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| Camellia X ‘Snow Flurry’ |
Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for November 2015.
Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, the blooms outside are scarce but like anything scarce, they are greatly valued.
First, there are camellias, sort of.
The best blooms on the only camellia to bloom so far, Camellia X ‘Snow Flurry’, a cross between C. oleifera ‘Plain Jane’ X C. ‘Frost Princess’, opened up a few weeks ago, when we had a bit of a warm spell.
One of those blooms has not yet fully dropped its petals, so it gets to make its debut for bloom day, even though it is a few petals shy of what it once was.
I have two other camellias, and I hold out hope that at least one of them will bloom before the winter truly sets in.
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| Camellia japonica ‘April Remembered’ |
This one is Camellia japonica ‘April Remembered’.
I check its buds every few days because if it blooms, I don’t want to miss it. Maybe I should check every day?
This has been one of the prettiest falls we’ve had in many years. The trees were brilliantly colored and quite spectacular as were the autumn crocus, Crocus speciosus.
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| Crocus speciosus, spent bloom |
These crocuses are definitely well past their prime but seeing them bloom, nestled against newly fallen leaves, was one of the prettiest sights in my garden that I can remember. I will order and plant more autumn crocus late next summer.
As we go on to see what else is blooming, don’t trip over the little viola that sowed itself in between two patio pavers.
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| Viola, self-sown |
Maybe I should sow more viola seeds in the patio? Or not, as I think they would do nothing if I actually planted them there, much like a child turns down a parent’s suggestion. Let it be their idea.
I checked on the Christmas Roses, Hellebores niger.
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| Helleborus niger ‘Potters’ Wheel’ |
There are some nice fat buds, but no blooms yet.
They will be blooming soon, I hope, and give me a reason to go outside occasionally to see how the garden is during the cold months.
I’ll have reasons to stay indoors, too. I have amaryllis to pot up, along with a new Scilla to force into bloom and for the third year in a row, I’ve ordered Lily of the Valley pips to pot up and bloom in January.
But before I head inside for good this season, I need to spend a productive day or two in the garden, preparing it, and me, for the winter ahead.
What’s blooming in your garden on this 15th day of November? We’d love for you to participate in Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and show us. It’s easy to participate. Just post on your blog about the blooms in your garden, then leave a comment here to tell us what you have waiting for us and put the link to your bloom day post on the Mr. Linky widget.
Then repeat after me, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence
The blooms are few but dear this time of year as we begin to gather in ere the winter's storms begin. Thanks for the reminder about lily of the valley pips! I will surely pick some up as soon as I see them as their fragrance is wonderful any time of year but would be especially nice in the winter!
I love Camellia, I wish I could grow them here!
I've got Salvia, Canna, and Mahonia blooming here in Austin!
Thanks so much for hosting!
Such a sweet little viola! Fingers crossed you'll have camellias and hellebores soon… two of my favourite things about winter!
I am glad someone has had a brilliant fall, we are mostly brown here, which is unusual. I am intrigued by what makes some falls brilliant, and other not so much. However, there is always plenty to look at, and as gardeners know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Happy GBBD, and thanks for hosting.
Your self-sown viola is very sweet. We are entering into summer as you're entering into winter and I always enjoy seeing how different the conditions we're gardening in are. Happy Bloom Day!
We had a brilliant fall here in PA, too, Carol. Love your viola! Thanks for hosting. Happy GBBD. P. x
My white allysum is still blooming.
Taking note of those camellia varieties for when I find a place to plant some! It's fun and surprising to find some flowers still blooming in November – Happy Bloom Day!
How exciting to have camellia blooms! Not much of anything in bloom here anymore. Today might be the last nice day we have this fall–time for me to get busy and get the rest of the garden put to bed for the winter.
Just wanted to thank you for hosting the Garden Bloggers'Bloom Day. This is my first time posting- it's fun to be included! Now…to some perusing of everyone's November gardens.
The Camellia are lovely–I can only dream about growing those beauties and I love your little wayward Viola in the cracks of concrete! Thanks for hosting the all about blooms celebration.
It's been an amazing fall for us, also. And speaking of patio pavers volunteers, I have one, too – a surprise petunia. And I swear, I wrote the post before I saw yours! Alana
Flowers are in short supply even in southern California this year. I hope your Camellias surprise you with a show before winter arrives. Thanks for hosting, Carol.
It's so nice to see your lovely Camelias blooming at this time of year. You have a lovely fall display. Thanks so much for hosting and a happy GBBD!
How lovely to have Camellias flowering now. Flowers at this time of year are so precious.
