Henry Mitchell once wrote that the first eight days of November are some of the finest of the year. Of course the gardener never thinks of these days as particularly memorable. Scenes of April and May are what flashes in our head. November seems like a winter month, a cold month.
And today, November the third, you have to wonder if Mr. Mitchell's observation might be accurate. He may have a point. The oak trees are beginning to color, cool season perennials are green and happy, and lots of shrubs are coloring or holding onto spent flowers, like Hydrangea paniculata or the oak leaf hydrangea. The sepals of Abelia mosanensis are poised on long stems, resembling little green and red flowers, an observation that is lost if you are not walking around in the garden in a month that is potentially forgotten.
Some fields are rich in tans and browns, primarily from our native schizachyriums or little bluestem. Warm and warmer our colors grow. By month's end they may be less tan, the trees sparse.
Would a gardener actually plan a garden for November? It's certainly not impossible. Beside camellias, there are the many berried shrubs. Hamamelis virginiana or our native witch hazel is in flower now. The foliage of the perennial amsonia is just beginning to turn yellow, far from its peak color. Oak leaf hydrangea leaves are plum and red, mine flowering over Crocus speciosus with its purple goblet shaped flowers. Seed heads of agastache and eupatorium are hairy puffs, absolutely incredible in a bed of bronze fennel.
I suggest you walk around in your garden, take notes, maybe even photographs. Look to the sky, the deep blue sky of fall, walk on the soft, newly fallen leaves. Think about November as a month to plan for, or at the very least, a month to pay attention to.
Comments