Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
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| Calamintha nepetoides | Zephyranthes candida |
Surprise, surprise - there
are flowers in bloom on November 15. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, but I wanted to draw special attention to one of my favorite filler plants - Calamintha nepetoides, aka Calamintha nepeta
et al. These plants have been blooming nonstop since
July. If you don't deadhead them, the plant keeps producing flowers further and further out from the main stem on some very delicate-looking flower stalks (click
here and zoom in for a better view). In the winter, after the flowers are gone, these catch and hold fluffy light snow in lacy patterns. I would grow it just for that, but during the summer the tiny white flowers are attractive to small butterflies and other pollinators,
and the leaves are fragrant
and the flowers change to a more blue color when the weather turns cool in the fall.
More bloomers:
 |  |
| Cyclamen hederifolium | Alyssum 'Navy Blue' |
 |  |
| Alyssum 'Snowdrift' | Chrysanthemum, unknown variety |
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| Buddleia 'Can't Find the Label' | Gazania 'Daybreak Mix' |
Now I'm off to check out all the other
GBBD contributors - I have high expectations for our southerly friends ;-) Thanks to
Carol for dreaming up this event.
Labels: in bloom
12 Comments:
Gorgeous photos! My gazanias look EXACTLY like that! Seems I'm never around to snap a picture when the sun is out and they're open.
I'm not familiar with the calamintha, but it is nice. I also love the elegant cyclamen poking up through the fallen leaves.
There is something really special... I can't put my finger on it... about seeing those cyclamen flowers emerging elegantly through piles of brown leaves. Maybe it's their graceful beauty in the midst of all of the decay around them? Whatever it is, you captured it perfectly--that picture made me sigh.
You even managed to keep a range of colors for November - and the calamintha intrigues me, too, Entangled. I wonder if it would bloom here or just melt out. good luck at taking a photo when the tips of the old flower clusters catch the snowflakes.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
That's quite a few blooms you have there. I like the Buddleia because of its name: can't find the label. There are many plants with that name, don't you think?
Cyclamen are always nice, the flowers are like little butterflies.
My blooms are up too!
Calamintha... that's one to add to my list. It sounds intriguing. You certainly have a lot going on in your garden, even in November.
Thanks for joining in again,
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Entangled,
I thought it was the dreaded cat mint at first glance. The name sort of looks like cat mint too. Love the cyclamens amongst the brown leaves and this is the second example of Assylum I've seen - MSS of Zanthan has a photo of one too. I'll have to look for the plant next year.
All: Blogger ate my replies. Grrrrr...
This afternoon I typed out individual replies to your comments, hit publish, and got back an error message - "Blogger cannot process your request at this time". All my typing vanished.
#^%*! This is the second time this has happened recently.
I'll be back later.....
Entangled, after quite a few bad experiences I started right clicking and clipping after typing and before hitting preview - if something goes wrong I paste my words to notepad and try later.
Annie
Annie: That's an excellent suggestion and I'm going to start practicing it right now. In case I don't get a snowy calamintha picture this winter, here's one from last February.
Kylee: You mean they're supposed to open? Kidding....I actually got some better pictures earlier in the year, but this week was so cloudy. Gazanias are fun - all the different patterns.
Pam/digging: I did a little research on the calamintha after I lost my earlier reply yesterday. It may not do well in Austin; the Missouri Botanical Garden says it grows in zones 5-7 - a pretty narrow range - but I'm right in the middle of that.
Blackswamp Girl: I think the cyclamen flowers look like they belong to spring. In the past, I've tried to clear away some of the leaves around them - they're planted in the woods - but maybe they're telling me they're perfectly happy as they are.
Yolanda Elizabet: You wouldn't believe how many plants I have with that same name ;-), but this one embarrasses me more because I just planted it this year. I know that label is here somewhere....
Carol: I think the calamintha would grow in Indy. I got mine from Bluestone Perennials, where I see they claim it grows in zones 4-9 - a much larger range than the 5-7 that Missouri Botanical Garden gives it.
Ki: The calamintha is a nice bushy, well-behaved, clump-forming plant - not sprawly and aggressive like catmint. Well, that's how it is for me anyway, but I have it in part shade in heavy clay - don't know how it would behave if it was happier.
I like alyssum as an edging plant. This year I just direct seeded it in early spring, and it continued blooming all summer for me. Sometimes it fizzles in the heat.
Wow, you sure had a nice Bloom Day! I want to grow that calamintha too...I want to find some seeds!
Lisa: Good idea on the seeds - I bought the Calamintha as baby plants, but if I find a seed source I'll post about it.
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