward that aim I did a lot of research on what blooms when here in North Texas, and when to plant each flower to get the best bloom in its season. Maybe I will write a post about that later, even though it is pretty specific to this area, a lot of it can be extrapolated to different areas.

I have been pretty successful in getting something blooming at all times even if it is a lone flower in the landscape for that week/month, but I would really like to improve in the overall fullness of my garden. I love pictures of gardens that are chock full of greenery. For that I need more bushes and evergreen plants, which I can't really afford right now (I do most everything from seed for affordability) but I have plans for that later.

Anyway as I dislike winter as a gardener I have focused a lot on fall blooming plants in order to lift my spirits as a see the dreaded bleakness of winter approaching. Besides mums, there are asters, fall blooming crocus, fall blooming lilies, re-blooming roses and irises, wildflowers and herbs. I let herbs that I have been keeping from flowering set seeds now if they are the self-seeding kind.

















I am particularly proud of these asters. For some reason they are very hard to get started here. They are available for planting at a particularly hot and dry time of the year. I have killed about four of these, but this one took off with daily watering for about a month after I planted it. It is four years old and very large. This picture is a little late. Earlier it was covered in so many blooms you couldn't see the foliage.
























































Three different mums. I dont like the typical "fall" colors, muddy brown/yellow/oranges. I go for more clear yellows, purples, and reds.







































This is a wildflower I think is called a straw flower. This flower blooms all year round, even in winter! It is not fully open here. It has a brown center and does not look like a dandelion when it is open. Very pretty and welcome in winter time.
























Crab spider and re-blooming pink Knockout rose.


















Red Knockout rose and morning glory.



















Red knockout roses and bluebird house. Vegetable garden is behind the fence.

















My first ever Florence Fennel bulb!



















German Chamomile flowers.


















Pretty blue borage flowers. See the Bee looking at us!


















A somewhat blurry picture of a bee on basil flowers. The basil and the borage have been full of bees every day. Its really hard to get a picture of these fast moving guys! I am hoping that the basil and borage will self seed this year so I dont have to replant next year.

Thats it for flowers and herbs. Next post will be about vegetables.

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