“No leaves. No flowers. No birds. No-vember.” I only wish it was “No rain” as well. But here we are, having survived what has been a very rainy November. I know purists will say the beginning of the month wasn't too bad, but with rain almost every day for over two weeks, all that nice weather seems a distant memory. Seven-and-a-half inches in 6 days is a lot of rain!
The rain did seem to bring some life back into plants that had withered in the dry summer, though. And this year my Japanese maples were as pretty as I could remember. The trees with red leaves were vibrant, especially with a coating of moisture, but my camera could not do them justice no matter how hard I tried or what time of the day I was photographing them. Their color, too, will be relegated to a distant memory, I’m afraid.
The green Japanese maples turned a lovely orange this year, too, and my Acer palmatum ‘Sanko Kaku’ (coral bark maple) was stunning. But then it always is. In the winter, that orange-red bark lights up a dark corner of the garden, and in spring, the leaves are a very pretty chartreuse green that turn to a rich deep green in the summer. But this tree really shines in the fall. I can highly recommend one if you don’t already have one in your garden. It is one of those rare four-season plants we are always striving to include in our gardens. Most plants seem to be one-, two-, or three-season plants, but the ‘Sanko Kaku’ fills a 12-month bill for me. In my garden, it is protected from the wind and sheltered from the hot summer afternoon sun.
Some of my plants were fooled into thinking it was spring once the rains returned. Some of my boxwood sprouted new growth as did one of my azaleas. I even had a couple of flowers on a white azalea that was in the garden for many years before we bought the house. Talk about a “late bloomer!” This one takes a prize.
Of course, the hardy fuchsia are still blooming and will most likely continue to do so until after Christmas. The little Anna’s hummingbirds – the ones that stay year ‘round - love them and since they are about the only brightly colored flower in my yard at this point, I can understand why.
One critter seemed to thrive on the wet yet mild weather. I noticed slugs out and about even after the first of the month. Usually by November they have buried themselves far underground for the winter. Not this year. So there I was, back with my cottage cheese container and my garden gloves picking up as many as I could find in the late evening and early mornings. Sometimes I have to wonder if I have the personal strength to wage war against these creepy crawlies for another month.
As I was strolling through my garden between rain showers last week, I was most pleasantly surprised to see the Hellebores starting to form blossoms. With any luck my “Lenten Roses” will be in bloom for Christmas. They will continue to bloom long into next summer which is why they are one of my favorite perennials and well worth the price I paid for them. Hellebores can be quite pricey, but sometimes I find myself in the right place at the right time and get a good deal. Persistence at the nursery does pay off.
Here I am complaining about the rain when all those poor people back east are still in draught conditions well into November. When I talk to gardeners in Pennsylvania, I am once again reminded why I love living on the Oregon Coast, rain or No-rain.
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