Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, I am as surprised as you might be to see a colchicum still blooming in the garden this late in the season.
We've had our fair share of frost in the last few weeks so I would not normally expect to see such a bloom this late. But I planted this Colchicum 'Waterlily', a hybrid, just a few months ago so I assume that is why it is just now blooming. I expect this colchicum to bloom earlier next year.
Though I will not command it to do so as I'm always looking for late bloomers for my garden.
I don't have to look far when it comes to hellebores and late blooms.
This is Helleborus niger, the Christmas Rose. I'm not sure which named variety this one is. It might be the one I bought in bloom from the grocery store last December and then planted out in the garden in the spring. I also have the varieties 'Potter's Wheel' and 'Jacob Lempke' but I'm sure this is not one of those.
Elsewhere in the garden, I'm relying more on seed heads for winter interest. Early in the morning, the spent blooms of tall sedum provide a soft landing spot for frost.
This isn't a great picture, but you can see a few seedlings of sweet alyssum blooming here and there in the garden. I leave them alone. They are tiny and may be the first blooms of next season if they winter over.
Elsewhere in the garden, you can still see a bit of purple from the fading blooms of the autumn crocus.
I'll save the blooms indoors for December and conclude with another picture of seed heads left for winter interest.
What's blooming in your garden on this fine November day? We would love to have you join in for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and show us.
It's easy to participate. Just post on your blog about what's blooming in your garden then come back here and leave a comment to tell us what you have waiting to show us and a link in the Mr. Linky widget so we can find you.
And now, we repeat together "We can have blooms nearly every month of the year." ~ Elizabeth Lawrence.
It is surprising to see colchicum blooming in November, but it is a wonderful sight! We are getting temperatures in the 50's by day and 40's at night here on Long Island, but had two nights where it got down into the 20's...too soon for winter to be showing itself. We have much in common in that I am also enjoying seed heads at this time of year. Thank you for hosting and happy Bloom Day!
ReplyDeleteI do so agree about leaving the flower heads on the hydrangeas. The glorious faded stage they are now at in England is surely hydrangeas at their very best. Happy Bloom Day Carol.
ReplyDeleteFrosts have come a-visiting in the past week or so here too, Carol. So no dahlias for Blooms Day, so I've been looking at an unusual plant on my windowsill instead.
ReplyDeleteVery much agree on the hydrangeas. Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWe've had one or two nights in the teens where I live in upstate New York. No Christmas rose yet, but so far the main snow (our snow from Thursday is long melted)hasn't come yet. Happy to see your outdoor flower, because it is going to be a long winter.
ReplyDeleteI have gone into denial and covered several plants. So I have a few pollinator s visiting them. I expect that this will be the last of them after this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI broke a rule and posted two links. Oops. One was my regular post and then another to show how horrible the imported Asian ladybugs are in my area (one hour south of Nashville, Tennessee, USA.) If your government is thinking of importing them, FIGHT IT!
ReplyDeleteJeannie @ GetMeToTheCountry
What a sweet and lovely surprise Colchicum 'Waterlily' is! Like you, I leave seed heads and hydrangea blooms all winter. Most of my blooms this months are plants that are continuing to bloom from summer but there are a few late bloomers too. Thanks again for hosting and happy GBBD!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny that so many of those grocery store plant purchases prove to be amazing performers? Happy GBBD, Carol, and thanks as always for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI've never much cared for Colchicum, but that C. 'Waterlily' is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteLove that you have alyssum in bloom still too. Its such a hardy plant and will be the first one up in the spring.
ReplyDeleteHappy Garden Bloggers´Bloom Day, Carol!
ReplyDeleteIn my garden there are still some roses in bloom as well as cyclamen.
Best wishes,
Lisa
Thank you, Lea, for telling me my link (#7) was not working. I have reentered it again. Not trying to doubledip in the links, Carol!
ReplyDeleteThat Colchicum is lovely, and I'm glad the crocus is still going strong too. Today is wet and gray over here, and I barely managed to get it together. I too tuck spent grocery store plants in the ground after they have lived out their life as houseplants. I secretly think they thank me for their new life and liberty!
ReplyDeleteHaving a colchicum bloom after the autumn crocus start is rather unusual. It's probably as you say, because you just planted the colchicum this year. My fall-blooming crocuses completely disappeared one year and have never come back. I suspect rodents did them in.
ReplyDeleteIt's a treat to see your colchicum bloom. I already have snow in my Maine garden, -Jean
ReplyDeleteI've always wished I could grow Helleborus niger - not a chance here, but how pretty yours is! I agree with Kris about the grocery store plants ;-) And I love your late season bulbs!
ReplyDeleteHow nice to have the Christmas hellebore--so pretty! I leave the seedheads up for the winter, too. They look so lovely with a covering of snow, though I'm hoping we don't have too much of that this winter. Happy Bloom Day!
ReplyDeleteHi Carol, I'm surprised you didn't get frosted off as badly as we did. Not a lot left outside. Usually the hardy guys get to strut their stuff after the sensitive ones have disappeared, but not this year. Now i just need to keep the greenhouse warm — john
ReplyDeleteI'm a little surprised we haven't had frost yet. I love the look of it on your sedum seedheads, but I'll admit I'm still not ready for it in the garden. I'm a day late but I have some garden stalwarts and a few seasonal blooms this month. Thank you for hosting Bloom Day; you keep me on track!
ReplyDeleteThat does seem quite late. I'm definitely not seeing much in bloom around my neck of the woods in late November.
ReplyDelete