A MOST WONDERFUL NOVEMBER

 "November comes And November goes,

With the last red berries

And the first white snows.

With night coming early,

And dawn coming late,

And ice in the bucket

And frost by the gate.

The fires burn

And the kettles sing,

And earth sinks to rest

Until next spring."

-  Elizabeth Coatsworth

A most wonderful November in which summer hung on and the garden flourished with ample rainfall and sunshine.  I believe the weatherman said its one of the warmest on record.

I cleaned up overgrown perennials among my boulders.  I love the purple/chartreuse /red combination of euphorbia, purple heart , yellow mums and red autumn sage.

Of course it's Fall and while it takes the poets to write about the glory of autumn the rest of us have to rake them.   A big THANK YOU to the inventor of the leaf blower !

November also marks my 57th wedding anniversary. It seems only yesterday that we wed and yet here we are, surviving through thick and thin.  We certainly proved the old adage wrong that " East is east and West is west and never the twain shall meet. "

This thanksgiving we were blessed to have it outdoors on a farm in the beautiful countryside.  So happy that all my children and my younger sister live nearby and gathered to celebrate our blessings .

Here in the depth of November and near the end of the year I pray for an end to this plaque that has befallen the entire world.  Will we ever be the same again ?  

Thank goodness for my garden where I can find peace of mind and tranquilty in this topsy-turvey world  !

OCTOBER GOLD

 "The stillness of October gold

Went out like beauty from a face." --  

 E. A. Robinson

My 'Appalachian Spring ' dogwood in her October gold coat.

I love the month of October here in central North Carolina.   There's still a lot of life left in the garden -late blooming asters, mums, viburnum, autumn sage, goldenrod and brazilian verbena .  This year it's so mild that the Lantana is hanging on and the bees and butterflies appreciate that.

 Among the boulders -red autumn sage, golden mums, euphorbia and japanese roof iris.

Unlike the dry, hot , scarce rainfall of last summer we were blessed with ample rainfall and the garden was lusher than usual.  The downside of course is that the weeds also thrive and I've spent many a day trying to eliminate them before they get a foothold.  Creeping Charlie-arggggggh !   Trying to plant everything close together to shade out the weeds and eliminate mulching as much as possible.

This may appear to be a natural forest but everything in front was added by me -viburnums, dogwood, elephant ears, carex , and ajuga add color and texture to my front woodland garden.

October is the month when I  look forward to my camellias blooming.

This is the gorgeous 'hana jiman ' in all her glory.  

Call me picky but I only like white or white with pink tinged Camellias.  They really show up well against their shiny dark green leaves.

Now on to November and usually a month when Fall/Winter really begin.