We’ve had a very mild and extremely wet autumn, but flowers continued to bloom right through until the last week of November. This week’s ‘flowers in a vase’ were picked then, to take to my mum, but never made it as I caught a really bad cold. Mum must not catch any infections, so I stayed at home and sent photos of the flowers instead. It’s not quite the same, but I dare not risk spreading germs, and staying at home was the only option. So although these are a few weeks out of sync, I thought I would share them with you anyway, so you can see how late in the season you can still have flowers to pick from your garden.
My home-grown posy features my favourite Dahlia David Howard. As the season gets later, the flowers get smaller and smaller, but just as beautiful, and buds will continue to open if they’ve not been too frosted.
While they are not the dinner plate-size blooms of August, a small handful of dahlias will make a colourful arrangement. Also growing amongst the dahlias is perennial rudbeckia Goldsturm and white Antirrhinum Royal Bride. These fill the gaps between the dahlias and come back every year.
I pick some of the rudbeckia seed heads. They may not have petals, but the glossy black bobble heads add another element to the bouquet, and in November when material is scare you can’t be too fussy.
I love the bronze shiny leaves of Physocarpus Diabolo. Another good shrub to grow as the foliage stays on the plant until early December and comes back into leaf in early spring.
Physocarpus flowers are a pretty addition, but the real glory of the plant is the jewel-like seed heads which can be picked and dried for winter use. They remind me of pomegranate seeds and are perfect for Christmas decorations.
I use a lot of herbs in my bouquets; lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme, and this lovely lemon-scented herb which I’ve forgotten the name of….. perhaps someone out there knows what it is called. I have it growing along the front garden path and I run my fingers through it every time I walk to the front door. It grew from a cutting from my mum’s garden and of course, I think of her every time I see it.
Other foliage I use all the time is Artemisia Powis Castle, and very similar Senecio Viravira. The artemisia flops if it’s not plunged up to its neck in cold water over night, but the senecio is trouble free and probably my favourite. Artemisia grows up through the sweetpeas, and the senecio is in pots in the poly tunnel to give me year-round foliage.
Another useful evergreen is pittosporum, I think this one is Silver Queen, growing in a huge half-barrel size pot by the greenhouse. I might actually plant this in the ground over winter as it was hard to keep it watered last summer. It doesn’t seem to mind having a few 6” stems clipped from it every week. The white and pink edge to the leaf seems to go with any flower combination you can think of.
Eucalyptus grows enormous, but regular trimming for my cut flowers keeps it under control. If I have any surplus I give it to the village florists who is always grateful for spare foliage.
I’ve mentioned rosemary already. I have the popular Miss Jessup upright form, and this gorgeous more tender weeping form. I’m planning to wrap this with a few layers of horticultural fleece this winter to protect both plant and very precious Italian pot. I’ve lost a lot of terracotta pots over the last few winters, ones that were 20 or 30 years old. The incessant rain followed by freezing temperatures caused them to crack. I’ll make sure pots are standing on slivers of slate so they drain well and don’t freeze to paving slabs.
Speaking of winter, this is where my dahlias are now, cut down and cosy under a mulch of dried leaves and compost. The cloches will help to keep the worst of the rain and frost off the tubers. I haven’t got enough space to store tubers frost free, and anyway, the mice nibbled them in the potting shed last winter. So I’m taking a chance and leaving them in the ground. Fingers crossed they survive and come back to provide lots of cut flowers for my mum next summer.
Daphne’s offspring is on slug patrol, meanwhile. Slugs being the main worry when the new shoots emerge next spring.
When all that work was complete covering up the dahlia beds, I stood at the top of the garden, leaning on the five-bar gate, and admired this favourite tree. It holds its leaves until mid December, when suddenly the wind blows and there are puddles of gold spread across the field. A gorgeous sight I never tire of. Thank you for reading my blog. Happy gardening!
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And check out Cathy’s ‘In A Vase on Monday’ where gardeners all over the world share what they are growing and arranging in their vases each week.
Bramble Garden 
Gorgeous photographs. I love the way the backgrounds look like watercolors. Happy New Year.
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Thank you! I have a new camera and I’m still learning how to use it! The settings are rather complicated, so I only get one good photo every 20! But I do like the blurred background colours too. They do look like watercolours. Happy New Year to you and thank you for reading my blog. All the best. Karen
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I have a new camera, well, it was new several months ago, and like you, I can’t figure it out. I tried to take some photos on New Year’s Day, and somehow set it to take photos every ten seconds and couldn’t get it to turn off from that setting. Oh my…I need some help.
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We both need some help! I’m thinking of taking a course with a professional photographer. Will report back if I learn anything. Meanwhile I’m going to go back to the shop and plead for help. Good luck with yours.
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Thanks. I’ll keep giving it a try.
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Lots of useful tips for foliage plants there. I hope your mum enjoyed the pictures of your flowers at least.
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Thank you Cathy, she did! And we are all better now, which means we can be together for Christmas. She didn’t catch the awful bug we had. Thank you. Happy Christmas! Karen x
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Your late November bouquet is bright and beautiful, Karen. Adding herbs is a great idea. Might the lemon-scented herb be one of the citrus-scented Pelargoniums? I can’t make out the leaves clearly but they remind me of some of mine.