Camellias! How lovely to be in a warm enough zone to be able to enjoy them.
I was planting my winter violas and ornamental cabbages today too! The lovely little faces of the violas are always welcome and the colors of the cabbages just intensify as the weather gets cooler. After two very warm winters in central Florida it is hard to say what this winter will bring, but these two can handle and light frosts really well.
Those camellias must be a heartwarming sight at this time of year Carol. They seem most aptly named too apart from 'April Remem bered' who seems rather ahead of herself. Glad to read that you have had a good autumn and thanks as always for hosting.
I do love those violas and johnny jump ups that just "appear." They are special without impinging on other plants nearby.
It's my motto to enjoy the garden as much as I possibly can at this time of the year – it will soon be too cold to do much at all.
So glad you had a good fall with lots of color. Totally lacking here but we still have plenty blooming. I love when seedlings appear int he paths but you probably know that already.
I just love it when someone tries pushing the comfort zone of a plant. Good luck with your camellias! Thank you for hosting, it's always fun to see what's blooming elsewhere.
I can never get Mr. Linky to work for my Bloom Day links, Carol (it takes me to the image selection window, then spazzes out), but here's my post: http://www.penick.net/digging/?p=36008. Happy Bloom Day!
Lovely to have autumn flowering camellias to enjoy. Thank you for hosting again Carol.
I tried. They died. Killed by a Polar Vortex. Perhaps you will have better success with the camellias with a special microclimate and vortex protection. I will say two of them proved root hardy and are trying to grow back from the tiny stump.
Happy GBBD Carol! It's been a while since I've joined in. A seriuos congrats to you for hosting this for such a long time!
Thanks for reminder of the Christmas Rose flower buds possibly hiding under their leaves too. I did my garden wander in the dark with a torch – will take a look in daylight tomorrow 🙂
I've been indoors for a few weeks, recovering from knee replacement surgery, but today was so lovely that I actually got outside to see the garden. I found snapdragons, pansies, and lamium all blooming, and a few others here and there. What a thrill to see the outside world again, especially those last few blooms!
I haven't been a very active blogger and/or visitor for quite awhile. But it was good to see what you are up to… and those participating in the meme!! Happy soon-to-be-Winter! SG
It's a good time of year here in the desert, so I have roses, sages, pink muhly grass and some other lovely stalwarts in bloom. But it's your Hellebore that sets me dreaming… 😉
I still have some Crocus speciosus coming up, but it wasn't sunny today so no pics of them. I am always grateful for blooms in November. In some years they are buried in snow, but this year it's been unseasonably warm, though still dreary looking.
Oh – totally forgot to check the Hellebores – how exciting with a bud! The Sasanqua camellias are going crazy here. 🙂
Fingers crossed for your Camellia blooms Carol.
November is proving to be very mild on our side of the pond this year. We've had our warmest November day and night on record. However, it's also proving to be rather soggy!
Camellias blooming? That's wonderful. I have Camellia 'April Kiss' – but it's certainly not blooming now. My favorite blooms right now are those of Fatsia japonica. Thank you, Carol, for sponsoring Bloom Day so faithfully.
Carol, I'm amazed to report that I still have blooms in my Maine garden in mid-November! I'm not sure whether it's because this has been an unusually mild autumn or because these flowers are growing in new flower beds that are warm, protected micro-climates. Time will tell whether this performance is a one-off. Like you, we've had an exceptional autumn this year. Thanks again for hosting. -Jean
Your garden is looking lovely! How nice to have your Lenten Roses in bloom already! Ours are adding leaves, but we won't see buds for a while yet. Such a pretty little volunteer Viola. It is wonderful to have flowers each and every day of the year. Best wishes, WG
Thanks for hosting – I ought to check my single camellia plant daily for the same reason!
As the flowers in my garden are fewer and fewer I love that the camellias wait to put on a show of their own. Yours are lovely. My favorite in my garden are the White Dove. Happy Bloom Day!
Seriously late for Bloom Day this month, but a pleasure still to find stuff in bloom in Pennsylvania in mid November. The spate of warm days may coax perennials to blossom inappropriately; it's not supposed to get cold here for at least two more weeks.
How sweet and beautiful are those Violas between the stones! These are sweet surprises in the garden, when they spread themselves to places like that. And lovely Camellia. We just bought one and of course we're living in a relatively cold climate (zone denial), so let's hope for the best 🙂
In the north of Spain, in Galicia, We have lots of camelias, I love all var. of this plant.
http://mariopaisajista.blogspot.com.es/