Bloom Day - November 2008

Sedum stonecrop Sieboldii "October Daphne" on it's last legs.

I haven't done Garden Bloom Day in forever. Too distracted by food storage and impending doom, I guess. We went out to dinner with newly-married friends last night. We went to Hong Thanh, a little Vietnamese place downtown, and had bowls of excellent noodle soup, following buy coconut cups for dessert. Then DH and I went to see the new Bond movie. It was like a date night.

Hypericum moseranum 'Tri-color' - St John's Wort did much better
this year, away from the salt of the front sidewalk planter.

A last little rebloom of Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'

Zinnia "Profusion" in orange, self-sown from seeds in the compost.

I slept until 10 this morning, instead of jumping up at the crack of dawn to go to yard sales. I saw some of the garden bloggers posting for Bloom Day (like my Bethlehem buddy and the great flower scans at Ellis Hollow). It was a leisurely morning, so I decided to take the camera outside and try to remember to enjoy my garden!

The wild petunias are still spreading. I never plant these,
and I always thought they were annuals, but they come back every year.

Marigolds still plugging along under the rim of a pan full of spent sedums.

Little bit of potted basil that didn't quite get killed by the frost.

This great snapdragon just doesn't stop. I saw another one in front
of a neighbor's house around the corner -maybe birds sewed it in my yard
from hers. I picked most of these a fews weeks ago to put in a Mason jar
at church, to remember my grandmother for All Soul's Day.

These rose hips need picking.

We went to DD12's last soccer game of the season this afternoon - and halfway through the second half it started pouring down rain. It had already rained last night and half the morning, so the field was sodden and muddy. Now, they couldn't even see across it. Most of the parents ran for the pavilion. I thought, "If my baby is out there, I will stay, too," even though I couldn't see through my glasses. The referee called the game a few minutes later. By then, the rain had soaked my hoodie and run down my back into my pants. It wasn't a terribly cold day, and the rain wasn't really cold, but it's November, and we were all soaked and chilled. I got the car blanket to wrap around DD12 in her thin synthetic uniform. We were miserable by the time we got home, and we all stripped and took warm showers. I wished we had a fireplace. Hot cocoa only goes so far.

A nice patch of lemon balm regrowing after being cut back. I will
have to pick this to dry, along with the second-growth yarrow foliage.

Gaura Lindheimeri "Pink Fountain" at the end of its second year.
I mulch these with dried grass and yard debris, since some people
have trouble overwintering them.

Coreopsis "Creme Brulee" also a the end of Year Two in my yard.
I need to either sheer these back early in the season for lower growth,
or stake them up somehow.

Oops - haven't been out here this week, and the broccoli is blooming.

I better get out here and cut these tomorrow. They were free
starts planted very late, and I didn't think they would make it,
so I am happy for this little crop.

They lost the game, 0-5. We lost all 10 games this season. We have a lot of girls playing for the first time, and we tend to lose the seasoned players to suburban teams when their families move out of the city. But every kid improved their personal game. A character-building year. DD12 found her niche as a forward, after more than 2 years as a mediocre fullback - she can run much faster than any of us realized. We will practice shooting this spring, so she could actually score next season. I enjoy socializing with the other parents. I'm going to invite them to do something over the holidays.

I also got a lot of small cabbages from the free starts - already
picked 2 heads and 6 are left. I think the variety was "Blue Thunder."

Lots of fall clean-up left to do. Dead peony foliage,
blackening Baptisia, shriveling zinnas.

The grass needs a final trim and there are a lot of pots and buckets to store.

The dried yarrow reminds me of mid-summer's heat. I can't wait for it come back.