Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

GBBD: November 2017

Wishing and hoping can't stop winter's approach, but an old cotton sheet can keep a few annuals blooming!

We've had two frosty evenings and I knew the weather would rebound to the sixties and pollinators would be buzzing around looking for flowers. So, I covered my two favorites must have fall blooming supportive players, African Blue Basil and Salvia 'Mystic Spires'.

As you can see they survived the light frost and are blooming for all the late fall visitors.
Also, blooming today is Willow-leaf aster.

Symphyotrichum praealtum is also known as 'Miss Bessie'and she's a very, very, late blooming flower. Blooming in mid to late October, just as the Little ex-asters are starting to fade, Willow-leaf continues to bloom through much of November.

It always survives light frosts and is blooming in my garden today for any pollinators that venture out as the day warms up...As you can see they have!

Hamamelis virginiana is still lighting up the shady garden. Frost doesn't faze it and neither does a heavy freeze.

Fall blooms can't last forever, my friends, and sheets can't stop winter. I am going to miss all the pollinators when winter arrives, in the meantime I will enjoy each and every flower that is still making me smile.
xoxogail



 Inspired by the words of Elizabeth Lawrence, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. On the 15th of every month, garden bloggers from all over the blogosphere celebrate their blooms, so pop on over to Carol's and take the Mr Linky magic carpet ride to see what's blooming.

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

14 comments:

  1. Oh lovely, Gail! It looks like this would be a good time of year to visit your part of Tennessee--for those of us in the north lamenting freezes and truly dormant plants. I'm focusing on next year here, but it's sweet to see the pollinators are still active in your part of the country. :)

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  2. We have had lots of frosty nights and my Blue Spires is still blooming. They are under an oak tree so they get a little protection. I tried to get a picture of a Red Admiral Butterfly in my garden today, I failed. Bah... Love seeing your blooms and bloom visitors.

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    1. Great news about 'Mystic Spires'. I hope it can survive the winter and bloom next summer. I am falling for Salvias in a big way.

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  3. My Brazilian sage, amazingly, has sailed through two frosts so far and is still flowrering, probably thanks to the stone path and stone walls nearby, radiating heat. But winter is coming, for sure. Who knows about the polar vortex predictions vs the warm winter ones....

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  4. Lovely!
    Great to see the pollinators
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

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  5. The pollinators in your garden are so lucky to have you!

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  6. I didn't see blooms on my native witch hazel this year. I'm wondering if it was too dry at just the wrong time, or maybe I miscalculated when it would be blooming and just missed it.

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  7. S. praealtum is a sweet aster, I don't know that species.

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  8. It is good to see that your plants survived the early frost and that the pollinators are happy! We had the same frost here on Long Island, but fortunately it was quick and now we are back at normal temperatures for this time of year.

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  9. What great colors this late in your garden year! I really like your visitors, too.

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  10. Lovely to see some blooms still in your garden--and bees and butterflies! We had a killing frost the a few days into November, and it's been pretty cold ever since. Not even a cotton sheet could have saved my garden:)

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  11. Gorgeous shots of the bees and the butterfly! Late blooms are so important for them.

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson