Middle of November and I wonder, as the outdoor lights go on at night, if the moths are dying of old age? This prolonged warm weather, a huge shift in what is normal, has given me plenty of good days to put gardens to bed, spread mulch and dig tender bulbs. What used to be fall leaf peak of color was mid-October and now it's a week or more into November. There hasn't been a freeze, something that used to occur as early as late September.
If the gardener is paying attention, they know to shift things. Lettuce sowing used to happen on September 1st, it would certainly have bolted with these warm days. This year it should have been October 10th. Of course we can't predict these things; we keep journals, look back often and try to make wise decisions.
Leaving cymbidium orchids and amaryllis out to nearly freeze is a sure way to encourage winter flowers. This year they could still be out, waiting for the near-death threat. I know this is a technique that works for almost all flowering plants, flowers mean procreation and life. When in peril, it's the thing to do.
Plants that like prolonged coolish nights are thriving, nasturtiums, chocolate cosmos, and Swiss chard, they are gorgeous. Even my zinnias are still going gangbusters. I won't complain.
Ha! I thought you had switched to political commentary. Strange fall indeed ;-)
No frost in the frozen North... yet.
Posted by: Scott | 11/12/2020 at 05:21 PM