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Thank you Kris, I do use a lot of pelargoniums in my bouquets. There’s a lovely cinnamon- scented type and one that smells of lemons. I sometimes just go into the greenhouse to rub the leaves! Thank you for reading, and for your kind words, which are much appreciated. Take care. Karen. x
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A beautiful vase Karen – what a shame that you couldn’t give it to your mum in person but as you say it’s not worth the risk. I love your use of artemesia as foliage in your vase and you have given me definite food for thought about drying my physocarpus seedheads next year. Thank you 😀 Hope that you’ve shaken off that cold now and have been able to see your mum again.
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Thank you. Yes, all better now. I didn’t risk it at all. And thankfully we are all ok to spend Christmas together. Phew. It’s been such a worry. Yes, do dry the physocarpus seed heads. They dry beautifully and make such a lovely addition to winter flowers when there aren’t many blooms and you want to fill out a bouquet. Thanks for your kind words which are much appreciated. All the best. Karen x
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What a pretty hen, stole the show as far as I am concerned! I hope you are better now and able to visit your Mum. Christmas greeting to you.
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Thank you Noelle, yes finally better and off to see my mum. That little hen is a pretty girl and such a character. I have five now and they do good work clearing pests from the flower and veg beds, and lay such delicious golden-yolk eggs. Happy Christmas to you in return. I hope all your plans are going well. Karen x
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Gorgeous as always! 🧡
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Thank you Eliza ❤️
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What glorious bounty for the end of November, Karen, and I like all the extra foliage and seed heads you have included too, reminding us that we needn’t stop just at blooms. Do you do anything to your antirrhinum to help it survive the winter? Have you found it is just this variety that keeps going? Interesting to see how you plan to overwinter your dahlias this year. Mine are drying off in the sitooterie but I will pot them into dry soil when they are fully dry. Hope your Mum’s health is improving
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Thank you Cathy. The Antirrhinums are just tucked up with the dahlias, dormant for the winter. They don’t seem to mind being covered by all that mulch. They sprout up when they are uncovered.
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Your garden was beautiful in late November. What a perfect fall display! Love the plant material you used.
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Thank you Donna. Thank you for reading and for your kind comments.
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What zone are you in? Your dahlias performed later than ours did. Ironically, the annual bedding dahlias are the only sorts that have been perennial for us. The last perennial dahlia rotted shortly after last winter. We dig them at work, although we do not need to. I did not dig mine in the home garden until they got crowded.
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Lovely vase and garden. Oddly I have a similar planting in my Florida garden I hope will flower this winter, always an experiment. Happy Holidays!
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Thank you! Thanks for reading. Amazing that we are growing the same things thousands of miles apart! Good luck with your growing. I hope all goes well. Happy holidays! Karen
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What a lovely tour of your winter garden! Your flowers are amazing. Thank you for sharing them here.
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Thank you Anne! Thanks for your lovely comments. I’m much motivated to grow lovely flowers for my mum. She’s a wonderful lady and deserves all the beauty flowers can provide. Have a super Christmas and thank you again for reading my blog. It’s really appreciated. Karen xx
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Thanks for the remiders Karen. I’ll try to do better with my floral efforts. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Thank you Suella. I’m motivated to grow them for my mum to be honest. She’s a lovely lady and deserves all the love. Have a wonderful Christmas. Karen Xx
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Lovely to see so much colour, Karen… and I love the way you protect your dahlias!
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Thank you! Thanks for reading the blog and for your kind comments. Well, they survived last winter’s -6 the first week of December, so I thought if they can get through that, they can get through anything. Fingers firmly crossed as it’s a risky decision. We have a lot of dried leaves and have put half in the chicken run for the hens to turn over all winter, and half in the dahlias and veg beds to protect the soil structure. Have a lovely Christmas. Karen x
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I will probably do the same next year, as it’s a lot easier than digging them up. They probably prefer it too…
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Your display looks great Karen – particularly for so late in the year. Thanks for the useful tips – like using the rudbeckia seed heads in displays, and drying Physocarpus seed heads for use later. I have a Physocarpus Diabolo but it’s only been in a year; perhaps I’ll get flowers next summer?
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Thank you. Yes you should get some next year. The flowers are particularly pretty, so lots to look forward to! Give the plant a good mulch of compost over winter and liquid feed with tomato fertiliser next spring to encourage fruit and flowers. Give it good growing conditions and it will feel comfortable enough to flower. Plants that are establishing or struggle through the first few summers, won’t flower as flowers are a luxury when survival comes first. Thanks again for reading the blog. Enjoy your garden! Karen
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This post contains quite a few of my favourite flowers too! The dahlia David Howard most definitely performs so well, I never thought of using it as a plant support for others though!
Most envious of your pot of rosemary, is it a special variety?
I read Cathy’s post too. Most enjoyable.
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Thank you Vanessa. That rosemary was sold as ‘weeping Italian.’ not meant to be hardy, but I’ve had it growing here for 20 years at least. It’s in very well-drained compost in the plant pot, and sited right next to the greenhouse door, so gets some protection from the cold weather. It grows really easily from cuttings, so I always take some just in case it succumbs to the frost one winter. Thanks for reading the blog. Have a great day! Karen
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Just remembered it had another name too. Rosemary Capri!
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