November flowers

The last month in my 12 month series of what is flowering in the garden! No major frosts before going away mid November so despite being damp there was still a fair bit of colour here and there. The photos were taken during the first week of the month.

Lavatera - only this solitary stem had buds on and just
one flower at a time opened, but they are big enough to notice!

Marigolds in the wildflower meadow in my veg patch
were just hanging in there

Nasturtiums were still flowering despite minor frost damage to leaves

Calendulas are quite tough and kept on looking good;
the background plants were the Sunflowers which were very tatty!

Despite their overall tattiness, the Sunflowers kept on putting out tiny new flowers!

Dill flowers - slightly gone to seed but still adding a lot of colour

Bidens, being a late season flowering plant,
was still looking good

There was still colour and interest in my blue Hydrangea

And the pink Hydrangea looked gorgeous as the petals faded
and skeletonised

White ivy leafed Pelargoniums looked tatty, more from the rain than from light frost.
Here's the last butterfly I saw in the garden, a Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria).

Borage can withstand light frosts and every time the sun shone,
a few honey bees appeared to feed on the flowers.

A solitary stem of Lavender against a backdrop of Stipa tenuissima
(Angel's Hair grass)

Roses kept on budding although the rain meant the flowers
were a soggy mess!

Last but most definitely not least - I can't finish without my main
butterfly attractor, Verbena bonariensis.
Here it is practically hidden away behind a Peacock butterfly,
with just one little flower peeking out!

Now it is December, and I came home from my hols to a frosted, wintery looking garden. The Hydrangea flowers are a soggy mess, the Nasturtiums have been composted and nearly everything has had it, although the calendula still hangs on in a rather sad droopy way. There are still a few sprightly flowers if I look hard - wild heartease Violas which can manage to flower all through winter, Campanula poscharskyana which has had a few flowers for months, as it often repeat flowers in a far less spectacular way in the cool of autumn, a half frosted/half flowering Bidens, early Primroses and a few pink Lamiums in sheltered spots. But really the ornamental garden has gone to bed for the winter now so will be all the more rewarding when it comes back to life again in the spring!